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# LoadOptimizer.ai

## Sitemaps
- [XML Sitemap](https://www.loadoptimizer.ai/sitemap_index.xml): Includes all crawlable and indexable pages.

## Pages
- [20ft container dimensions: inside size, door, weight and pallets](https://www.loadoptimizer.ai/blog/20ft-container-dimensions/): 20ft container dimensions, inside: a standard 20ft container is about 5.90 m long, 2.35 m wide and 2.39 m high inside (19 ft 4 in x 7 ft 8½ in x 7 ft 10 in), with a door opening of 2.34 x 2.28 m and about 33 m³ of space. Empty it weighs 2,080 to 2,300 kg, and it carries 28,200 to 30,200 kg of cargo, according to the spec sheets of Maersk, Hapag-Lloyd, ONE, Evergreen and Seaco.
- [Lashing points: how much cargo each one can hold](https://www.loadoptimizer.ai/blog/lashing-points/): Lashing points are the fixed rings, bars and brackets in a container, trailer or flatrack that lashings are hooked into. Their rating sets the limit of every lashing attached to them: the floor lashing points of a general purpose container only have to hold 10 kN each, about one tonne-force, and the top rail points 5 kN, according to the CTU Code (6.2, citing ISO 1496-1). On trucks over 12 tonnes, EN 12640 specifies at least 20 kN per point.
- [Load planning software for education, free for students and teachers](https://www.loadoptimizer.ai/education/): Education program
- [CMR document: every box explained, plus e-CMR by country](https://www.loadoptimizer.ai/blog/cmr-document/): A CMR document is the consignment note for international road transport under the 1956 Geneva Convention on the Contract for the International Carriage of Goods by Road. It is made out in three originals signed by the sender and the carrier, names the goods, the parties and the route, and is the first evidence of the contract. 58 states are party to the Convention, according to the UN Treaty Collection.
- [53 foot trailer dimensions: inside size, door, weight and pallets](https://www.loadoptimizer.ai/blog/53-foot-trailer-dimensions-guide/): 53 foot trailer dimensions, inside: a standard 53 ft dry van is about 52 ft 4 in long, 98.7 in wide at the scuff liner and 110 in (9 ft 2 in) high, or 15.95 x 2.51 x 2.79 m. The rear door opening is 98.3 in wide and 110 in high, and the trailer carries up to 44,000 lbs of freight, according to the C.H. Robinson trailer equipment guide. Outside, a 53 foot trailer is 53 ft long, 102 in (8 ft 6 in) wide, the federal width limit, and usually 13 ft 6 in high, the lower end of the state height limits (FHWA, federal size regulations).
- [3DPACK.ing alternative](https://www.loadoptimizer.ai/3dpack-ing-alternative/): LoadOptimizer.ai is a 3DPACK.ing alternative that builds your load plan with an AI engine that has been optimized in real warehouses and logistics operations around the world: mixed pallets, tight containers, axle limits and multi-drop runs. It plans boxes, cylinders and tapered cargo in the same load, keeps axle weight and centre of gravity in view on every plan, and leaves you full manual control over every placement.
- [Box compression strength: what the McKee formula predicts](https://www.loadoptimizer.ai/blog/box-compression-strength/): Box compression strength is the top-to-bottom load a corrugated carton carries before its walls buckle. You do not need a laboratory press to estimate it. The McKee formula, published in 1963, predicts box compression strength from two numbers you already have: the edge crush value of the board and the outside dimensions of the box. In its simplified form, BCT equals 5.87 times ECT times the square root of board caliper times box perimeter.
- [Free load planning tools and calculators](https://www.loadoptimizer.ai/tools/): These free load planning tools each answer one loading question. How many pallets fit: the pallet calculator. What a pallet shipment is charged on: the LDM calculator. How many cubic metres: the CBM calculator. A 3D plan for mixed cargo: the container loading calculator or the truck load planner.
- [Truck overloading fines in Europe: what each tonne over costs](https://www.loadoptimizer.ai/blog/truck-overloading-fines/): Truck overloading is fined everywhere in Europe, but not at the same price and not from the same threshold. A 40 tonne truck that leaves the dock 4 tonnes heavy, 10 percent over, costs the driver €80 in Germany, and it costs €500 under the Dutch prosecution guideline, €540 in France and PLN 6,000 (about €1,374) in Poland, where the company that loaded it can be fined as well.
- [CargoWiz alternative](https://www.loadoptimizer.ai/cargowiz-alternative/): LoadOptimizer.ai is a CargoWiz alternative that builds your load plan with an AI engine that has been optimized in real warehouses and logistics operations around the world: mixed pallets, tight containers, axle limits and multi-drop runs. It opens in a modern browser with no local software to install, plans boxes, cylinders and tapered cargo in the same load, and leaves you full manual control over every placement.
