Maximum pallet height for shipping: 2.20 m, 1.80 m and who sets each

No law sets a maximum pallet height. The carrier sets one and the warehouse that receives the goods sets another, and the lower of the two is the one to build to. European pallet networks and groupage carriers take a full pallet up to 2.20 m; some retail warehouses accept only 1.80 m. Where the terms say, the figure includes the pallet. The difference is a lot of freight: 480 cartons of 40 × 30 × 25 cm on Euro pallets make 8 layers and 8 pallets under 2.20 m, 6 layers and 10 pallets under 1.80 m. The pallets come from the Pallet build tool.

The limits in one table

What the companies publish themselves, in their terms, size guides and supplier manuals (read November 2026):

Five of the six carriers publish 2.20 m. The receivers do not agree with each other, and their limits are lower. The big supermarket chains keep their supplier manuals behind supplier portals, so check the one you deliver to. Where a page does not say whether the pallet is included, ask; the pages that do say all include it.

Count the pallet in the height

A Euro pallet is 14.4 cm high, so a 1.80 m limit leaves 165.6 cm for the goods, and a 2.20 m limit 205.6 cm. Layers are that space divided by the carton height, rounded down. Leave the pallet out and the count can come out a layer too high: with 25 cm cartons, 180 ÷ 25 gives 7 layers, but only 6 fit.

Half and quarter pallets: the classes differ by network

Pallet networks sort pallets into size classes, and a class is a footprint, a height and a weight together. The full pallet is 2.2 m at three of the four; the smaller classes are not the same from one network to the next:

A pallet built to 1.15 m is a half pallet at Palletways and Pall-Ex but too tall for PalletOnline’s half pallet. Palletforce’s half pallet is 2.0 m tall and differs from its full pallet mainly in weight. The booking platform Eurosender lists a “UK half pallet” of up to 110 cm, which matches none of these four networks.

What the cap does to your pallet count

The cap counts only in whole layers. With 25 cm cartons each layer is a step of 25 cm, so a cap between two steps buys nothing:

A 1.60 m limit gives exactly the pallet of a 1.50 m limit, 40 cartons at 139.4 cm. Going from 1.80 m to 2.20 m saves 2 pallets of 10 and 0.8 loading meters. Taller cartons make bigger steps: boots of 60 × 40 × 35 cm need 10 pallets under 1.50 m, 8 under 1.80 m and 6 under 2.20 m.

Heavy goods reach the weight limit first, and then the height limit does not matter. Tiles of 40 × 30 × 12 cm at 20 kg a carton fill a Euro pallet’s 1,500 kg load at 9 layers, 122.4 cm, whether the cap is 1.50 m or 2.20 m. A network’s 1,200 kg limit cuts that to 7 layers, 6 pallets instead of 5 for the same order. The Pallet build tool names the limit that bound.Layers are the smallest of three limits: the cap minus the pallet over the carton height, the weight limit minus the pallet over the weight of one layer, and any layer limit the goods need. See TI-HI for the same count in US terms.

One tall pallet or two stacked

The trailer is taller than any pallet limit in the table: a standard 13.6 m curtainsider has about 2.60 to 2.70 m inside, a mega trailer about 3.00 m.Krone Profi Liner: “Clear side height … 2600 - 2700 mm”. Krone Mega Liner 50 CS data sheet: usable inside height 3,000 mm. Schmitz Cargobull lists its mega “up to 3,200 mm”, depending on the coupling height. A 2.20 m pallet leaves the rest of that height empty. Two pallets of 1.20 m, stacked, fill it: 4 layers each, 228.8 cm together, 64 cartons per floor place, exactly what one 2.20 m pallet carries.

That only works when the goods and the pallet may be stacked and the carrier accepts stacked pallets. A pallet that nothing may go on is charged for the space above it: in European groupage by floor space, see Loading meters, and why your invoice says a different number, and in the US tariffs below by an assumed height. For a full truck, agree it with the carrier; in groupage, ask.

