Practical tools for measured work
Loading Metre (LDM) Calculator
Calculate loading metres for road freight from cargo footprint, quantity and stack layers.
how many high, if stackable
2.4 m is the widely used road-freight standard
usable loading length, e.g. 13.6 m for a standard curtainsider
How it works
How to use it: add one cargo line per distinct load size - length, width, quantity and how many layers high it can safely stack. LDM (loading metre) measures how much of the trailer's floor length your cargo occupies, which is a different question from CBM's cubic volume - use LDM for road-freight floor space and pricing, CBM for shipment volume.
Formula. Each line's LDM is its total floor area divided by the trailer's usable width, divided again by how many layers it's stacked:
Line LDM = (length × width × quantity) / (trailer width × stack layers)
Total LDM = sum of every line. A Euro/EPAL pallet footprint (1.2 × 0.8 m) at the standard 2.4 m trailer width works out to a widely cited reference value of exactly (1.2 × 0.8) / 2.4 = 0.4 LDM per pallet - this tool uses that same reference to show your total as an equivalent pallet count.
Worked example. With the default line (1.2 × 0.8 m, quantity 10, 1 layer, 2.4 m trailer width): LDM = (1.2 × 0.8 × 10) / (2.4 × 1) = 9.6 / 2.4 = 4.0 LDM - exactly 10 Euro pallets at 0.4 LDM each. Against a 13.6 m reference trailer, that's 4.0 ÷ 13.6 ≈ 29.4% of the trailer's length.
Limitations
This is a floor-area formula, not a packing simulation - it assumes cargo can be arranged to use the full trailer width efficiently. If your units don't divide evenly across the trailer width (for example, three 1 m-wide units side by side in a 2.4 m trailer leaves an unusable 0.4 m gap), the real usable floor length can be higher than this formula suggests. Treat the result as a planning estimate, not a guaranteed fit.
Stacking assumes the cargo is genuinely safe to stack that high - this tool does not check weight limits, crush strength, trailer height clearance, or load-securing rules. It also does not account for irregular loads, non-rectangular footprints, or mixed pallet types sharing one row.
Frequently asked questions
How is LDM different from CBM?
CBM measures cubic volume (length × width × height), which matters for sea/air freight priced by volume. LDM measures floor-length occupation at a standard trailer width, which is the metric road-freight pricing typically uses - a tall but narrow-footprint load can have a small CBM but a meaningful LDM, and vice versa.
Why 2.4 m for trailer width?
2.4 m is the widely used usable-width standard for European road-freight trailers, which is where the LDM concept comes from. If your actual trailer's usable width differs, change the trailer width field - the formula scales accordingly.
What does the Euro-pallet equivalent mean?
It expresses your total LDM as "how many Euro/EPAL pallets would take up the same floor length," using the common 0.4 LDM-per-pallet reference. It's a quick sanity check, not a literal claim that your cargo is on Euro pallets.
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Calculate dimensional (volumetric) weight from carton size and a configurable divisor.
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