Container Loading Calculator
Find how many boxes fit in a 20ft, 40ft or 40ft high cube container, with mixed floor patterns, payload check and containers needed for an order.
Before booking a container you need to know how many cartons fit and whether weight or space runs out first. This calculator tries the allowed orientations of your box, including mixed floor patterns where part of each layer is turned 90°, then checks the count against the container's payload and works out how many containers an order needs.
How to use this tool
- Pick the container, or choose Custom and enter its inside dimensions and payload.
- Choose units and enter the carton length, width, height and gross weight.
- Say whether cartons must stay upright or may lie on any side.
- Enter the number of boxes to ship to see how many containers it takes.
Formula
Boxes per container = min(boxes per layer × ⌊inside height ÷ box height⌋, ⌊payload ÷ box weight⌋)
Boxes per layer is the best of the straight patterns (⌊L ÷ l⌋ × ⌊W ÷ w⌋, and the same with the box turned) and two-block patterns that fill part of the floor one way and the rest turned 90°. It is a block-stacking estimate; real loads also lose space to pallets, door clearance and bulging cartons. The search holds a single box height throughout the container and does not solve unrestricted 3D packing. Presets are illustrative dimensions and payloads; actual equipment varies.
Example
In a 20′ standard container (589.8 × 235.2 × 239.3 cm inside), upright 60 × 40 × 40 cm cartons stack 5 layers high. Straight rows give 9 × 5 = 45 per layer, but one 40 cm strip of lengthwise cartons (9) plus the remaining width turned (14 × 3 = 42) gives 51. That is 255 cartons, about 73.7% of the space, weighing 3,825 kg at 15 kg each. An order of 1,000 cartons needs 4 containers, with 235 in the last.
Frequently asked questions
Why not just divide the container volume by the box volume?
Because boxes cannot be cut to fill the gaps. That division (345 cartons in the example) is an upper limit; the real count depends on how the box dimensions divide into the container.
What payloads do the presets use?
Typical figures: 28,200 kg for a 20′ standard, 26,700 kg for a 40′ standard and 26,500 kg for a 40′ high cube. Your box's CSC plate, and road weight limits in your country, can be lower.
Can I use it for pallets?
Treat each loaded pallet as a box only if its footprint/height include the pallet. Keeping it upright still allows multiple vertical layers; check whether loaded pallets can actually support that stacking.
Should I fill every container to the roof?
Only if the cartons can bear the stacking load. Check the carton's stacking strength and leave a little head room for forklifts or hand loading.
Sources
Last updated: 2026-10-30