Containers and air freight

Sea containers. The door is the limit. Standard 20 ft and 40 ft containers have a door opening of 2,274 to 2,292 mm (Maersk, ONE, Hapag-Lloyd), a high cube 2,577 to 2,597 mm. ISO 668 sets the minimum at 2,261 mm and 2,565 mm.Hapag-Lloyd’s container specification reprints the ISO 668 minimum door openings; the carriers’ figures are nominal and vary by container series. ISO 668 itself was not opened. A 2.20 m pallet goes through even the minimum door with 6.1 cm to spare, so for most pallets the limit in a container is the receiver’s or the carrier’s, not the box. How many fit on the floor: How many pallets fit in a 20 ft or 40 ft container?

Air freight. In the lower deck of a wide-body passenger aircraft, pallets go up to about 162 cm; on a freighter’s main deck up to 244 cm (Boeing 767 freighter) or 300 cm (Boeing 747 freighter).Condor cargo brochure (2020): PMC pallet “162 - 300 cm” high depending on the deck. Atlas Air 747-8F and 767-300BCF fact sheets: lower-deck contour 64 in (162.6 cm), main deck 244 cm on the 767, up to 300 cm on the 747. Narrow-body aircraft such as the A320 take loose cargo only. Under about 162 cm the shoe order is 5 layers (139.4 cm), 12 pallets; a sixth layer would make 164.4 cm.

In the US

The common pallet is 48 × 40 in and limits are in inches. The receiver’s limit is the one written down: Walmart Fulfillment Services takes pallets under 72 in including the pallet (182.9 cm), up to 108 in double-stacked. Amazon’s seller support staff give 72 in for the US and 180 cm for Europe single-stacked; Amazon’s own help pages need a seller login, so check them there. US freight carriers’ rules tariffs do not set a maximum pallet height. For large, light shipments they charge freight that nothing may be stacked on as if it were 84 in (FedEx Freight, Estes) or 96 in (Old Dominion) high. OSHA sets no number either: stacked material must be “limited in height so that they are stable and secure against sliding or collapse”.29 CFR 1910.176(b). Amazon: replies by Amazon staff accounts on the Seller Central forums (US and Europe).

Where it breaks

• Carriers change their terms. The table is what the pages said in November 2026; check your contract, which can differ from the public terms.
• Weight per pallet varies more than height: 800 to 2,000 kg at the same 2.2 m across the classes and countries checked. DSV System, for example, takes 800 kg to France, Spain, Portugal, Poland, Italy and Sweden.
• The vehicle has a limit too: 4.00 m in the EU (Directive 96/53/EC; in Germany for vehicle and load together, StVO § 22). The UK has no legal height limit, but vehicles over 3 m must show their height in the cab.
• A cold store or a rack can set its own, lower limit. See What size pallet do cold stores use?
• Pallet counts assume one carton size per pallet, this way up, no overhang. Mixed pallets: put the packing list into the tool.

Sources

• DSV, Nutzungsbedingungen DSV System (May 2026) and Terms of use Road DSV LTL (May 2026), dsv.com.
• Raben Lietuva, General terms and conditions (December 2023), raben-group.com.
• Palletways UK, FAQs: pallet sizes.
• Pall-Ex, pallet dimensions guide, linked from pallex.co.uk/pallet-sizes.
• PalletOnline, Pallet sizes.
• Palletforce, Pallet definitions (December 2021) and its online quote page, palletforce.com.
• Denner, supplier requirements, version 2025, denner.ch. SPAR Magyarország, Logistikhandbuch v8.5 (January 2025), spar.hu. Georg Jos. Kaes GmbH (V-Markt), Allgemeine Anlieferbedingungen (2025), v-markt.de. Raben Ukraine, delivery rules, raben-group.com.
• Walmart Marketplace Learn, WFS inbound orders: select and pack pallets.
• Maersk, Dry equipment specifications; ONE, Dry containers; Hapag-Lloyd, Container specification (2020).
• Condor, Cargo with Condor (2020); Atlas Air, 747-8F and 767-300BCF one-sheets.
• Krone, Profi Liner and Mega Liner 50 CS data; Schmitz Cargobull, S.CS Mega.
• Directive 96/53/EC, Annex I, 1.3. Department for Transport and Network Rail, bridge-strike guidance (2012, 2014).
• FedEx Freight 100 series rules tariff (2026); Old Dominion 100-Q (2025); Estes EXLA 105 (2026). OSHA 29 CFR 1910.176.
• All pallet counts: the Pallet build engine, Euro pallet 1200 × 800 × 144 mm, 25 kg, 1,500 kg.