Summary
To measure a pallet for shipping, measure the loaded pallet as it will ship. Take the length and width at the widest points of the load, overhang and stretch wrap included, and the height from the floor to the highest point, pallet included. Round each figure up to the next whole inch or centimetre, weigh the full unit, and record it as length x width x height, longest side first. In North America the base is usually 48 x 40 inches; in Europe it is 1,200 x 800 mm.
Measuring a pallet looks like the easiest job on the dock: a tape and three numbers. The carrier measures it again, though, and when its numbers differ from the ones on your bill of lading, its numbers get billed.
For LTL freight in the US, a wrong measurement got more expensive in 2025. The NMFTA, which publishes the freight classification, announced that it would make density the primary factor when evaluating freight from 2025. Density is weight divided by volume, so an inch of overhang left off the paperwork changes the class calculation as well as the space on the truck.
The same five steps work whether you ship one pallet a week or two hundred a day.
How to measure a pallet for shipping in 5 steps
You need a tape measure of at least 3 m (10 ft), a pallet or forklift scale, and the pallet in its final shipping state: loaded, strapped and wrapped. Measure after wrapping, because stretch wrap, corner boards and top sheets all add to the size the carrier sees.
- Length: measure the longest side of the loaded pallet, from the furthest point at one end to the furthest point at the other. If cartons stick out past the deck, measure to the outer edge of the cartons.
- Width: measure the other side the same way, at its widest point. Check both ends and the middle, because a wrapped load often bulges halfway up.
- Height: measure from the floor to the highest point of the load. The pallet itself is part of the height.
- Round up: take each measurement up to the next whole inch or centimetre. Never round down to make a pallet fit a smaller size.
- Weigh and record: weigh the loaded pallet, pallet included, and write it down as length x width x height plus gross weight, longest side first.
Carriers expect the longest side first. UPS tells shippers to "Measure the longest side first (this is the length)" and to "Round up to the nearest whole number when taking your measurements." Pallet makers do not always follow that order: EPAL lists its EUR pallet as 800 mm long and 1,200 mm wide. Write 1,200 x 800 on shipping paperwork so nobody has to guess which side is which.
A carrier measures a bounding box: the smallest rectangular box that holds everything on the pallet. A pyramid-stacked load or a machine with a handle sticking out counts at its highest and widest point, and so does a single tall carton in one corner. For an irregular shape, picture a box lowered over the whole load and measure that box.
Weight follows the same rule. The gross weight includes the pallet and the wrapping, which carton weights from the item master leave out, so weigh the full unit on the scale. On a busy dock, a forklift with a built-in scale saves a trip.
Standard pallet dimensions: pallet measurements in inches and cm
ISO recognises six standard pallet footprints, and each has a main region of use. According to iGPS, the most widely used of the six is the 48 x 40 inch North American pallet, built to the specification of the Consumer Brands Association. Many people still call it the GMA pallet. In Europe the default is the EUR pallet of 1,200 x 800 mm.
| Pallet footprint | Inches | Millimetres | Main region of use |
|---|---|---|---|
| North American (GMA) | 48 x 40 | 1,219 x 1,016 | North America |
| Square 42 | 42 x 42 | 1,067 x 1,067 | North America, Europe, Asia |
| 1,200 x 1,000 | 47.24 x 39.37 | 1,200 x 1,000 | Europe, Asia |
| EUR (EPAL) | 47.24 x 31.5 | 1,200 x 800 | Europe |
| Australian | 45.9 x 45.9 | 1,165 x 1,165 | Australia |
| Asian | 43.3 x 43.3 | 1,100 x 1,100 | Asia |
The six ISO pallet footprints, as listed by iGPS (updated 3 October 2023). Length written first.
View this table on desktop for the full data.
Most size charts leave out pallet height, and that is where many measurements go wrong. The EPAL Euro pallet is 144 mm tall (about 5.7 inches) and weighs approximately 25 kg, with a safe working load of 1,500 kg. Those 144 mm are on the tape before the first carton goes on.
Wooden 48 x 40 pallets vary more by design and by supplier. Measure one empty pallet from your own stock once and keep that figure on file, so a missing height can always be traced back.
The footprint also works as a sanity check. If your measured length is shorter than the pallet base, something went wrong, either on the tape or on the paperwork. For metric users, 1 inch is 25.4 mm, and an EUR pallet loaded to 1.5 m total height takes 1.2 x 0.8 x 1.5 = 1.44 cubic metres.
Where pallet measurements go wrong
Most wrong pallet measurements come from one of four situations, and a misread tape is not one of them.
Overhang
Overhang is any part of the load that sticks out past the edge of the deck. Carriers count it in full, so measure to the outer edge of the goods. One inch of overhang on both long sides turns a 48 x 40 footprint into 48 x 42, which is 5% more floor space on the trailer and 5% more volume in every calculation that follows.
Bulging wrap and loose tops
Stretch wrap pulls the load in at the top and bottom and lets it bulge in the middle. The widest point is usually halfway up, so measure there. A top layer that is not tied down or wrapped can shift in transit, which is one more reason to wrap it before you measure.
Partial and mixed pallets
A half-loaded pallet is measured exactly like a full one. Take the base or the goods, whichever is bigger, up to the top of the load, and do not add or subtract empty space. Do not call a partial pallet "LTL": that term means less-than-truckload, the freight mode. If nothing can be stacked on top of your pallet, tell the carrier when you book, because that changes how it plans the space.
