Size guideContact us
The Board Atlas

Pallet Size Guide

In short

The North American standard is the 48 × 40 inch GMA pallet (1219 × 1016 mm), about 6 inches tall, weighing 33–48 lb, rated roughly 2,500 lb dynamic. The European standard is the 1200 × 800 mm Euro/EPAL block pallet. Everything else — 42×42, 48×48, 36×36, 48×45 and forty more — exists because a specific load, a specific rack or a specific doorway made the standard wrong. Below you can draw any of them to true scale, compare them against a GMA, and read the full dimension table in both units.

Not sure which footprint you need?

Give us the load — weight, dimensions, whether it racks, whether it goes in a container — and we will specify against it rather than against an assumption.

We reply by email only — no marketing list.

US or Canada, 10 digits — format as (513) 555-0142.

US ZIP like 45241, or Canadian like K1A 0B1.

Required fields are marked *. Your details go to our Evendale team and nowhere else — see the privacy policy.

Two short stacks of new heat-treated block pallets standing on the concrete outside a roller door, with the yard behind.
New block pallets outside the kiln door. Nothing ships for export until the treatment record is filed against the order.
Looking into a loaded trailer stacked with new EPAL and EUR-stamped Euro block pallets, banded and strapped in rows.
A trailer of EPAL block pallets loaded two-across. Every unit stamped, banded and counted before the doors close.
Interactive

Draw it to scale

Size charts are tables of numbers nobody can picture. Pick a footprint, switch between plan and elevation, flip the units, and keep a ghosted 48×40 GMA underneath for reference. The fork tine in the elevation view is drawn at true scale too.

View
Units
Reference
48″40″
Drawn to true scale from our build specification. The lilac dashes in plan view mark where the stringers run underneath the deck.
Footprint48″ × 40″
Height6″
Empty weight33–48 lb
Deck boards7 top / 5 bottom
Constructionstringer
Fork entrypartial 4-way
Static / dynamic5,000 / 2,500 lb
Racked2,000 lb
Per 53-ft trailer~560
Common inGrocery, Retail
Full 48 × 40 GMA guideQuote this footprint
Detailed guides

Six footprints, in depth

North America

48 × 40 GMA

Grocery · Retail · General distribution — 2,500 lb dynamic, ~560 per trailer.

Full guide Europe

1200 × 800 mm Euro / EPAL

European distribution · Automotive · Pharmaceutical — 3,300 lb dynamic, ~520 per trailer.

Full guide North America

42 × 42 Drum

Chemical · Paint · Telecom — 2,500 lb dynamic, ~600 per trailer.

Full guide North America

48 × 48 Square

Chemical · Drum handling · Cable reels — 3,000 lb dynamic, ~480 per trailer.

Full guide North America

36 × 36 Beverage

Brewing · Beverage · Dairy — 2,000 lb dynamic, ~700 per trailer.

Full guide North America

48 × 45 Automotive

Automotive · Tier-one supply · Metal stamping — 2,800 lb dynamic, ~520 per trailer.

Full guide
Reference

The full dimension table

Twenty-two footprints in imperial and metric, with the sector that keeps each one alive. Sizes we do not hold in standing inventory can usually be remanufactured from recovered lumber inside two weeks.

Common pallet footprints, North American and international.
InchesMillimetresCommon nameTypical useRegion
48 × 401219 × 1016GMA / grocery standardGrocery, retail, beverage, generalNorth America
42 × 421067 × 1067Drum palletChemical, paint, telecomNorth America
48 × 481219 × 1219Square drum palletDrums, reels, bulk bagsNorth America
40 × 481016 × 1219Reversed GMAMilitary, specific handlingNorth America
48 × 421219 × 1067Deep retailLarge-format retail displayNorth America
40 × 401016 × 1016Dairy / beverageDairy, beverageNorth America
48 × 451219 × 1143AutomotiveTier-one automotive supplyNorth America
44 × 441118 × 1118Legacy drumChemical, petroleumNorth America
36 × 36914 × 914BeverageBrewing, beverage, dairyNorth America
48 × 361219 × 914Beverage / packaged goodsBeverage, shippingNorth America
35 × 45.5889 × 1156Military 463L adjacentDefence logisticsNorth America
32 × 30813 × 762Quarter displayRetail floor displayNorth America
24 × 40610 × 1016Half palletRetail display, DSDNorth America
24 × 20610 × 508Quarter palletRetail display, small formatNorth America
1200 × 8001200 × 800Euro / EPAL 1European distributionEurope
1200 × 10001200 × 1000ISO 2 / industrialIndustrial, Asia-sourced freightEurope / Asia
1140 × 11401140 × 1140ISO 3Australia, AsiaAsia-Pacific
1100 × 11001100 × 1100ISO 4 / Asian standardAsian distributionAsia
1067 × 10671067 × 1067ISO 5North America exportInternational
1165 × 11651165 × 1165Australian standardAustralian distributionAustralia
800 × 600800 × 600Half Euro / displayEuropean retail displayEurope
600 × 400600 × 400Quarter EuroEuropean display, DSDEurope
Beyond the footprint

