Container & Truck Load Planner (3D, mixed cartons)
How your mixed cartons fit a container or truck, row by row, with the weight checks.
Try before you buy.
- Free preview: the containers needed, the fill, the weights and the checks, the first rows of each table (up to 10) and a watermarked picture of the first container.
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Container or truck
The 53′ trailer’s inside length is a typical figure: trailers differ by a few inches, so measure yours or take it from its specification, and enter its rear door opening and the payload your carrier allows.
The front support is the kingpin of a semi-trailer or the front axle of a rigid truck (a negative distance when it is ahead of the load space). Take the limits from the vehicle’s plate and your road rules.
Loading rules
With delivery stops, give each carton type its stop (1 is unloaded first): the first stop’s cartons go in last, nearest the door.
Cartons
Add each carton type with its size, weight and quantity, or open a carton list (CSV or Excel).
The load plan
Each container
Loading rows, from the front wall to the door
Cartons not loaded
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Results are estimates from the formulas shown, not a professional design or certification. Have a qualified engineer verify anything safety-critical (structures, electrical installations, gas or pressure systems).
About the Container & Truck Load Planner (3D, mixed cartons)
Plan how a mixed shipment fits a 20′ GP, 40′ GP, 40′ HC or 45′ HC container, a 53′ trailer or a load space of your own size. Enter each carton type — size, weight and quantity, whether it may turn any way or must stay this side up, how many cartons may stand on it, and whether it is fragile — or open a carton list from a spreadsheet. The planner places every carton, wall by wall from the front wall to the door, keeping each one supported from below, never a heavier carton on a lighter one (unless you allow it), every carton through the door opening and the load within the payload. With several delivery stops, each stop’s cartons stay reachable from the door, the first stop loaded last.
You see how many containers the load needs, the share of the volume and payload used, and for each container its centre of gravity checked against the IMO/ILO/UNECE CTU Code, the heaviest metre of floor against the container’s rating, and for trucks an estimate of the axle loads. Turn the 3D view, step through the loading rows one at a time and read what goes in each row and how; cartons that cannot go in are listed with the reason.
Without a pass the plan is a free preview: the containers needed, the fill, the weights and the checks show in full, with the first rows of each table and a watermarked picture of the first container. The 3D view, the loading rows, the PDF loading plan, the placements CSV and the summary come with a Pro pass.
How to use it
- Pick the container or truck. The four container sizes come with their inside sizes, door opening, payload and floor rating; change any of them, or choose Your own sizes. For a truck you can also estimate the axle loads from the axle positions and limits.
- Add each carton type: length, width and height, the weight of one, the quantity, how it may turn, how many cartons may stand on it, and whether it is fragile. A carton list in CSV or Excel can be opened instead; the blank list is a template.
- Set the loading rules: the share of each carton’s base that must stand on something, heavy on light, and delivery stops.
- Press Plan the load and read the containers needed, the fill, the weights and the checks; the plan updates as you change the cartons.
- Without a pass you see a free preview; with a Pro pass, turn the 3D view, step through the rows and use Loading plan (PDF) for the loading team.
Examples
300 cartons of 60 × 40 × 40 cm, any way up
259 in the first container — 13 walls of 18 with the cartons turned 40 cm deep (15 standing on end, 3 lying on top), then a wall of 25 at the door — and 41 in a second
Walls 60 cm deep take 25 each (5 across, 5 high) but leave 50 cm at the door for only 18: 243. Choosing the depth of each wall for the length that is left fits 16 more.
A 20′ container with five groups of cargo: 3.5 t at 0.7 m, 4.2 t at 1.4 m, 3.7 t at 3.0 m, 2.2 t at 3.8 m and 4.9 t at 5.1 m from the front
d = 52.78 t·m ÷ 18.5 t = 2.85 m from the front wall: 1.6% of the length from the middle, within the 5% the CTU Code asks for
340 cartons of 50 × 40 × 30 cm and 60 fragile cartons of 40 × 30 × 30 cm in a 20′ GP
Stacked 7 high, the strong cartons leave no room above them and the fragile ones need a second container; the planner keeps the top 30 cm clear instead, and everything fits in one
Common uses
- Exporters and freight forwarders checking whether a shipment needs a 20′, a 40′ or a high cube.
- Warehouses preparing a loading sequence for a mixed container or a multi-drop truck.
- Buyers checking a supplier’s packing list against the container booked.
- Planning the weight distribution before a heavy load leaves the yard.
How the plan is made
The planner uses an extreme-point heuristic (after Crainic, Perboli and Tadei): each carton goes to the first open corner that takes it — the deepest first, then the lowest, then the one nearest the left wall — so the load builds up in walls across the width, as it is loaded by hand or forklift. Several loading orders are tried (largest first, heaviest first, by base area, by length, by height). In some, a carton type is first tried in the way that fits the most cartons per metre of length; in others, following George and Robinson’s wall-building idea, the depth of each wall is chosen for the length that is left and the way each row stands for the height that is left, so walls of turned cartons can end with a wall the other way at the door. The plan with the fewest containers wins, then the one that fills the first containers most. Cartons that allow nothing on top are loaded last; when that saves a container, a top layer is kept clear for them so they ride on the stacks.
