Every figure below comes from a carrier page read on 2026-07-28, with the address printed next to it.
The footprints carriers name
Three deck sizes account for nearly everything moving on US highways, and two carriers name all three between them. The 48 by 40 came out of the grocery trade and stayed because racking, trailer width and forklift spacing were all built around it afterwards. The other two exist for loads whose geometry refuses to cooperate with a rectangle.
| Footprint | Known as | What the carrier says | Where it turns up |
|---|---|---|---|
| 48 x 40 in | GMA deck | Estes calls this the standard pallet size, at a maximum weight limit of 2500 lbs | Grocery, retail distribution, almost every general LTL load |
| 42 x 42 in | Square deck | Listed by FedEx Freight among other common sizes | Round goods and drums, where corners of a rectangle go to waste |
| 48 x 48 in | Drum deck | Also listed by FedEx Freight among other common sizes | Four-drum chemical loads and beverage stacking |
FedEx Freight goes further than listing the GMA deck and recommends it outright in its packing guide, which is the practical instruction hiding inside a dimensions question. Nothing stops you shipping on a 42 inch square, but a non-standard deck is handled by people whose muscle memory expects 48 by 40, and it will not interlock with the pallets stacked beside it in the trailer.
The ceilings above the deck
Footprint is published everywhere. Height and weight are not, and the numbers that do exist disagree with each other, so the useful move is to read them side by side and build to the tightest one your carrier applies.
| Limit | Published figure | Carrier | What it changes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weight on one deck | 2500 lbs | Estes | Their stated maximum against the standard 48 by 40 footprint |
| Weight per piece or pallet | 4,000 lbs | FedEx Freight | Individual pieces and pallets are limited to this each |
| Liftgate refusal point | 2,000 lbs and larger than 60 x 80 in | FedEx Freight | Pallets past both may be refused at a liftgate delivery |
| Height needing approval | 70 in | FedEx | An air freight skid over this height needs approval first |
| Length and width needing approval | 119 in long or 80 in wide | FedEx | Same approval step on the air freight side |
| Parcel ceiling | 150 lbs 108 in long, 165 in length and girth | UPS | Past any of the three the shipment is not a parcel at all |
Read the first two rows together. A load built to 3,000 lb clears FedEx Freight's per-pallet limit and blows past the figure Estes prints, so the same skid is ordinary on one carrier and a problem on the next. If you do not yet know who is hauling it, 2,500 lb is the number that keeps every door open.
Height has no single answer
The 70 inch figure above is an air freight approval trigger, not an LTL rule. On the road the real constraints are the trailer roof, whether the receiver can get a forklift under a tall load, and whether anything can be stacked on yours. Build low and flat and none of the three bites.
Keep the load inside the edges
FedEx Freight puts the penalty for product extending past the deck at up to 32% of compression strength. That strength is what stops the bottom cartons collapsing when the next pallet lands on top, so overhang is not a tidiness question.
Leave the forks room
FedEx's own freight packing guide, on the air freight side, asks for pallet-jack entry on two sides of the base with a minimum clearance of 3.5 inches. Film wrapped tight across the fork openings turns a two-minute unload into a call from the terminal.
Where a pallet stops being routine
Over-dimension handling is not one switch. It arrives in stages, and each stage is set by how much trailer your freight occupies rather than by the deck under it.
| Band | Published threshold | What it means for a pallet shipper |
|---|---|---|
| LTL | 150 to 15,000 lbs | Your pallets share a trailer and you pay for the portion you use |
| Volume LTL | 5,000 to 15,000 lbs or eight or more feet of trailer | Priced as a block of trailer rather than piece by piece |
| Truckload | 30,000 lbs or more and at least 48 linear feet | You are buying the vehicle, not a slot inside it |
Eight linear feet is roughly two standard decks placed 48 inch side against 48 inch side, which is why a four-pallet order so often comes back quoted differently from a two-pallet one. Length is what the carrier is really selling, and the deck footprint is how you spend it.
Pallet size questions we get asked
What is the standard pallet size?
48 by 40 inches. Estes states the standard pallet size is 48 x 40 with a maximum weight limit of 2500 lbs, and FedEx Freight recommends the same deck the other way round as the 40 x 48 Grocery Manufacturers Association pallet. Both pages were read 2026-07-28.
How tall can a loaded pallet be?
No LTL carrier publishes one number for it, which is why the question keeps coming back unanswered. The nearest published figure is on the FedEx freight packing guide, where an air freight skid over 70 inches high needs approval before it moves.
How much weight fits on one pallet?
Two carriers, two answers, and the gap is wide enough to matter. Estes prints a 2500 lb maximum against the standard deck; FedEx Freight limits individual pieces and pallets to 4,000 lbs each. Build to whichever carrier is actually hauling it.
Can a pallet go by parcel instead?
Not once it is on a deck. UPS publishes a ceiling of 150 lbs per package, 108 inches of length and 165 inches of length and girth combined, and a loaded 48 by 40 pallet is normally past at least one of the three.
When does a pallet stop being ordinary LTL?
When it starts consuming trailer instead of sharing it. Estes puts loads between 5,000 and 15,000 lbs, or eight or more feet of trailer space, into volume LTL, and 30,000 lbs across at least 48 linear feet into truckload.
Does the load have to stay inside the deck?
Yes, and the reason is structural rather than procedural. The FedEx Freight packing guide puts the cost of letting product extend past the pallet edges at up to 32% of compression strength, which is the strength holding the stack up under whatever gets loaded on top of it.