Loading meters (LDM) determine how much floor space your freight takes up inside a truck — not weight, not volume, but trailer length. Get it wrong and your load won't fit, or you'll pay for space you're not using. This guide explains the LDM meaning, walks through the formula with visual examples, and gives you an interactive calculator to check figures instantly.

Use the calculator below to check your figures instantly, then read on for the full formula and worked examples.

Interactive LDM Calculator

Select your load carrier type, enter height, stacking factor, and quantity. Results update instantly. Use Derive stack from heights to calculate the stacking factor automatically from your carrier height and the standard 2.7 m trailer interior.

Skip the formula entirely

IMPARGO calculates LDM automatically as you plan each tour.

See it in action or explore the Planner free →

On This Page

• Interactive LDM calculator
• What does LDM mean?
• Trailer dimensions visualised
• The LDM formula — step by step
• Stacking and its effect on LDM
• Mixed loads: multiple carrier types
• Where the formula gets tricky
• Calculate LDM inside IMPARGO

What Does LDM Mean?

LDM stands for loading meter (German: Lademeter). It describes how many metres of a truck's cargo floor a shipment occupies. In European groupage (LTL) freight, carriers use LDM to allocate and price trailer space fairly across multiple consignments sharing the same vehicle.

One LDM is always defined as a strip of floor that is 1 metre long × 2.4 metres wide — the standard internal width of a European semi-trailer. Height doesn't change the LDM value: a 80 cm tall pallet and a 180 cm tall pallet with the same footprint both consume exactly the same LDM.

Trailer Dimensions Visualised

The diagram below shows the three key dimensions of a standard European semi-trailer and how loading meters map to the floor length.

The LDM Formula — Step by Step

The standard European road freight formula for a single load carrier type is:

Single unit — no stacking

For a Euro pallet (120 × 80 cm) that cannot be stacked:

1.2 m × 0.8 m ÷ 2.4 m = 0.4 LDM per pallet

Multiple units — with stacking

Apply the stacking factor and multiply by quantity. First derive the stacking factor from physical heights:

Stacking factor = floor(trailer height ÷ pallet height)
floor(2.7 m ÷ 1.0 m) = 2

1.2 × 0.8 ÷ 2.4 ÷ 2 × 40 = 8.0 LDM

Stacking and Its Effect on LDM

When cargo can be safely stacked, LDM drops proportionally. The stacking factor tells you how many layers of units fit on top of each other within the trailer's interior height. The diagram below shows how the same 4 Euro pallets go from requiring 1.6 LDM (unstacked) to 0.8 LDM (stacked ×2).

Mixed Loads: Multiple Carrier Types

When a shipment combines different load carrier types, calculate LDM separately for each type then sum the results. Never mix dimensions in a single formula run.

Where the Formula Gets Tricky

The formula assumes pallets fit perfectly across the 2.4 m trailer width and that stacking is always mathematically clean. Real-world loading introduces two common inaccuracies.

Rounding remainders in stacked loads

If you have 3 Euro pallets with a stacking factor of 2, the formula gives 0.6 LDM. But physically you need 2 floor positions (one column of 2 + one column of 1) — the same floor footprint as if you had 4 pallets. Conservative calculation rounds up to the next whole floor unit.

Width mismatches

Industrial pallets (100 cm wide) placed two-abreast span 200 cm, leaving a 40 cm strip that cannot fit another industrial pallet. That strip is billed as consumed LDM by most carriers.

Calculate LDM Inside IMPARGO

Manual calculations are a bottleneck at scale. IMPARGO's Loading Units feature handles LDM automatically as you build each tour in the Planner — no formula entry, no spreadsheets, no risk of manual error.

What the Loading Units feature does

• Select carrier type and enter dimensions — choose from standard presets (EUR pallet, industrial pallet, etc.) or define custom units with your own dimensions and stacking factor.
• Automatic LDM calculation — the system computes floor space consumed the moment you confirm the unit details.
• Full tour visibility — loading unit data travels with the tour and is visible to drivers, dispatchers, and customers through the platform.
• Edit at any time — add, adjust, or remove units in seconds without rebuilding the tour.

Adding custom loading units in IMPARGO Orders — LDM is calculated automatically based on carrier type, dimensions, and stacking factor.

The Loading Units panel is available directly inside the IMPARGO Planner and the Orders module. Combine it with built-in toll calculation and vehicle cost planning to see a complete trip cost picture before you confirm any load.