- Footprint
- 48 x 40 in
- Inside height
- 36 in
- Volume
- 40 cu ft
- Listed by one distributor
- 1,500 lb, triple wall
What this size is
This is the size a plant means when it says "a gaylord" without a number. It matches the pallet your racks, trailers and conveyors already take, so almost nothing about your dock has to change. If you do not know what you need, start here and tell us what the load is.
At 36 in tall it sits inside the heights makers cite for 2-wall (30 to 36 in), 3-wall (34 to 40 in), 4-wall (36 to 41 in) and 5-wall (36 to 46 in) boxes. That is unusual. Most sizes fit one or two wall counts, and this one fits all four, so the wall count is a pure load decision here and not a fit decision.
The numbers
| Field | Value | How it is worked |
|---|---|---|
| Footprint | 48 x 40 in | Length by width, matched to a pallet |
| Inside height | 36 in | Floor of the box to the top of the walls |
| Listed by one distributor | 1,500 lb | One distributor's triple-wall figure, not a maker standard |
| Wall counts cited at this height | 2-wall, 3-wall, 4-wall, 5-wall | Heights makers cite: 2-wall 30 to 36, 3-wall 34 to 40, 4-wall 36 to 41, 5-wall 36 to 46 in |
What it is used for
- General parts packs where a returnable is short.
- Single-trip empties that a warehouse clears after inbound freight.
- Scrap, film and textile collection in Grade C.
- Resin and regrind in a partial-bottom box on a slip sheet.
Ask for the grade you need rather than the first box that shows up, and read the stamp.
The trailer guide works the other sizes the same way.
Questions
Is 48 x 40 x 36 in inside or outside?
Filling the 48 x 40 x 36 in box by height
| Fill height (in) | Cubic feet | Share of full |
|---|---|---|
| 6 | 6.7 | 16.7% |
| 12 | 13.3 | 33.3% |
| 18 | 20.0 | 50.0% |
| 24 | 26.7 | 66.7% |
| 30 | 33.3 | 83.3% |
| 36 | 40.0 | 100.0% |
What distributor listings show for 48 x 40 x 36 in
One distributor lists the new triple-wall box at 48 x 40 x 36 in interior, ECT-90, with walls "exceeding half an inch" thick and a bundle of five weighing 136 lb, about 27 lb a box (Packaging Price 48 x 40 x 36 listing, retrieved 12 November 2026). No load capacity is listed, so the stamp on the box in front of you is the only rating that counts. A 48 x 40 in footprint is the pallet the Grocery Manufacturers Association standardised, and it is about 30 percent of all new wood pallets made in the United States (Wikipedia, Pallet, retrieved 12 November 2026).
Trailer arithmetic, worked out here
A 53-foot dry van has about 636 in of interior length, 98 to 100 in of width and 108 in of height, and takes 26 pallets of 48 x 40 in loaded straight, 28 pinwheeled or 30 turned (ATS trailer guide, retrieved 12 November 2026). A 36 in box on a standard 6 in pallet (the pallet reference gives 48 x 40 x 6 in) stands 42 in, so two layers reach 84 in and fit under 108 in, which gives 52 boxes on a straight load of 26 positions and 60 on a turned load of 30. The same page gives 42,000 to 45,000 lb of cargo weight, so 52 boxes would have to average under about 810 to 865 lb each and 60 boxes under about 700 to 750 lb: weight, not space, decides whether a second layer is wise.
The pallet under the box
A standard wood pallet of 48 x 40 x 6 in weighs 33 to 48 lb and is listed with a static capacity of 3 short tons and a dynamic capacity of 1 short ton (Wikipedia, Pallet, retrieved 12 November 2026). Dynamic means the load is being lifted or moved, so a loaded box that weighs more than 2,000 lb with its contents is beyond what a standard pallet is listed to carry while a forklift moves it, whatever the box itself can bear.
Cube and weight, worked out here
Taking 48 x 40 x 36 in as interior, the cube is 69,120 cubic inches, or 40 cubic feet. The listing (Packaging Price 48 x 40 x 36 listing, retrieved 12 November 2026) gives the box weight but no cube. For dense parts such as castings the trailer weight limit above, not the cube, is the constraint.