The rules follow the practical constraints of container loading (Bortfeldt and Wäscher’s review in the European Journal of Operational Research): orientation, support from below, stacking limits, weight, the door opening and delivery stops. It is a fast heuristic that finds a good plan, not a proof that no better one exists.
The weight checks
For a container the CTU Code (annex 7) asks for the centre of gravity of the cargo close to the middle of the length and width: an eccentricity of not more than 5% in general, up to 10% in particular circumstances, which as a rule of thumb is no more than 60% of the weight in half the length. The centre of gravity should also be below half the height of the load space. The planner works the centre of gravity out as the code does, d = Σ(m × d) ÷ Σm, with each carton’s weight at its centre.
The heaviest metre of floor is compared with the floor’s rating per running metre — for the container sizes offered, 4.8 t on a 20′ and 3 t on a 40′ (no figure is given for the 45′). For a truck or trailer the cargo’s share on the front support (the kingpin or front axle) and on the rear axles is estimated by moments: rear = W × (d − a) ÷ (b − a), with a and b the two supports measured from the front wall. Add the empty vehicle’s share on each and compare with the vehicle’s plate and your road rules — for example the United States’ federal limits of 20,000 lb on a single axle and 34,000 lb on a tandem on the Interstate System (FHWA).
Container and trailer sizes
The containers are the inside sizes, door openings and payloads in Hapag-Lloyd’s container specification for its general purpose and high cube boxes with wooden floors, rated at 32,500 kg gross:
- 20′ GP: 5.900 × 2.352 × 2.393 m inside, door 2.340 × 2.292 m, payload 30,200 kg
- 40′ GP: 12.032 × 2.352 × 2.395 m, door 2.340 × 2.292 m, payload 28,800 kg
- 40′ HC: 12.032 × 2.352 × 2.700 m, door 2.340 × 2.597 m, payload 28,650 kg
- 45′ HC: 13.556 × 2.352 × 2.700 m, door 2.340 × 2.597 m, payload 27,800 kg
Other boxes differ by a few centimetres and kilograms, and road and rail weight limits on your route may be lower than a box’s payload, so change the figures to your container’s. The 53′ dry van starts from 100″ wide (at the wearband) and 110½″ high inside, as in a trailer maker’s specification, and a typical inside length of 52′ 6″: measure your trailer’s length and rear door opening, and enter the payload your carrier allows.
Sources
- IMO/ILO/UNECE Code of Practice for Packing of Cargo Transport Units: CTU Code — centre of gravity, annex 7
- Hapag-Lloyd container specification — inside sizes, door openings, payloads and floor loads
- FHWA, federal size and weight — United States axle and gross weight limits on the Interstate System
Limitations
- Cartons are rigid boxes. Pallets can be planned as cartons of their loaded size and weight; drums, rolls and loose items cannot.
- The plan does not include dunnage, bracing, lashing or airbags: secure the load as the CTU Code and your carrier require.
- Weights are taken as spread evenly in each carton, so the centre of gravity, floor and axle figures are estimates; a weighbridge reading is the real check.
- The planner finds a good plan quickly, not the best possible one: an experienced loader can sometimes fit a few more cartons.
- One plan takes up to 20,000 cartons of up to 60 types in up to 60 containers. The 3D view needs a browser with WebGL; the loading rows describe the plan without it.
Privacy
On this device; its files download once
Everything happens in your browser. Your cartons and plans are not uploaded; the cartons and settings you enter are kept in this browser’s local storage.
Frequently asked questions
What do I get without a pass?
Without a pass, Container & Truck Load Planner (3D, mixed cartons) shows the containers needed, the fill, the weights and the checks, the first rows of each table (up to 10) and a watermarked picture of the first container. Until you unlock it, the result can’t be downloaded or copied. A Pro, Premium or Ultimate pass, a one-time payment that never renews, unlocks the full result. The pricing page lists the passes and their prices.
How many cartons fit in a 20 ft container?
It depends on the carton’s size and how it may turn, not just on the volume. 60 × 40 × 40 cm cartons that may turn fill a 20′ GP with 259 — 13 walls of 18 turned 40 cm deep and one wall of 25 — while the container’s 33.2 m³ would suggest about 345: whole cartons leave gaps at the sides and top. Enter your cartons to see your own number.
Does it put heavy cartons at the bottom?
With Never put a heavier carton on a lighter one ticked, no carton stands on a lighter one, and one of the loading orders tried loads the heaviest cartons first. The checks also warn when the centre of gravity is above half the height.
What does “cartons on top” mean?
How many cartons may stand on one of these, counting every layer above it. 0 means nothing on top (the same as fragile); leave it empty for no limit. A limit is passed up the stack, so a carton never ends up under more than its own limit allows.
Can it plan a truck with several drops?
Yes. Tick the delivery stops rule and give each carton type its stop: the first stop’s cartons go in last, and no carton of a later stop stands between an earlier stop’s carton and the door.
Do I need a pass?
To turn the 3D view, step through the loading rows, download the PDF or the CSV or copy the summary, yes: a Pro pass unlocks every Pro tool. Without a pass you see a free preview of your own load: the containers needed, the fill, the weights and the checks, the first rows of each table (up to 10) and a watermarked picture of the first container.