Dimension is the easy part

Two pallets with identical footprints can differ by a factor of three in what they safely carry. Construction, species, stringer count and support condition decide that — not length and width.

Load capacity

Static, dynamic and racked ratings, creep and derating factors.

Stringer vs block

Two construction philosophies and what the notch really costs.

Hardwood vs softwood

Species comparison on strength, weight, cost and service life.

Grades explained

What A, B, #1 and #2 permit and reject.

Questions

Pallet dimensions, answered

What is the standard pallet size in the United States?
48 × 40 inches (1219 × 1016 mm) — the GMA pallet. It accounts for roughly 30% of all new North American wood pallets because two fit side by side in a standard trailer with loading clearance.
What is the standard pallet size in Europe?
1200 × 800 mm — the Euro or EPAL pallet, built on nine blocks rather than stringers and exchangeable across a European pool.
How do I measure a pallet correctly?
Length is measured along the stringer axis first, then width along the deck board axis. A 48x40 has 48-inch stringers. If a drawing says 40x48, confirm which axis the stringers run before ordering.
What height is a standard pallet?
A GMA 48x40 stands about 5.5 to 6.5 inches. A Euro pallet is 144 mm, roughly 5.67 inches. Height variance matters more than footprint variance for conveyors and AGVs.
How many pallets fit in a 53-foot trailer?
26 to 28 floor positions of 48x40 loaded, or roughly 550 to 600 empty stacked and banded.
Can I get a pallet size that is not on this list?
Yes. We hold over forty recovered footprints in rotating inventory and build anything from 24 to 96 inches on either axis to print, from 25 units up.

Choosing a footprint in seven questions

  1. Does the load overhang any standard footprint? Measure a real, filled, settled unit — not a drawing and not a nominal size. Overhang costs roughly 30% of stacking strength.
  2. Is the load round? Drums, reels and coils want a square deck, because a square cannot be loaded the wrong way round.
  3. Is the load flexible? A filled bulk bag spreads four to eight inches wider than people expect. Measure it settled.
  4. Does it pass through a doorway at the far end? Beverage and direct-store delivery live or die on this, and it is invisible from a distribution centre.
  5. Does it go in a container? Container interior width is about 92 inches usable, which does not divide evenly by 48. A tuned footprint can recover a whole strip of floor.
  6. Does it go in a rack, and how is the rack beamed? Two 48-inch pallets in a 96-inch opening leaves essentially no clearance.
  7. Is it automated? Then height tolerance and bottom-deck geometry matter more than footprint, and far more than grade.

Quick conversion and capacity reference

QuantityValue
1 inch25.4 mm
48 × 40 in1219 × 1016 mm
1200 × 800 mm47.24 × 31.50 in
Deck area, 48 × 4013.33 ft² / 1.24 m²
Deck area, 48 × 4816.00 ft² / 1.49 m²
Deck area, 1200 × 80010.33 ft² / 0.96 m²
53-ft trailer interior width~98 – 100 in
40-ft container usable width~92 in / 7 ft 8 in
Standard rack beam openings96, 99, 108, 144 in
Typical empty 48 × 40 weight33 – 48 lb / 15 – 22 kg
Full trailer of empty 48 × 40 hardwood~25,000 lb
Stacked pitch, empty pallets~6 in per unit
1 cubic yard of mulch at 3 in depth108 ft² coverage