Sizing and logistics
How many pallets fit in a pickup, box truck or trailer?
Updated
Short answer: About 10 to 20 empty 48x40 pallets fit in a full-size pickup, about 60 to 100 in a 16-foot box truck, about 150 to 220 in a 26-foot box truck, and about 400 to 600 on a 53-foot trailer. The low end is hand-loaded; the high end is stacked to the roof with a forklift.
Pallets per vehicle
| Vehicle | Typical capacity | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Pickup truck | about 10 to 20 | A full-size pickup bed takes one or two stacks, depending on bed length and how high it is safe to stack. |
| 16 ft box truck | about 60 to 100 | Eight floor positions two-wide, stacked by hand or with a pallet jack. |
| 26 ft box truck | about 150 to 220 | Twelve to fourteen floor positions. Stacking near the roof usually takes a forklift. |
| 53 ft trailer | about 400 to 600 | A full truckload. Loaded at a dock with a forklift. |
How the numbers work
Capacity is floor positions times pallets per stack. A 48x40 pallet takes a 48 by 40 inch spot. Two fit side by side across a truck or trailer that is about 8 feet wide inside, so a 53-foot trailer has room for about 26 positions two-wide, and a 26-foot box truck about 12 to 14.
Pallets per stack is the usable height divided by the pallet height. A standard wood stringer pallet is about 5 to 6 inches tall, so a 100-inch stack holds 17 or 18 of them. In practice, stacks loaded by hand stop around chest or head height, because lifting a 40-pound pallet above your shoulders is slow and unsafe. That's why hand-loaded trucks carry the low end of each range.
Pickup trucks
A 48x40 pallet fits flat between the wheel wells of most full-size pickup beds (about 50 inches apart). A short bed takes one stack; an 8-foot bed takes two. How high to go depends on tie-downs and the view out of the back window, which is why the range is about 10 to 20. Weight is rarely the limit: 20 wood pallets weigh roughly 600 to 1,000 pounds.
Other pallet types
- Block pallets are a little taller than stringer pallets, so slightly fewer fit per stack.
- Skids (no bottom deck) are lower, so more fit.
- Nestable plastic pallets sit inside each other and stack far tighter than wood.
- Crates vary so much that the only reliable method is measuring one.
The pile sizer runs this math for your pallet type and stack height, and suggests the vehicle. Feel free to cite this table: it describes typical capacities, not any one fleet.