The number that never reaches the system
Most errors happen after the measurement. Dimensions get written on a label or a sticky note and typed in later. Length and width get swapped, 53 becomes 35, and nothing records who measured the pallet, when, or how.
The gap shows up weeks later, when a carrier's remeasure disagrees with the bill of lading. The result is a reweigh or reclass fee, and without a record there is nothing to dispute it with. Our guide to weight and inspection surcharges explains how those fees work and how to avoid them.
How to calculate pallet size, volume and density: an example
Pallet volume is length x width x height. In the US the result in cubic inches is converted to cubic feet by dividing by 1,728, and the NMFTA then calculates density "by dividing the weight (in pounds) by the total cubic feet". In metric, multiply the three measurements in metres to get cubic metres.
Take one example pallet: a 48 x 40 inch base, cartons stretch wrapped, 850 lb gross. The cartons overhang 1 inch on each long side, and the top of the load sits 52.3 inches above the floor. Measured on the base and rounded down, it reads 48 x 40 x 52. Measured the carrier's way, it reads 48 x 42 x 53.
| Step | Base only, rounded down | Carrier's way, rounded up | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Length | 48 in | 48 in | 0 |
| Width | 40 in | 42 in (overhang) | +2 in |
| Height, floor to top | 52 in | 53 in | +1 in |
| Volume | 99,840 cu in | 106,848 cu in | +7% |
| Cubic feet (divide by 1,728) | 57.8 cu ft | 61.8 cu ft | +4.1 cu ft |
| Density at 850 lb | 14.7 lb per cu ft | 13.7 lb per cu ft | -1.0 |
| Dim weight (divide by 139) | 719 lb | 769 lb | +50 lb |
Example pallet: 48 x 40 inch base, 850 lb gross, 1 inch overhang on each long side, load top at 52.3 inches.
View this table on desktop for the full data.
The careless measurement understates the volume by 7%. On paper the pallet looks denser than it is: 14.7 instead of 13.7 lb per cubic foot. Since density is now the main factor in freight class, a gap like this can be enough to cross into a different class. In this example both figures still land in the same density band, but on a pallet closer to a band edge the same gap moves the class, and a carrier's reclassification catches exactly that. The bands are listed in our guide on how to determine freight class.
Dimensional weight runs on the same volume. Using 139 as an illustration (the divisor UPS uses for daily-rate packages), this pallet's dim weight is 769 lb. That is below its actual 850 lb, so actual weight would set the price, and a lighter load of the same size would flip that. UPS uses that divisor for packages, and it does not apply to LTL pallet freight. Divisors also differ by carrier and service; our dimensional weight guide covers them per carrier.
The same numbers matter inside the warehouse too. Pallet height decides which rack level a pallet fits, and a wrong height in the system sends a pallet to a slot it cannot go into. Correct heights are part of warehouse slotting.
A faster way to measure pallets: a phone with LiDAR
A tape measure gets slow as the pallet count grows: tall loads need a step ladder or a second person, and every pallet adds a transcription step between the dock and the WMS.
Flux measures a pallet with the LiDAR sensor in a phone or tablet. The operator selects pallet mode, captures the load from at least two sides, and gets length, width, height and volume, with photos of the pallet stored in the same record. With an EUR pallet preset, the base is fixed at 80 x 120 cm and only the height is measured.
For a stacked pallet on the floor, the operator scans the pallet barcode and holds the device at the shortest side, and Flux picks up the footprint and load height live. The knowledge base article on measuring a stacked pallet on the floor lists each step and what ends up in the pallet record. This video shows the flow from barcode scan to confirmed record.
Flux's mobile dimensioning runs on iPhone 13 Pro or newer and iPad Pro 2020 or newer, the Pro models with a LiDAR sensor. The rest of the app (barcode scanning, photos and checklists) runs on any iOS or Android device, so a measuring step can sit in the same flow as the scan of the shipping label.
A UK retail 3PL measured 20 items in 30 minutes with Flux, against 45 minutes with a tape measure, a 33% cut across a population of 8,202 SKUs. That figure is for single items in an item master project, and pallets were not part of it.
One US shipper keeps proof of pallet dimensions with Flux: when a carrier questions the size of a pallet, the measurement and the photo are already on file.
For a full comparison of tape, static dimensioners and mobile devices for pallets, read our guide to mobile pallet dimensioning.
Questions?
In North America the most common pallet is 48 x 40 inches (1,219 x 1,016 mm), often called the GMA pallet. In Europe the standard is the EUR pallet: 1,200 x 800 mm and 144 mm tall. ISO recognises six pallet footprints in total, each with a main region of use.
A 48 x 40 inch pallet covers 1,920 square inches, which is 13.3 square feet. An EUR pallet of 1,200 x 800 mm covers 0.96 square metres. Any overhang adds to that footprint, so measure the load if it sticks out past the deck.
Yes. Pallet height is measured from the floor to the highest point of the load, so the pallet deck is part of it. An EUR pallet alone adds 144 mm, about 5.7 inches, before the first carton goes on.
Round up to the next whole inch or centimetre. Carriers such as UPS tell shippers to round up. A carrier that remeasures will not round in your favour, and a pallet rounded down to fit a smaller size is what a remeasure catches.
Yes, with a supported phone that has a LiDAR sensor. Flux by Optioryx measures pallets on iPhone 13 Pro or newer and iPad Pro 2020 or newer: the operator captures the pallet from at least two sides and gets length, width, height and photos in one record. Phones without LiDAR cannot run the dimensioning module.