How Many Pallets Fit into a Shipping Container?

Containers come in a range of different sizes depending on the type and amount of cargo there is to ship. Learn more about the different container types here.

The number of pallets that can fit into a container also depends on the size of the pallet. Below, we've taken a look at the three most common pallet types. Remember, if the pallets are able to be double stacked you, then could potentially fit double the amount of pallets within one container. Whether this is possible tends to depend on the type of commodity. 

Standard/EUR2/ISO2

• This type of pallet is most commonly used in Europe and Asia.
• The size of an individual pallet is: W: 1200mm L: 1000mm H: dependent on how high the shipper builds the pallets
• Number of pallets in a 20 foot container single stacked = 10 
• Number of pallets in a 40 foot container single stacked = 20 

EUR/EUR1/ISO1

• This pallet type is mainly used across Europe, and it's main benefit is that they can fit through a standard exterior door so highly suitable to the B2C market
• The size of an individual pallet sizes is: W: 800mm L: 1200mm H: dependent on how high the shipper builds the pallets
• Number of pallets in a 20ft container single stacked = 11
• Number of pallets in a 40ft container single stacked = 24
• The main issue with this pallet size is it causes about 15% wastage in a 40 foot container due to the pallet dimensions vs the dimensions of the container 

North American Standard/GMA

• This pallet type is most commonly used in North America
• The size of an individual pallet is: W: 1016mm L: 1219mm H: dependent on how high the shipper builds the pallets
• Number of pallets in a 20 foot container single stacked = 10 
• Number of pallets in a 40 foot container single stacked = 20 

In general on all pallet sizes, to be able to fully utilise the container space, it's suggested to build pallets around 1.10m-1.15m high so you can double stack. If there are HC containers available, then best to build each pallet to 1.2m to take advantage of the extra height and to maximise number of units in a container. This will drive down your landed cost.