One pallet or several: your pallet transport travels directly from sender to recipient – no cross-docking, no freight network. Calculate the price and book instantly.
For one pallet with a fixed delivery time, choose a provider that checks dimensions, weight, stackability and loading support before dispatching the correct vehicle. Maxmove offers pallet transport as a direct run with an instant quote, live tracking and digital proof of delivery. Conventional groupage may cost less when timing is flexible, but normally involves hub handling and longer lead time.
| Priority | Direct run | Groupage network |
|---|---|---|
| Delivery | Straight to the recipient | Usually hub handling |
| Speed | Fixed, short time windows | Flexible lead time |
| Shipment | Single pallet to part load | Standardised pallets |
A Euro pallet measures 1,200 × 800 mm. Provide total height, total weight, stackability, and whether a forklift or tail lift is available. A Caddy typically takes 1–2 and a Sprinter 3–5 Euro pallets depending on length; payload and body remain binding.
Reviewed by Max Valjan, Founder of Maxmove · Last updated:
One pallet travels within Cologne from €51, from Cologne to Düsseldorf from €113 and to Berlin from €1,013. The price is per trip: several pallets share the vehicle, so the fuller it is, the less each pallet costs.
| Route | Transporter, up to 3 pallets | Sprinter L2, up to 4 pallets | Box truck, up to 8 pallets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Köln Innenstadt → Köln Ehrenfeld7 km | from €51approx. €17 per pallet when full | from €61approx. €16 per pallet when full | from €136approx. €17 per pallet when full |
| Köln → Düsseldorf40 km | from €113approx. €38 per pallet when full | from €131approx. €33 per pallet when full | from €212approx. €27 per pallet when full |
| Köln → Dortmund93 km | from €203approx. €68 per pallet when full | from €229approx. €58 per pallet when full | from €316approx. €40 per pallet when full |
| Köln → Frankfurt am Main191 km | from €370approx. €124 per pallet when full | from €412approx. €103 per pallet when full | from €509approx. €64 per pallet when full |
| Köln → Berlin572 km | from €1,013approx. €338 per pallet when full | from €1,115approx. €279 per pallet when full | from €1,250approx. €157 per pallet when full |
Non-binding examples for Monday to Friday at 10:00 (Berlin time), as of 1 October 2026, without tail lift or waiting time. For single, non-urgent pallets over long distances, groupage freight with transshipment is usually cheaper; a direct run pays off for urgent or fragile goods, short routes and several pallets.
Calculate your instant priceRule of thumb: a long-wheelbase Sprinter takes up to 4 euro pallets, a 3.5-tonner box van up to 8 – load area and payload are what matter. All dimensions and weights in the pallet guide →
Your pallet is never transshipped and passes through no depot – it stays on the same vehicle from start to destination.
From a Sprinter for one euro pallet to a 3.5-tonner with tail lift – you choose the vehicle class right at booking.
No quote form, no callback: enter the route and see the binding price for your pallet shipment immediately.
Regular pallet transports, general cargo, and part loads – with API integration, consolidated invoicing, and fixed terms.
Whether it is a single euro pallet leaving a warehouse at the Duisburg port or several slots going straight to a works gate, these trips fail at the same point: the handover in the depot. Driven direct, that point never arises.
Around duisport and the logport sites in Duisburg, goods sit in halls when they are due at the consignee the same day – miss the slot at the ramp and it lapses, leaving the pallet standing until the next working day. Run as an express transport it goes direct instead: one vehicle exclusively for the job, no depot, nothing reloaded, handover at the gate you name. Live tracking on the map shows where the pallet is at any moment.
The sender in Cologne loads by forklift, the consignee has a backyard and a kerb – and the pallet ends the trip still on the load bed, heading back. Tell us at booking what loading equipment is available on site and a vehicle with a tail lift and pallet truck comes instead; gate, hall and contact person go into the notes field. What that equipment costs is part of the instant price before you book, not of a later recalculation.
Anyone bringing supplier parts into Chempark Uerdingen in Krefeld registers with site security and works to fixed gate times – arrive late and the line stands still while the shift loses its slot. A direct delivery skips the transshipment warehouse altogether: one vehicle exclusively for the job, handover at the ramp you name, gate time and contact person in the notes field. The digital proof of delivery records the handover with photo, signature and time stamp.
Compare payload, pallet spaces and load area to choose a suitable van, Sprinter or box truck.
| Vehicle | Maks. težina | Euro palete | Maks. dimenzije tereta | Price | Book |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| VanNpr. staje Sofa, 1–2 room move, moving boxes | 900 kg | 2–3 | 270 × 160 × 130 cm | from €112.95Base fare €44.90 | Book |
| Large VanNpr. staje Wardrobe, 2–3 room move, bulky furniture | 1000 kg | 3–4 | 330 × 180 × 170 cm | from €130.05Base fare €54.90 | Book |
| 3.5t Box LorryNpr. staje Retail goods, tail lift, large furniture | 1200 kg | 6–8 | 430 × 210 × 210 cm | from €211.24Base fare €129 | Book |
| 7.5t LorryNpr. staje Full house move, bulky retail goods, site material | 3000 kg | 12–15 | 610 × 245 × 240 cm | from €366.72Base fare €249 | Book |
Published examples for Köln → Düsseldorf, weekdays at 10:00 (Berlin time). The binding price for your addresses is shown before booking.
Bigger, open-bed or heavier than 3 t? On request as a special run
What to settle before you ship a pallet – from choosing the right transport route to pallet types, load securing and pallet exchange.
