In North America a standard pallet is 48 by 40 inches. Here are the other common pallet dimensions, the Euro and ISO sizes, how many fit in a trailer or container, and how the size of a pallet changes what you pay to ship it.
The standard pallet size in North America is 48 by 40 inches, or 1,219 by 1,016 millimetres, often called the GMA pallet. A typical wooden one is about 6 inches tall and weighs around 35 to 40 pounds empty. In Europe the standard is the Euro pallet, 1,200 by 800 millimetres. A 53-foot trailer holds 26 standard pallets loaded straight, and up to 30 turned. For LTL freight, the dimensions of the loaded pallet, including anything hanging over the edge, help set the freight class and the price.
Written by Aleksandrs Smetanins, President, Qeep Logistics · Last reviewed September 30, 2026
The standard pallet size in Canada and the United States is 48 by 40 inches. Most general freight moves on it, most racking is built for it, and when a carrier or a quote form asks for a pallet count without dimensions, 48 by 40 is what it assumes.
Some industries use other footprints because their product fits them better: square pallets for drums and paint, smaller ones for beverages and dairy. The table lists the common North American pallet dimensions and where each one tends to be used.
| Pallet size, inches | Millimetres | Where it is commonly used |
|---|---|---|
| 48 × 40 | 1,219 × 1,016 | The standard pallet: grocery, retail and most general freight |
| 42 × 42 | 1,067 × 1,067 | Telecommunications, paint |
| 48 × 48 | 1,219 × 1,219 | Drums; four 55-gallon drums fit on one |
| 48 × 42 | 1,219 × 1,067 | Chemicals, beverages |
| 40 × 40 | 1,016 × 1,016 | Dairy |
| 36 × 36 | 914 × 914 | Beverages |
In North America the first number is normally the stringer length. Industry uses are typical, not rules. Whatever the pallet, quote freight on the actual footprint and the height from the floor, pallet included.
There is no single world standard. ISO 6780 recognises six pallet footprints for international shipping, and the North American 48 by 40 is one of them. Which one you receive depends on where the goods were packed.
The one Canadian importers meet most often, after the 48 by 40, is the Euro pallet. An EPAL Euro pallet is 1,200 by 800 millimetres, 144 millimetres high, weighs about 25 kilograms and has a published safe working load of 1,500 kilograms. It is narrower than a North American pallet, so goods arriving on Euro pallets use trailer and warehouse space differently, and some racking cannot hold them without adjustment.
| ISO 6780 size, mm | Inches | Main region |
|---|---|---|
| 1,219 × 1,016 | 48 × 40 | North America |
| 1,200 × 1,000 | 47.24 × 39.37 | Europe, Asia |
| 1,165 × 1,165 | 45.9 × 45.9 | Australia |
| 1,067 × 1,067 | 42 × 42 | North America, Europe, Asia |
| 1,100 × 1,100 | 43.3 × 43.3 | Asia |
| 1,200 × 800 | 47.24 × 31.5 | Europe, the Euro pallet |
The six footprints recognised in ISO 6780 for intercontinental materials handling. Heights and load ratings are not fixed by the footprint; check them with the pallet supplier.
Pallet count is the fastest way to size a shipment. A standard 48 by 40 pallet loaded with its 48-inch side along the trailer takes up 4 linear feet of floor, and two sit side by side. That is why a 53-foot trailer holds 26 of them straight, and why LTL carriers and volume quotes talk about linear feet as much as pallets.
Turn the pallets so the 40-inch side runs along the trailer, or mix orientations in a pinwheel pattern, and a 53-foot trailer fits up to 30. Containers are narrower inside than a 53-foot trailer, which limits how pallets can be turned, so container counts are approximate and Euro pallets often fit better than North American ones.
| Equipment | 48 × 40 pallets, single stacked | Euro pallets, single stacked |
|---|---|---|
| 53-foot dry van | 26 straight, up to 30 turned or pinwheeled | Depends on the pattern; plan it with your carrier |
| 48-foot trailer | 24 straight | Depends on the pattern |
| 20-foot container | About 10 | About 11 |
| 40-foot container | About 20, sometimes 21 | About 23 to 24 |
Single-stacked floor counts for standard pallets. Double stacking can increase them if the freight can bear the weight, but the trailer's or container's weight limit often runs out before the floor does. Confirm the load plan before you book.
