EPAL 2 vs 48 × 40 in a 40 ft open top container

In a 40 ft open top container (12,021 × 2,350 mm inside), our engine fits 22 EPAL 2 pallets against 20 pallets of 48 × 40 in, 2 more EPAL 2. With handling clearance the counts are 20 and 20.

Document
LDC-015
Sheet
Load comparisons
Last reviewed
Sources
2 cited
22EPAL 2
2048 × 40 in
12021 × 2350Deck, mm

Both layouts

12,021 mm2,350 mmFront wallDoors
22 EPAL 2 pallets. Darker pallets are turned 90°.
12,021 mm2,350 mmFront wallDoors
20 48 × 40 in pallets. Darker pallets are turned 90°.

EPAL 2 covers 93.5% of the floor and 48 × 40 covers 87.7%. One EPAL 2 takes 1.20 m² and one 48 × 40 takes 1.24 m², so the count alone does not tell you which carries more goods: 22 × 1.20 = 26.4 m² against 20 × 1.24 = 24.8 m² of pallet deck.

Floor and door

The 40 ft open top container has 28.2 m² of floor (304 sq ft) inside. Pallet decks cover 26.4 m² with EPAL 2 and 24.8 m² with 48 × 40, leaving 1.8 m² and 3.5 m² of gaps.

The door opening is 2,338 mm wide, so the EPAL 2, carried narrow side first, clears it by 1,338 mm and a 48 × 40 by 1,322 mm. The EPAL 2 layout puts 10 with the 1200 mm side along the length and 12 turned with the 1000 mm side along the length; the 48 × 40 layout puts 9 with the 1219 mm side along the length and 11 turned with the 1016 mm side along the length.

Inputs

Inside length × width12,021 × 2,350 mm
Inside height2,330 mm
Door opening, width × height2,338 × 2,234 mm
Guideline payload31,570 kg
EPAL 2 footprint1,200 × 1,000 mm
48 × 40 footprint1,219 × 1,016 mm
Equipment sourceLeman USA Inc.. guideline payload

How this is computed

The engine tries every split of the deck into rows of pallets placed one way and rows placed the other way, along the length and across the width, and keeps the arrangement with the most pallets. It does not overhang, mix in other pallet sizes or allow for bulging goods. The methodology page explains each step, and the load planner runs the same code on your own dimensions.

Sources

Last reviewed . Figures come from these publications; follow the links for the current versions.

  1. Container specification (guideline), US edition, Leman USA Inc.
  2. Load-count method (computed by this site), epalrecycling.com

What do you need to do with them?

Pick one. Each form takes about a minute and goes to one partner, not a list of dealers.