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Freight load and trailer fit calculator

How many pallets fit a trailer, the load's weight against the legal limit, and the trailer's cube use.

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TrailerSets inside length, width, height and typical payload.PalletsStandard 48 × 40 in pallets.Weight per pallet (lb)Product plus the pallet (a wooden pallet is about 40–50 lb).Pallet height (in)Height including the pallet; decides whether pallets can be double-stacked.Tractor and trailer weight (lb)Empty weight of tractor plus trailer. 80,000 lb is the usual US gross limit.

For the load plan and axle weights8 more, filled with typical values

Tractor steer axle, empty (lb)From a scale ticket of the tractor alone, or the spec sheet. Fuel and driver included.Tractor drive axles, empty (lb)Bobtail weight on the drive tandem. The trailer's empty weight is the tare minus these two.Tractor wheelbase (in)Steer axle center to the drive tandem's center.Fifth wheel ahead of the drive tandem center (in)Slide the fifth wheel forward to put more of the kingpin load on the steer axle.Kingpin back from the trailer nose (in)Measure it on your trailer; most vans set it a few feet back from the nose.Kingpin to trailer tandem center (in)With the tandem where it's slid now. 480 in is 40 ft.Where the load sitsPallets loaded tight to the nose, or spread to center the weight over the trailer.Rate for this load ($)All-in linehaul for the load, to price the pallets and the empty space.

Freight load and trailer fit calculatorForge by Norventus

How it works

Loaded palletsPallets that don't fit wait on the dockScale needle: what is on the truck now; the band starts at 80,000 lb53 ft dry van. The drawing follows your numbers as you type; press Calculate for the positions, the fit, the weights and the cube, worked out by the tool.

Result

Ready when you are.Enter your numbers and press Calculate.

References

Check the work against these

A load plan, an axle-by-axle weight estimate with how far to slide the tandem, the securement the load needs and what the rate pays per pallet, with sources. Numbers in the result and in the plain-words read point here.

1
23 CFR 658.17, WeightCode
eCFR (Federal Highway Administration)
The federal Interstate limits used here: 20,000 lb on a single axle, 34,000 lb on a tandem, 80,000 lb gross, and the steer axle limit of 20,000 lb or the manufacturer's axle rating, whichever is lower.
2
Federal Bridge Formula Weights (FHWA-HOP-19-028)Guide
Federal Highway Administration, Office of Operations
How the bridge formula can hold a truck under 80,000 lb when its axles are close together, with the table of allowed weights by axle count and spacing.
3
49 CFR 393.106, General requirements for securing articles of cargoCode
eCFR (Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations)
The aggregate working load limit of the tiedowns must be at least half the weight of the cargo they secure; how each tiedown counts toward it.
4
49 CFR 393.110, Minimum number of tiedownsCode
eCFR (Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations)
The length rule for cargo not blocked at the front: 1 tiedown up to 5 ft and 1,100 lb, 2 up to 10 ft, then 1 more for each extra 10 ft or part of it.
5
Cargo securement rulesGuide
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
FMCSA's plain-language page and the Driver's Handbook on Cargo Securement: blocking, bracing, load bars and working load limits.

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When this answer isn't the whole job

Pro sheetPremiumAxle group weight and bridge formulaMaximum legal weight on a group of axles under the federal bridge formula, against the load you plan to carry.In the role plan · see an example →Pro sheetPremiumDetention and dwell cost calculatorWhat waiting at docks costs per month, and how much detention billing would recover.In the role plan · see an example →

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Freight load and trailer fit calculator

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