48 x 40 x 24 gaylord box

Castings, fittings, chips and other dense parts that would hit the weight limit long before they fill a tall box. The low sides also make it easy to load by hand and by hopper.

How it sits on a pallet

It matches the 48 x 40 deck, so nothing overhangs. The box covers 13.33 sq ft of floor and the deck covers 13.33.

What the rating means

The 1,500 lb figure is one maker's listed capacity for a new box. Spread across 26.7 cu ft, that is 56.2 lb for each cubic foot. A load denser than that reaches the rating before the box is full; a lighter load fills the box first. A used box is rated by grade and place, not by the new figure.

What to watch

Dense loads put point stress on the bottom; ask for a full flap bottom and a sound tray.

Handling

A 24 in sidewall is easy to load by hand and by hopper, because nobody has to reach over a 36 in wall, and a pallet jack can move it without the box shifting. The low height also keeps the centre of gravity down, which matters when a full box weighs most of its rating.

What fills it

Castings, fittings, chips, stampings and other dense parts belong here. A tall box of those would hit its weight limit with the top half empty, and an empty top half does nothing for stacking. The short box is full when it is heavy, which is when you want it to be full.

Three loads, worked through

Suppose the material is 20 lb a cubic foot. A brim-full box then weighs 564 lb counting the box. Heated bay, Grade A, a month: "three high" (1,148 lb allowed below). Dock, Grade B, a month: "two high" (622 lb allowed). At 35 lb a cubic foot the full box is 935 lb of load. Stack Check gives "two high" for Grade A in a warm bay and "do not stack" for Grade B on a cold dock; the bottom box is allowed 1,148 lb and 622 lb respectively. Fill the 48 x 40 x 24 to the brim with something that weighs 50 lb a cubic foot and it holds 1,335 lb, 1,365 lb with the box. As Grade A in a heated bay for 30 days that comes out as "do not stack", with 1,148 lb allowed on the bottom box; as Grade B on a dock it comes out as "do not use at this load", with 622 lb allowed.

How a used one stands

Below, 3‑wall boxes rated at 1,500 lb filled to the brim with material at 15, 25 and 35 lb a cubic foot, so the loads are 400 lb, 670 lb, 930 lb. Each is 30 days under load unless the column says 90 days.

What the bottom box is allowed to carry

Every stack height on this site comes from one comparison: what a bottom 48 x 40 x 24 box is allowed to carry, against what sits on it. The table gives the allowance for up to 30 days. Divide by the weight of one loaded box, such as 700 lb, to see how many fit above.

Ordering this size

1. Say 48 x 40 x 24 in and the wall count; the same footprint is sold in more than one height.
2. Give the maker's mark if the box has one. The 1,500 lb figure is one maker's new-box listing, not a promise about a used one.
3. Name the pallet. A 48 x 40 footprint sits inside a 48 x 40 deck, but the pallet still sets how the load is strapped.
4. Weigh one full box. Past 750 lb, the stack height drops quickly.
5. Say where the stack will stand and for how long: the dock or the heated bay changes the answer more than the grade does.

In a trailer

How many 48 x 40 x 24 boxes make a load? On a trailer floor of about 630 by 98 in, the better of the two layouts gives 30 positions, and the roof, at about 108 in, allows 3 tiers of this height. Those are planning figures only.

In the cold

A short box suffers less from cold because the wall that carries the load is shorter, but the same dock rules apply: moving a cold box into a warm room makes it sweat. Because a full box of dense parts is heavy, one high is the honest answer on a dock.

New or used at this size

Dense loads are hard on used boxes. A bottom that has carried castings once may have point-load damage you cannot see from the outside. For anything near the rating, ask for new or Grade A, and for chips and fines ask for a full flap bottom in good order.

Who orders it

Metal parts makers, foundries and machine shops are the natural buyers: castings, fittings, stampings and chips. A short box is also a common choice for lab and instrument shops where parts are small but heavy.

Against its neighbours

Choose it over the 48 x 40 x 36 when a full tall box would weigh more than the rating allows. Choose the 48 x 40 x 36 instead when the load is light and you want volume. Between the two, the weight of one full box is the whole decision.

Short boxes are underrated in handling. A crew can scoop chips or sweep parts into a 24 in wall without a ladder or a lift table, and a spill is a short drop rather than a long one. For sites that fill by hand, the saving in injuries and in spilled parts can matter more than the saving on the box. Weigh a full one before you commit to a run, because dense parts surprise people.

Back to the size hub, or see the full and partial bottoms, the wall counts and how to compare sizes by load.

Questions, answered