For LTL, the pallet's dimensions are part of the price. Many commodities are now classed on density, and density is the weight divided by the space the pallet takes up, measured as it will be handled: the full footprint, the height from the floor, the pallet and the packaging all included.
Overhang is the mistake that costs most. A carrier measures the widest points of the load, not the pallet under it. Take a 48 by 40 pallet stacked 48 inches high from the floor and weighing 500 pounds: that is 53.3 cubic feet and 9.4 pounds per cubic foot, class 100 on the density scale. Let the cartons hang 2 inches over every edge and the carrier measures 52 by 44 by 48 inches, 63.6 cubic feet and 7.9 pounds per cubic foot. That is class 125 for exactly the same freight.
The same logic applies to height. Stacking a pallet higher does not change its weight but does change its volume, and a pallet that cannot have anything placed on top of it may be treated as taking up the space above it as well. Build pallets square, flush with the edges and as compact as the product allows, and put the real dimensions on the bill of lading so a reweigh or reclass does not do it for you.
A typical wooden 48 by 40 pallet weighs around 35 to 40 pounds empty and stands roughly 6 inches tall, but both change with the wood, the build and the moisture content. Plastic, metal and heavy-duty wooden pallets can weigh a great deal more. Always include the pallet in the shipment weight; the carrier's scale will.
Load capacity is not set by the size. Two 48 by 40 pallets can have very different ratings depending on the boards, the stringers or blocks, and whether the load is spread evenly or sitting on a few points. Get the rated load from your pallet supplier and stay under it, especially for racked storage, where the pallet spans a gap rather than sitting on the floor.
There is no universal height limit for a pallet. It is set by the trailer's inside height, the dock and warehouse at each end, the stability of the load, and the carrier's own rules. Tell us the height when you ask for a quote, and say whether the pallet can be stacked on, because that decides how the carrier can load it.
ISPM 15 is the international standard for wood packaging, including pallets, crates and dunnage. Wood used for packaging must be treated against pests, most often by heat treatment or methyl bromide fumigation, and stamped with the IPPC mark before it crosses a border into a country that enforces the standard. Canada applies it to imported wood packaging through CFIA directive D-98-08.
Canada and the United States are the exception. Since 2005 wood packaging moving between the two countries has been exempt from ISPM 15 treatment and marking, provided it was made in Canada or the United States from Canadian or US wood, and the CFIA expects the shipping documents to say so. The CFIA says the exemption remains in place, and that it covers the continental United States only: wood packaging to or from Hawaii and the US territories must carry the ISPM 15 mark.
For anything that goes overseas, or arrives from overseas, use marked pallets. Unmarked wood packaging on an import can be refused, ordered out of the country or treated at the importer's cost, and the goods wait while it is sorted out. Plastic and metal pallets, and engineered wood such as plywood and particleboard, are outside ISPM 15.
Most freight problems that start on the pallet are cheap to avoid before the truck arrives and expensive afterwards. These are the habits that keep a pallet moving at the rate it was quoted.
A 48 by 40 pallet fits every carrier's trailer plan, every dock and most racking. Odd sizes can load less efficiently, and in LTL the carrier prices the space they take.
Keep the load inside the edges of the pallet. Overhang raises the measured volume, lowers the density and makes cartons on the edge far more likely to be crushed.
Stringer pallets are the common North American type and enter from two ends, or from the sides by forklift only if the stringers are notched. Block pallets, like the Euro pallet, give true four-way entry, which some warehouses require.
Stretch wrap the load to the pallet, not just to itself, and use corner boards or straps for tall or heavy loads. A pallet that shifts in transit is the carrier's problem to rebuild and your problem to claim.
Measure length, width and height from the floor after the pallet is built, round up to the next inch, and weigh it with the pallet. Those are the numbers the carrier will check.
Heat-treated, ISPM 15 marked pallets are widely available and avoid a refused or treated shipment at the destination.
When a pallet count stops being LTL and a full truck becomes the cheaper option.
Read more →The density calculation step by step, from pallet dimensions to NMFC class.
