Loading Metre (Lademeter)

The loading metre (abbreviation ldm, German Lademeter) is the forwarding industry's unit for occupied floor space: one running metre of truck bed across the full usable width of 2.40 m. It makes non-stackable shipments comparable – they block space no matter how light they are.

The formula

Loading metres = (length × width) ÷ 2.4 — all dimensions in metres.

The free loading metre calculator works out pallets and custom sizes directly, including the share of a semi-trailer.

Loading metre table for common packaging

Packaging	Footprint	Loading metres
Euro pallet	1.20 × 0.80 m	0.40
Industrial pallet	1.20 × 1.00 m	0.50
Half pallet	0.60 × 0.80 m	0.20
Mesh box	1.24 × 0.835 m	0.43

A standard semi-trailer holds 13.6 ldm (33–34 Euro pallets on one level).

For general cargo, this unit makes non-stackable handling units comparable before consolidation.

Why forwarders bill by loading metres

For non-stackable goods, occupied floor space decides a tour's economics, not weight. That's why billing is per loading metre – commonly combined with a conversion of roughly 1,750 kg per loading metre for chargeable weight: the higher of actual weight and ldm conversion is billed. Stackable goods need less: four stackable Euro pallets take 0.8 instead of 1.6 ldm.

The payload calculator shows how much freight a van actually carries; the transport cost calculator delivers a bookable price for a specific route. In Maxmove's forwarding software, pallet slots and payload are stored per vehicle, so tour planning only suggests vehicles that can actually take the load.