For customers
Loading metres (LDM): how much truck space your goods take up
What a loading metre is, how to work it out for Euro pallets and industrial pallets, and why it matters for the price. With a calculator.
In short
- One loading metre (LDM) is one metre of the trailer floor’s length, across its full width.
- A standard trailer has 13.6 loading metres. A Euro pallet takes up 0.4, an industrial pallet 0.5.
- Pallets that can be stacked take up half the space.
Hauliers don’t often ask ‘how many cubic metres have you got?’ They ask ‘how many loading metres?’ The reason is simple: goods sit on the floor, and what counts is how much of the floor’s length they take up.
What a loading metre is
A loading metre, LDM for short (sometimes called a linear metre), is one metre of the trailer’s length, across its full width. A trailer’s internal length is 13.6 m, so a full trailer has 13.6 loading metres. Its internal width is 2.45–2.48 m; the calculation uses 2.4 m, the width of three Euro pallets side by side.
How to work it out
The formula is the same for any package or pallet:
LDM = length × width / 2.4
Length and width are in metres. For the most common pallets, the result is always the same:
| Pallet | Dimensions | LDM per pallet | Pallets per trailer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Euro pallet (EPAL) | 120 × 80 cm | 0.4 | 33 |
| Industrial pallet | 120 × 100 cm | 0.5 | 26 |
Euro pallets go three across, with the 120 cm side running along the length of the truck. So three Euro pallets take up 1.2 m of the length: 3 × 0.4 = 1.2 loading metres. Industrial pallets go two across.
Stackable pallets
If the pallets can go one on top of another, two pallets take up a single space on the floor, so the loading metres are halved. Height matters here: two stacked pallets have to fit under the roof. A standard trailer gives you about 2.7 m of internal height, a mega trailer 3 m.
Work it out for your goods
Choose the pallet type, enter how many pallets you have and tick the box if they can be stacked.
Why it matters for the price
With a full truckload, you pay for the whole truck, however full it is. Loading metres then tell you whether the goods will fit and how many trucks you need.
For part loads, the price is often based on the loading metres used. Many hauliers convert loading metres into a chargeable weight, using a ratio set in their rates, and invoice whichever is higher, the chargeable weight or the actual weight. This stops light goods that take up half a truck from paying as if they weighed a few hundred kilos.
What to send us for an accurate quote
- the type and number of pallets, or the dimensions of the packages;
- whether they can be stacked;
- the total weight;
- the height of one loaded pallet.
With these four details, the dispatcher can tell you exactly how many loading metres your goods take up and which truck you need.