How many cartons actually fit on a pallet

It depends on the carton, but the starting point is area: a EUR pallet is 1200 × 800 mm, 0.96 m². A 400 × 300 mm carton takes 0.12 m², so eight per layer in theory — and eight in practice, because it divides without remainder. A 350 × 250 mm carton gives 10 per layer if you mix two blocks, one rotated, against 9 in plain rows. The number of layers is the maximum loading height divided by the carton height, after subtracting the ~145 mm of the empty pallet.

They are the logistics shorthand for a pallet pattern: Ti (tier) is the number of cartons in one layer, Hi (high) is the number of layers. “Ti 10 / Hi 8” means 10 cartons per layer and 8 layers, so 80 cartons on the pallet. In the result above, “Cartons per layer” is Ti and “Layers” is Hi.

There is no single legal limit, only contractual ones. European general freight usually works with 1,800–2,200 mm measured from the floor, pallet included. Racked warehouses often ask for 1,800 mm, or even 1,200 mm so pallets can be double stacked. Ask the receiver first, not after: a pallet 40 mm over the limit is refused at goods-in and re-palletised at your cost.

A dry wooden EUR/EPAL weighs about 25 kg, a 1200 × 1000 mm industrial one about 30 kg, and an 800 × 600 mm half pallet about 10 kg. Damp timber can add a few kilos. On top of that come stretch film and edge boards. The calculator counts them under “gross weight”, because that is the weight the freight rate is built on.

It means a carton sticks out beyond the 1200 × 800 mm footprint. It can be shipped, but many carriers refuse the overhang or bill it as a larger pallet, and the compression strength of the carton underneath drops sharply when its edge hangs in the air. The calculator never puts a carton past the pallet edge, and never over a void: if it has nothing to sit on, it goes on the next pallet.

Three reasons, in order of frequency. Weight: a full layer can exceed the limit, so the pallet stops lower than the height would allow. Support: a layer cannot sit on a smaller one, so orientation mixes that look better on paper cannot actually be built. And the remainder: the last units of every line go onto mixed pallets, and with many lines there are many remainders.

Yes, and the tool does it for you: add a line per carton type with its quantity, and whatever is left after the full pallets is gathered onto mixed ones. Small cartons also go into the free strips on layers of larger cartons, and whatever does not make a full layer ends up on a single top level, side by side — never stacked over a void.

“Download PDF” produces a sheet per pallet: the 3D view, the layer patterns in build order, what goes on the pallet with quantities and weights, the height and the gross weight. One pallet per page. And “Copy the link” gives you an address that carries the whole order, to e-mail on or keep for next time.