- [Dimensional weight: the density your freight has to beat](https://www.loadoptimizer.ai/blog/dimensional-weight/): Dimensional weight is the weight a carrier bills you for when your freight takes up more space than it weighs. The carrier measures the outside of the shipment, divides the cubic size by a fixed number called the divisor, and charges whichever is greater: the real weight or that dimensional weight. FedEx divides the cubic size of every US, Puerto Rico and international package by 139 cubic inches per pound, so anything lighter than 12.4 lb per cubic foot is billed on the space it occupies rather than on what it actually weighs.
- [LDM calculator](https://www.loadoptimizer.ai/ldm-calculator/): This LDM calculator works out the loading meters of a shipment and the weight a carrier charges for it. One loading meter is one metre of trailer length at a width of 2.4 m, so a EUR pallet of 1.2 x 0.8 m is 0.4 LDM and a 13.6 m trailer holds 13.6 LDM. Carriers charge the highest of the actual weight, the volume weight and the loading meters times a factor, and that factor differs per carrier: DB Schenker charges 1,850 kg per loading meter in Belgium, Kuehne+Nagel 1,750 kg.
- [Master carton: how the case pack decides units per pallet](https://www.loadoptimizer.ai/blog/master-carton/): A master carton is the outer shipping case that holds a fixed number of units, the case pack, and it is the unit that gets stacked on the pallet. How the units are arranged inside it changes how many fit on one pallet.
- [Cargo-Planner alternative](https://www.loadoptimizer.ai/cargo-planner-alternative/): LoadOptimizer.ai is a Cargo-Planner alternative that builds your load plan with an AI engine that has been optimized in real warehouses and logistics operations around the world: mixed pallets, tight containers, axle limits and multi-drop runs. Boxes, cylinders and tapered cargo, one order over several vehicles, and full manual control over every placement.
- [How many pallets fit in a truck, a box truck or a container?](https://www.loadoptimizer.ai/blog/how-many-pallets-fit-in-a-truck/): How many pallets fit in a truck? Loaded straight on a single floor: a 26 ft box truck takes 12 US standard pallets (48 x 40 in) or 18 EUR pallets (120 x 80 cm), a 53 ft dry van takes 26 US or 39 EUR, a 40 ft container 21 US or 24 EUR and a 20 ft container 10 US or 11 EUR. Four-way pallets that can be turned sideways fit more: 14 in the 26 ft box truck and 30 in the 53 ft van. Those are floor counts, and on most loads weight decides the real number.
- [Truck loading software for truck load planning, legal on every axle](https://www.loadoptimizer.ai/truck-loading-software/): Truck Loading Software
- [Pallet calculator](https://www.loadoptimizer.ai/pallet-calculator/): This pallet calculator works out how many pallets fit in a truck, trailer or shipping container, and shows the loading pattern loaders actually use. The short answer: 33 EUR pallets on a 13.6 m trailer, 24 in a 40 ft container, 11 in a 20 ft container and 26 GMA pallets in a 53 ft dry van loaded straight. The counts allow for real pallet sizes: EPAL gives the EUR pallet as 1200 x 800 mm with a tolerance of ±3 mm, which is why a trailer that holds 34 on paper takes 33 at the dock.
- [Pricing](https://www.loadoptimizer.ai/pricing/): Every new account starts with 10 days of full Pro access, including the API. No credit card required. When the trial ends you keep your account on the Free plan, and you can subscribe to the plan that fits your work whenever you want.
- [Dunnage bags: how much force one bag really holds](https://www.loadoptimizer.ai/blog/dunnage-bags/): Dunnage bags hold a load in place by blocking, and what one bag can hold is set by two numbers: its burst pressure and the area it presses against the cargo. The CTU Code, the packing code of the IMO, ILO and UNECE, puts the blocking capacity at burst pressure times contact area times a safety factor of 0.75 for single use bags and 0.5 for reusable ones (CTU Code, annex 7, 2.3.8). The catch is the contact area: it shrinks as the gap gets wider, so the same bag holds far less in a wide gap than in a narrow one.
- [Load optimization statistics: the 2026 numbers](https://www.loadoptimizer.ai/blog/load-optimization-statistics/): Load optimization statistics answer one question: how much of the space and weight a vehicle can legally carry actually leaves the yard filled. The shortest honest answer for Europe is that a fifth of the distance is driven with nothing in the vehicle at all. In 2025, Eurostat measured that 21.8 percent of all road freight vehicle-kilometres in the EU were travelled by empty vehicles, and that the average laden vehicle carried 14.4 tonnes.
