Use the actual deck footprint
A common GMA pallet footprint is 48 × 40 inches, or exactly 121.92 × 101.6 cm. Cargoivo’s pallet tool accepts carton dimensions in centimeters, so convert inch measurements before entering them.
Avoid mixing nominal product case dimensions with actual packed cartons. Even a small difference can change the number of cases that fit across a 40-inch edge.
Compare both simple orientations
Calculate floor(48 ÷ carton length) × floor(40 ÷ carton width), then rotate the carton and calculate again. Keep the larger result as the best simple axis-aligned layer.
More sophisticated mixed orientations may improve utilization, but they need a real loading diagram and stability review rather than an assumption that every remaining gap can be filled.
Protect pallet edges
Overhang exposes cartons to impact and can reduce stacking performance. If a retailer prohibits overhang, model the carton count strictly within the deck dimensions.
If underhang is large, revisit master-carton size during packaging design. A few millimeters of carton engineering can sometimes improve pallet utilization across every shipment.
An inch-based case pattern you can reproduce
A 16 × 10 inch carton gives floor(48/16) × floor(40/10) = 3 × 4 = 12 per layer on a 48 × 40 inch deck. Rotating gives floor(48/10) × floor(40/16) = 4 × 2 = 8. For the centimeter-only pallet tool, enter 40.64 × 25.4 cm and choose GMA.
If packed width becomes 10.1 inches, the aligned grid falls to 3 × 3 = 9 and the rotated grid stays at 8. Use 25.654 cm for that width. This three-carton difference comes from a boundary on the 40-inch deck, so rounding the width back to 10 would conceal it.
Reproduce the calculation
Use the related Cargoivo calculator with your own shipment dimensions, weight, or quantity.
Open Pallet Calculator →Cargoivo provides educational planning information, not a freight quote, engineering approval, customs advice, or carrier commitment. Verify current service rules, equipment specifications, and commercial terms before shipping.