There are two ways to move a pallet. In a groupage (LTL) network, a local vehicle collects the pallet, it is cross-docked at a depot, often routed through a hub and delivered by the destination depot. Pricing there is usually based on weight, number of pallets or loading metres and distance; one euro pallet equals 0.4 loading metres. On a direct drive, one vehicle carries only your load from pickup to recipient, and the price depends on distance and vehicle class.
Groupage is usually cheaper when a single, stackable euro pallet travels a long distance with no fixed deadline and there is a forklift or loading dock at both ends. The direct drive pays off when the pallet has to arrive the same day, carries fragile or non-stackable goods, the recipient has no dock, or several pallets on a short route fit into one vehicle.
One point that is often overlooked: every cross-dock means the pallet is moved by forklift again and set down next to other people's freight. For glass, electronics or tall stacks of cartons that is an extra damage risk – and it does not exist on a direct drive.
The EPAL euro pallet measures 1,200 × 800 mm and is 144 mm high, weighs around 25 kg and, according to EPAL, carries up to 1,500 kg. The EPAL 3 pallet, often called the industrial pallet, measures 1,200 × 1,000 mm, weighs around 30 kg and also carries 1,500 kg. The half pallet (EPAL 6) is 800 × 600 mm and carries up to 750 kg.
The EPAL mesh box pallet has internal dimensions of 1,200 × 800 mm, is 970 mm high, weighs around 70 kg empty and carries up to 1,500 kg. Its tare weight is easy to forget: four mesh boxes put almost 300 kg on the scales before any goods go in.
One-way pallets have no standard size and belong to no exchange pool. Measure them and state the actual footprint – a one-way pallet of 1,200 × 1,000 mm takes up more space than a euro pallet.
For choosing the vehicle, gross weight is what counts: goods, packaging and pallet together. The loading metre calculator shows how many pallet spaces a vehicle offers, and the payload calculator checks whether the weight fits.
Legally, securing the goods on the pallet is the sender's job: under Section 411 of the German Commercial Code (HGB), the sender must stow and secure the goods on the load carrier so they are safe for transport. The carrier does not have to pay for damage caused by inadequate packaging (Section 427 HGB).
In practice that means heavy items at the bottom, cartons stacked in an interlocking pattern and nothing overhanging the edge of the pallet. If goods overhang, the size of the load counts, and the overhanging edge is the first thing to hit the side of the vehicle during loading. Run the stretch film around the pallet itself at the bottom so that load and pallet form one unit; the German guideline VDI 3968 Part 5 describes how load units are stretch-wrapped. For heavy or sharp-edged goods, add strapping with edge protectors.
Label every pallet on two sides with the recipient, number of packages and notes such as "do not stack" or "this way up". Put the delivery note in a pouch on the outside of the film and photograph the finished pallet before collection. On a Maxmove direct drive, the digital proof of delivery records the handover with photo, signature and timestamp – so the condition is documented at both ends.
The limit is usually set by the vehicle, not the pallet. A euro pallet carries 1,500 kg – more than the up to 1,200 kg a 3.5 t box truck may carry in total. What matters is internal height and booked payload: in a van with a 2.6 m load length the ceiling is at around 1.35 m, in a Sprinter L2 at around 1.80 m and in a 3.5 t box truck at around 2.10 m. Measure the total height including the pallet (144 mm) and the film.
For weight, everything that goes on the load floor counts. An example: four euro pallets with 250 kg of goods each weigh around 1,100 kg including the pallets. That is too much for a Sprinter L2 with up to 1,000 kg of booked payload; the 3.5 t box truck with up to 1,200 kg fits.
If you are close to a limit, do not guess: if the load does not fit the booked class, the run cannot go ahead as planned. Enter the height and gross weight per pallet when you book and choose the vehicle class accordingly. Pallet loads over 1.2 t can be booked in the 7.5 t truck with up to 3,000 kg of payload and 12 to 15 euro pallets. Loads over 3 t, on an open flatbed or with crane unloading run as a special transport on request.
There is no deposit for euro pallets set by law. What people call a "deposit" is the value of an exchangeable pallet that sender, recipient or forwarder charge each other when pallets are not swapped on the spot. Whether pallets are exchanged and at what value is purely a matter of contract. The German forwarders' terms ADSp 2017 make this explicit: unless expressly agreed, an order covers neither the provision nor the exchange of pallets (clause 4.8.1).
An EPAL euro pallet only counts as exchangeable if it has none of the defects listed in EPAL's exchange criteria: no board or block may be missing, no board may be broken across or diagonally, and no twisted block may protrude by more than 10 mm. The quality classes A, B and C for used pallets are a recommendation and only apply if both sides agree to them.
For your direct drive this means: pallet exchange is not automatically part of the run. Agree with the recipient beforehand whether they will hand back empty pallets, and record the number and condition on a pallet note. If you do not want to exchange at all, ship on one-way pallets.
Most delays in pallet shipping happen at the loading dock, not on the road. With these details in the booking, the right vehicle turns up with the right equipment:
Number and type of pallets (euro, industrial, mesh box, one-way), total height and gross weight per pallet, and whether they can be stacked.
Loading equipment at both ends: forklift, dock, pallet truck or none of these. Without a dock and forklift you need a vehicle with a tail lift and pallet truck – you select that when you book.
Access and handover: gate, hall, gate times and a phone number on site. Plants and distribution centres with gatehouse registration often ask for a reference or order number; add it in the notes field.
Paperwork: delivery note on the pallet and, if needed, a pallet note for the exchange.
If you run the same routes regularly, for example between warehouse and branch, recurring pallet runs can be set up as fixed orders – talk to us via the business account.
