Pallet Calculator

TI and HI, explained

TI is the tier: how many cases sit in one layer. HI is the height: how many layers stack on the pallet. Multiply them and you have cases per pallet. The worked example above is TI 16, HI 5, so 80 cases.

The pair matters beyond arithmetic. Retailer routing guides ask for TI and HI on new item setup forms, co-packers build to them, and a 3PL quoting your storage wants them before your freight arrives. If you have ever been asked for a “pallet configuration,” this is it.

How the math works

Cases per layer is geometry: how many case footprints fit inside the pallet footprint with no overhang. The calculator tries the case in both orientations, and also checks whether the leftover strip along one edge fits a row of rotated cases on top of the block pattern, then keeps the best count.

Layers is the smaller of two caps. Height: how many case heights fit between the top of the deck and your maximum load height. Weight: how many full layers stay under your maximum load weight once the pallet’s own tare weight is counted. The result panel tells you which cap decided the number, because the fix is different: a height-bound pallet wants a shorter case or a taller cap, a weight-bound pallet wants lighter layers.

Real stacking has variations the math deliberately leaves to people who can see the freight: interlocked and pinwheel patterns that trade count for stability, slip sheets and tier sheets that add height, and cases that compress under load. Treat the result as the planning number to hand your 3PL or carrier, not as a packing instruction.

Standard pallet sizes

The calculator’s presets cover the footprints you will actually be quoted against. The 48 by 40 inch GMA pallet dominates North American grocery and retail; square sizes serve drums, bulk bags and specialty freight; the EUR pallet is the European standard.

Setting the height and weight caps

The right caps are whatever binds first in your operation, and they are worth finding out rather than guessing. Rack beam openings set a hard ceiling per position. A trailer plan that double-stacks needs each load short enough that two fit the door height. Clamp trucks, mezzanines and sprinkler clearance rules all impose their own limits, and the cases themselves have a stacking strength that crushing will find for you.

The default here is 60 inches including the pallet, a common warehouse program cap; loads built nearer 50 inches are what double-stack in a dry van. If your 3PL quotes storage by pallet position, ask what height a position assumes: a load built four inches over the opening pays for a second position or gets reworked.

What cube utilization tells you

Cube utilization is case volume on the pallet divided by the space available to it: footprint times usable height. The gap between that number and 100 percent is air you are paying to store and ship.

Low utilization usually traces to one of three causes: a case footprint that tiles the deck badly, a case height that leaves a tall gap under the cap, or a weight cap cutting layers before height does. Small carton changes move the number a lot, which is why it is worth checking before a packaging run, not after.

Pallets and 3PL pricing

Most 3PLs bill storage per pallet position per month, and many bill receiving per pallet too, so cases per pallet is the denominator under a real share of your fulfillment bill. The same 500 cases at 80 per pallet is 7 positions; at 48 per pallet it is 11. How those fees are structured, line by line, is covered in our 3PL pricing guide, and you can model the full per-order cost in the fulfillment cost calculator.

If the freight ships LTL, the pallet you just built also has a freight class. Its density decides it, and the freight density calculator reads that straight off the same dimensions and weight.