- [VGM: how accurate a verified gross mass has to be](https://www.loadoptimizer.ai/blog/vgm-verified-gross-mass/): A VGM, the verified gross mass of a packed container, has to be weighed, not estimated. Since 1 July 2016, SOLAS regulation VI/2 says a packed container may not be loaded onto a ship without one, and the shipper must get it by weighing the whole container (Method 1) or by weighing every item and adding the tare of the container (Method 2), according to the IMO. SOLAS itself allows no margin of error. Enforcement tolerances are set nationally: the UK uses plus or minus 5 percent of the VGM or 500 kg, whichever is greater (UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency).
- [Air Cargo ULD Planning: Build Loads That Fit the Contour](https://www.loadoptimizer.ai/air-cargo-uld/): Air Cargo ULD Planning
- [Container floor load: how much weight a container floor takes per metre](https://www.loadoptimizer.ai/blog/container-floor-load/): The container floor load limit is set per running metre, not per container. A 20ft general purpose container takes at most 4.8 tonnes per running metre of floor and a 40ft takes 3 tonnes, according to the Hapag-Lloyd container specification. A forklift driving in may put at most 5,460 kg on its front axle. Both floor load limits apply long before the payload on the door plate is reached, whenever the cargo does not cover the whole floor.
- [Container loading calculator](https://www.loadoptimizer.ai/container-loading-calculator/): Stop wasting container space. LoadOptimizer's AI-powered container loading calculator analyzes your cargo dimensions and automatically creates the most efficient loading arrangement. Whether you're shipping via 20ft, 40ft, or 40ft High Cube containers, our container loading software calculates the optimal placement in seconds.
- [Load building software: group orders into loads that actually fit](https://www.loadoptimizer.ai/load-building-software/): Load building software
- [Cargo load planning software: plan every consignment, any carrier](https://www.loadoptimizer.ai/cargo-load-planning-software/): Cargo Load Planning Software
- [Load optimization software for cargo loading in containers, trucks, and pallets](https://www.loadoptimizer.ai/load-optimization-software/): LOAD OPTIMIZATION SOFTWARE
- [Empty running: how much of road freight drives empty, country by country](https://www.loadoptimizer.ai/blog/empty-running/): Empty running is the share of the distance trucks drive without any goods on board. In the European Union it is 21.8 percent: in 2025, more than one kilometre in five driven by road freight vehicles was driven empty, according to Eurostat. That is 32.5 billion empty vehicle-kilometres in the 24 countries that report the figure.
- [Container weight distribution: how far off centre a load may sit](https://www.loadoptimizer.ai/blog/container-weight-distribution/): Container weight distribution comes down to one point: the centre of gravity of the cargo. The international CTU Code says it should sit close to the middle of the container, with an eccentricity of no more than 5 percent of the length in general and up to 10 percent under particular circumstances. Its rule of thumb is 60 percent of the cargo mass in 50 percent of the length. In a 40ft container, 5 percent is 0.60 m.
- [Truck load planner](https://www.loadoptimizer.ai/truck-load-planner/): AI truck load planner
- [Load securing: how much lashing a road load really needs](https://www.loadoptimizer.ai/blog/load-securing/): Load securing is everything that stops cargo from sliding, tipping or wandering while the vehicle brakes, turns and bumps. On the road, the international CTU Code designs for 0.8 g forward and 0.5 g backwards and sideways. The highest friction factor in its own table is 0.7, so friction on its own never holds a road load under braking: every load needs blocking or lashing to the front, and the amount depends almost entirely on what the load stands on.
- [CBM calculation explained: how to work out cubic metres and what they cost you in freight](https://www.loadoptimizer.ai/cbm-calculation-explained/): CBM calculation explained in one paragraph: CBM stands for cubic metre, and you calculate it by multiplying an item's length, width, and height in metres, then multiplying by how many of them you are shipping. A carton measuring 60 by 40 by 30 centimetres is 0.6 x 0.4 x 0.3 = 0.072 CBM, so 200 of them come to 14.4 CBM. That single figure is what a forwarder quotes against, what decides whether your shipment is billed on weight or on space, and what tells you roughly which container size you are looking at.
- [How LoadOptimizer works](https://www.loadoptimizer.ai/how-it-works/): From cargo list to optimized load plan in under 60 seconds. That is how LoadOptimizer works: it combines intelligent AI algorithms with an intuitive visual interface, so logistics teams of any size can plan smarter loads without specialized training or complex software. This is what modern truck loading software looks like in practice.
