Gaylord sizes and dimensions

The standard gaylord footprint is 48 x 40 in, matched to a standard pallet. Typical footprints are 48 x 40, 48 x 48 or 48 x 45 in, with sidewalls usually 24 to 50 in high. Everything else on this page follows from those three numbers: volume, capacity and how the box hangs over (or sits inside) the pallet.

Reading the table

Volume tells you how much a box can hold. The rating tells you how much it can carry. A load that is lighter than the rating divided by the volume fills the box first; a heavier load hits the rating first. At 1,500 lb in 40 cu ft, the 48 x 40 x 36 averages 37.5 lb per cubic foot, which is why dense parts want the short 48 x 40 x 24.

Overhang matters for stacking. Virginia Tech research found that effective box compression strength decreases as pallet overhang increases. The 48 x 48 sizes hang over a 48 x 40 pallet by 8 in, and Stack Check cuts a box that overhangs to 80% of its strength.

Pick by load

Reading a size name

Sizes are written length x width x height, in inches. The first two numbers set the footprint on a pallet; the third sets the volume and, with the walls, the stack. A box with a footprint that matches a pallet needs no overhang. If you have a pallet that is not 48 x 40, put its size on the request, because overhang costs strength and it changes which size we suggest.

When none of the sizes fit

If your load needs a size that is not in the table, say what it needs: the inside dimensions, the weight and how it will be moved. A box that is close to standard may serve, and a bespoke size is a separate conversation.

Sizes and pallets in a truck

Each size page works a trailer-fit example on an assumed inside floor of 630 by 98 inches. Real trailers vary with the make and the wear on the walls, so measure yours before you plan a load around the count.

Why we keep to eleven sizes

The market sells many more sizes than these, but the eleven on the table cover the loads that reach this desk. A size that appears here has a known footprint on a pallet, a volume, a density the table can reason about and a Stack Check run. A size that does not is a special order, and a special order is a conversation about a maker, not a page about a box.

The shorter sizes, 48 x 40 x 24 and 36 x 36 x 36, are for dense loads that would be too heavy to lift in a full-height box. The taller sizes, 48 x 40 x 48 and 48 x 48 x 48, are for light, bulky loads where a standard box would fill by volume long before it filled by weight. The octagon is the size for flowing material. If you can say which of those three groups your load belongs to, the size choice is nearly made.

Three questions that pick a size

What does a full box weigh? If it is more than a few hundred pounds a box and the material is dense, go short: 48 x 40 x 24 or 36 x 36 x 36 gives you a box you can lift and a stack that holds. What does a full box look like? If it fills to the brim with bulk that weighs little, go tall: 48 x 40 x 48 or 48 x 48 x 48 uses the space before the weight becomes a problem. How does it get emptied? If it pours, an octagon, whose corners let material slide, saves a lot of scraping.

After that, check the pallet and the truck. A 48 x 48 box on a 48 x 40 pallet overhangs by eight inches, and Stack Check cuts its strength for it. A trailer takes the same number of pallets whatever the box on top, but a taller box means fewer boxes to a stack in a low bay. Write the ceiling height of the bay on the request, if you know it, and the size choice becomes a matter of arithmetic.

Sizes and the stack

A bigger box is not always a better one. A taller box has a taller wall, and a taller wall bows more under the same weight. A bigger footprint spreads the load, but it also overhangs a standard pallet and takes strength away. Stack Check knows these effects, and each size page reports what the box keeps at its own proportions. Read the page for the size you are considering and run the tool with its numbers before you order a quantity.

Measuring your own

Measure inside, not outside, when you want to know what a box holds, and outside when you want to know how it fits a pallet. Measure the height to the top of the walls with the flaps open. Write the dimensions as length, width and height, in inches, and send the numbers with the request.

Metric, imperial and the sizes that hide

The sizes on this page are in inches because that is how the box trade quotes them in North America. A box listed as 1,200 x 1,000 mm is the European pallet footprint and a different shape from the 48 x 40 in standard; if you are buying for a line that uses the European pallet, say so. Some makers list inside dimensions and some list outside, and a half-inch of board thickness on each side makes a real difference to a tight fit.

A note on tolerance

Corrugated boxes are not machined parts; a nominal 48 inches can come in a quarter inch either side, and a stack of six can drift. Allow for that at the dock and in the trailer.

Questions, answered