About the Linear Feet Freight Calculator
This linear feet freight calculator works out how much trailer floor your pallets use, measured the way carriers measure it — in linear feet along the length of the trailer. Enter the number of pallets, their footprint, whether they can be stacked and the trailer size. The tool tries loading pallets straight (long side along the trailer) and turned (short side along the trailer), picks the pattern that uses the least floor, and reports the linear feet, rows, share of the trailer and how many pallets a full trailer would hold.
It is meant for shippers, freight brokers and warehouse staff deciding between LTL, volume LTL, partial truckload and full truckload. Most LTL carriers have a linear foot or “cubic capacity” rule: once a shipment takes more than a set number of linear feet of trailer — often somewhere around 10 to 14 feet, depending on the carrier and tariff — it is re-rated by the space it occupies rather than its weight and freight class. Enter the threshold from your carrier’s rules tariff to see whether you cross it.
Two pallets side by side count as one row, because they share the same length of floor. The default inside width of 100 inches suits a typical 102-inch-wide dry van; reefers and older trailers are narrower, which can stop 48-inch pallets from being turned two across.
With the default inputs, the linear feet used is 13.33 ft. Change any value above to recalculate instantly.
How to use the linear feet freight calculator
- 1Enter the number of pallets and their length and width in inches.
- 2Choose whether they can be stacked two or three high.
- 3Pick the trailer and check the inside width.
- 4Leave the pattern on best fit, or force straight or turned loading.
- 5Enter your carrier’s linear foot threshold and read the result.
Formula and method
Stackable pallets share one floor position, so the number of positions is the pallet count divided by the stack height, rounded up. The number that fit side by side is the inside trailer width divided by the pallet dimension that runs across the trailer, rounded down. Rows are positions divided by that number, rounded up, and each row uses the pallet dimension that runs along the trailer.
Linear feet are rows × row depth in inches ÷ 12. “Straight” loading puts the pallet length along the trailer; “turned” loading puts the width along it. For a 48 × 40 in pallet in a 100 in wide trailer, both fit two across, but turned rows are only 40 in deep, so a 53 ft trailer holds 30 pallets turned versus 26 straight. The result is compared with the carrier’s linear foot threshold to flag likely space-based rating.
- across
- ⌊inside trailer width ÷ pallet dimension across the trailer⌋
- row depth
- Pallet dimension along the trailer (inches)
- stack height
- Pallets stacked per floor position
Worked examples
8 standard 48 × 40 pallets in a 53 ft van
Turned two across, each row of two pallets is 40 inches deep. Eight pallets make 4 rows × 40 in = 160 in, or 13.33 linear feet — 25% of a 53 ft trailer and above a 12 ft linear foot rule. Loaded straight they would take 4 × 48 in = 16 ft.
Double-stacked freight, forced straight loading
Fourteen pallets stacked two high need 7 floor positions. Two across, that is 4 rows (the last row has a single stack), and 4 × 48 in = 192 in = 16 linear feet. A full 53 ft trailer loaded this way would hold 13 rows × 2 × 2 = 52 pallets.
Three 48 × 48 pallets in a 48 ft trailer
Square 48 in pallets fit two across a 100 in trailer either way. Three pallets need 2 rows, or 96 in = 8 linear feet, which is under a 12 ft rule, so the shipment should rate normally by weight and class.
Frequently asked questions
How do you calculate linear feet for freight?+
Work out how many pallets fit side by side across the trailer (usually two), divide the pallet count by that to get rows, multiply by the depth of each row in inches and divide by 12. Eight 48 × 40 pallets loaded straight two across take 4 rows × 48 in = 16 linear feet.
What is the LTL linear foot rule?+
It is a carrier tariff rule that re-rates a shipment by the trailer space it uses instead of its weight and class once it exceeds a set number of linear feet. The threshold and the charge differ by carrier — check the rules tariff, often under “linear foot rule” or “cubic capacity”.
How many pallets fit in a 53 ft trailer?+
With standard 48 × 40 in pallets, a 53 ft dry van holds 26 pallets loaded straight (13 rows of two) or 30 turned (15 rows of two), single-stacked. Double-stacking can double that if the weight limit and the freight allow it.
Do stackable pallets reduce linear feet?+
Yes. Stacked pallets share a floor position, so double-stacking halves the number of positions and roughly halves linear feet. Carriers usually charge non-stackable freight for the full space above it, so marking freight stackable when it truly is can save money.
What is the difference between linear feet and cubic feet?+
Linear feet measure only the length of trailer floor occupied, because freight that blocks the floor prevents other freight being loaded there. Cubic feet measure total volume (length × width × height) and are used for density and freight class calculations.