- [Pallet stacking patterns: what a second orientation is worth](https://www.loadoptimizer.ai/blog/pallet-stacking-patterns/): A pallet stacking pattern is the arrangement of cartons in one layer of a unit load. Turn part of the layer ninety degrees and the same cartons often cover more of the deck. On a EUR pallet a 500 by 300 mm carton fits four to a layer if every carton faces the same way, which covers 62.5 percent of the deck. Split the deck into a 1,200 by 500 strip and a 1,200 by 300 strip, turn one of them, and six fit: 93.8 percent of the deck, from the same cartons and the same pallet.
- [Freight density: what void space on a pallet costs](https://www.loadoptimizer.ai/blog/freight-density/): Freight density is weight divided by the cubic feet the shipment actually occupies on the dock, measured over its extreme dimensions: the pallet counts, the overhang counts, and the tip of a "do not stack" cone counts. Air inside that box is freight you pay to move. A 48 by 40 inch pallet loaded to 60 inches at 900 lb is 66.67 cubic feet and 13.50 lb per cubic foot.
- [container-volume-calculator](https://www.loadoptimizer.ai/container-volume-calculator/): Not sure whether you need a 20ft or 40ft container? Our container volume calculator helps you find the perfect match. Enter your cargo dimensions and instantly see which container type provides the best fit, with 3D optimization.
- [cbm calculator](https://www.loadoptimizer.ai/cbm-calculator/): Freight carriers use CBM to determine how much space your cargo occupies. Your total shipment CBM directly affects your shipping costs, especially for LCL (Less than Container Load) shipments where you pay per CBM. Use a CBM calculator to get this value and increase your shipping efficiency. For more about containerized shipping, see Wikipedia's article on intermodal containers.
- [Freight Cubing Software: Fill The Space You Are Already Paying For](https://www.loadoptimizer.ai/freight-cubing-software/): Freight Cubing Software
- [How To Calculate Axle Load: The Arithmetic, Worked Through](https://www.loadoptimizer.ai/how-to-calculate-axle-load/): https://youtu.be/rfmPsnx7U2o Axle Load Calculation
- [blog-containerized-loads-explained](https://www.loadoptimizer.ai/blog/containerized-loads-explained/): Containerized loads are the backbone of global trade. Every year, billions of tons of goods move around the world inside standardized shipping containers, making intermodal freight the dominant method for international commerce. Whether you are a logistics manager handling your first FCL booking or a supply chain veteran looking to improve space utilization, understanding containerized loads is essential for making cost-effective shipping decisions. In this complete guide, we explain how freight moves in containers, walk through the key types of containerized cargo, compare FCL and LCL options, and show you how to optimize every shipment with modern load planning tools.
- [How Many Pallets Fit In A 40ft Container? The Counts By Pallet Type, And What Changes Them](https://www.loadoptimizer.ai/how-many-pallets-fit-in-a-40ft-container/): How many pallets fit in a 40ft container: 20 to 21 North American pallets (1,016 x 1,219 mm, or 40 x 48 inches) or 23 to 24 Euro pallets (800 x 1,200 mm) in a single layer on the floor. Double stack them and those numbers double, if your goods and their height allow it. The counts differ because the pallet footprint, not the container, is what decides how neatly the floor tiles: the ISO standard records the 1,016 x 1,219 mm pallet as wasting only 3.7 percent of a 40ft container's floor, while the smaller Euro pallet wastes 15.2 percent yet still yields more pallets because each one takes less room.
- [Container Stuffing Software: Stuff Every Ocean Container Full, Legal, And To A Clear Stow Plan](https://www.loadoptimizer.ai/container-stuffing-software/): Container Stuffing Software
- [blog/types-of-shipping-containers](https://www.loadoptimizer.ai/blog/types-of-shipping-containers/): Understanding the different types of shipping containers is essential for anyone involved in international trade, freight forwarding, or logistics planning. From the ubiquitous 40ft High Cube to specialized reefer and flat rack shipping containers, each container type serves a distinct purpose and carries unique advantages. Choosing the wrong container can lead to wasted space, damaged cargo, or unexpected surcharges.
- [Load Planning Software: From Order List to Dispatched Load](https://www.loadoptimizer.ai/load-planning-software/): Load Planning Software
- [Container Loading Software: Fill Every Container Without Overloading It](https://www.loadoptimizer.ai/container-loading-software/): Container Loading Software
- [Automatic Container Loading, From Packing List To Load Plan](https://www.loadoptimizer.ai/automatic-container-loading/): Automatic container loading is software working out where every item goes inside a container, computed from your packing list in seconds, instead of a planner deciding it by eye or by dragging boxes around a 3D view. The plan respects the rules you set: what may be stacked on what, which way up an item travels, how much weight each axle may carry, and the order the load comes off at each drop.
- [API Terms](https://www.loadoptimizer.ai/api-terms/): Version 1.0, effective 17 August 2026.