Read more →Billable weight for air freight and parcels, where size counts as much as weight.
Read more →One to six pallets across Canada and the US, priced on what your freight really is.
Read more →A dedicated 53-foot trailer for up to 26 standard pallets loaded straight.
Read more →Where the pallet count, dimensions and weight have to be written down.
Read more →FCL and LCL from Asia and Europe, on pallets planned for the container.
Read more →Every document that travels with a load between Canada and the US.
Read more →Send the pallet count, dimensions and weight, and we will price it.
Read more →In North America the standard pallet size is 48 by 40 inches, which is 1,219 by 1,016 millimetres. It is often called the GMA pallet, after the grocery industry standard it came from, and it is the size carriers, warehouses and racking are built around in Canada and the United States. In Europe the standard is the 1,200 by 800 millimetre Euro pallet.
A standard 48 by 40 inch pallet is 4 feet long and 3 feet 4 inches wide. A typical wooden one stands about 6 inches tall before anything is loaded on it, so a loaded pallet is always measured from the floor, pallet included.
They describe the same footprint. In North America the first number is normally the length of the stringers, the boards that run the full length of the pallet, so a 48 by 40 pallet has 48-inch stringers and forks enter from the 40-inch side unless the stringers are notched. When you quote freight, the footprint is what matters: 48 by 40 inches.
A typical wooden 48 by 40 pallet weighs somewhere around 35 to 40 pounds empty, but it varies with the wood, the build and how wet it is. Plastic and heavy-duty pallets can weigh much more. Include the pallet in the weight you put on the bill of lading, because the carrier weighs the whole handling unit.
It depends on how the pallet is built and how the load sits on it, so there is no single number that applies to every 48 by 40 pallet. Ask your pallet supplier for the rated load. For comparison, the EPAL Euro pallet has a published safe working load of 1,500 kilograms when the load is spread evenly.
An EPAL Euro pallet is 1,200 by 800 millimetres and 144 millimetres high, about 47.2 by 31.5 by 5.7 inches, and weighs about 25 kilograms. It is the standard pallet size in Europe and is narrower than the North American pallet, so the two do not load the same way in a trailer or container.
A 53-foot dry van holds 26 standard 48 by 40 inch pallets loaded straight, two across and thirteen deep, single stacked. Turning the pallets so the 40-inch side runs along the trailer, or loading them in a pinwheel pattern, fits up to 30. Stacking can double those numbers if the freight can take the weight and the trailer's legal weight limit allows it.
Single stacked, a 20-foot container takes about 10 standard 48 by 40 pallets or 11 Euro pallets. A 40-foot container takes about 20 standard pallets, sometimes 21 with careful loading, or 23 to 24 Euro pallets. The exact count depends on the container's inside dimensions and how the pallets are turned.
Not under the current rules. Canada and the United States have exempted wood packaging moving between them from the ISPM 15 treatment and marking requirement since 2005, as long as the wood packaging was made in Canada or the US from Canadian or US wood. The exemption covers the continental United States only; wood packaging to or from Hawaii and the US territories must be treated and marked. Anything shipped overseas needs ISPM 15 marked wood packaging.
The ISPM 15 mark shows that the wood was treated against pests before it was used for packaging. It carries the IPPC wheat symbol, a code for the country and the producer, and a treatment code, most often HT for heat treatment or MB for methyl bromide fumigation. Pallets without it can be refused or treated at the importer's expense when they arrive in a country that requires it.
Yes, indirectly. For freight classed on density, the carrier measures the full footprint and height of the pallet, including any product hanging over the edges, and divides the weight by that volume. A bigger footprint or an overhang lowers the density, which can push the shipment into a higher, more expensive class.
A stringer pallet has three long boards, the stringers, running under the deck, so forks and pallet jacks enter from the two ends. Notched stringers let a forklift enter from the sides as well, but a pallet jack still cannot. A block pallet sits on nine blocks, so forks and pallet jacks enter freely from all four sides. The Euro pallet is a block pallet; most North American 48 by 40 pallets are stringer pallets.
Tell us the origin, destination and mode. A Qeep specialist replies within 10 minutes with live capacity, lane price, and a transit window you can actually plan around.