Help & Docs

Covers the calculator as it works today.

This page explains every control in the Container Loading Calculator — from a first load plan in three clicks to the advanced options, accounts and share links. If something isn't covered here, email info@skyteamlabs.com.

Quick start

Three steps get you a 3D load plan:

• Add your cargo — in the Cargo items panel, fill in name, Length / Width / Height, Weight (kg), Quantity and pick a display color, then + Add cargo item for each additional item type. New visitors start with a small example manifest already filled in — edit or delete it and add your own.
• Pick a container — choose a preset (20ft, 40ft, 40ft High Cube, …) from the Container dropdown, or Custom… to enter your own inner dimensions and max payload.
• Calculate — press the big Calculate button in the Actions panel. The 3D load plan, metrics and loading sequence appear on the right.

The calculator is fully usable without an account — signing up only unlocks saving and reloading snapshots (see Accounts & snapshots below).

Units — centimetres

Every dimension is entered and displayed in centimetres — Length, Width, Height, container dimensions, tooltip readouts, center-of-gravity coordinates, and the Excel template and exports. Weights are always kilograms. (The API works in millimetres internally; you never see that.) Decimals are fine, e.g. 56.5.

Cargo items

Each item card holds a name, a display color, Length/Width/Height, Weight and Quantity. Click ▸ more on a card to reveal per-item advanced fields:

• Rotation — Free allows any of the 6 orientations while packing; This side up ⬆ keeps the item's height axis vertical (for cargo that must not be laid on its side); Fixed packs it exactly as entered, no rotation.
• Priority — High cargo is placed first when space or weight runs out, ahead of Normal and Low priority items.
• Max stack load (kg) — the maximum total weight allowed to rest on top of one piece of this item. Leave empty for unlimited, or enter 0 to mark the item non-stackable (nothing may be placed above it).

Pallets

By default cargo is loaded loose, straight into the container. Open Change setup… on the Load setup card in the sidebar to switch to one of three modes:

• Loose cargo into a container — the default; use it when nothing ships on a pallet.
• Cargo on pallets into a container — the calculator builds pallets from your cargo items first, then loads those pallets (and any items marked Ship loose) into the container. Use it when goods are palletized for handling but you still want a container load plan.
• Pallets only (no container) — plans just the pallets, with no container step. Use it when you only need a palletization plan, e.g. for a customer who arranges their own transport.

Step 2 of the walkthrough picks the pallet: a preset — EUR 1 (120 × 80 cm), EUR 2 (120 × 100 cm), EUR 6 (80 × 60 cm), US 48×40 in, or Asia (110 × 110 cm) — or Custom… for your own pallet. A custom pallet asks for:

• Deck height — how tall the empty pallet itself is, floor to the top of the boards the goods sit on.
• Tare — the pallet's own empty weight, added to the cargo weight to get the total shipped weight.
• Max load — the heaviest total weight of goods that one pallet is rated to carry.
• Overhang — how far a box may stick out past the edge of the pallet's footprint before it's rejected.

Max loaded height (cm) — the tallest a finished pallet (deck + goods) is allowed to be; defaults to 180 cm, which fits every standard container. A 40ft High Cube can take pallets up to roughly 260 cm. To double-stack pallets, keep each loaded pallet under roughly 115 cm so two still fit within a standard container's height. Two more checkboxes on the same step: Allow stacking pallets on each other (a second pallet may be placed on top of the first) and Mix different items on one pallet (otherwise each pallet holds only one item type).

Shipping some items loose — in pallet modes, each cargo item's ▸ more drawer gains a Ship loose (not on a pallet) checkbox, for cargo that should go straight into the container next to the pallets instead of being palletized.

Cargo that's already on pallets — if your goods are palletized before they reach the calculator, don't describe them as loose cargo. Use + Add pallet unit next to "+ Add cargo item" instead: pick a pallet preset and it adds a ready-made row (pallet footprint, upright, non-stackable) — just fill in the loaded height and weight.

Reading pallet results — each pallet is drawn as a wooden deck slab with its goods stacked on top. A Pallets panel below the metrics bar lists Kind, Qty, Contents, H (cm), Weight (kg) and Fill % for every pallet built. In Pallets only mode the 3D view shows one tab per pallet kind instead of one tab per container. If cargo couldn't be placed, the unpacked table shows one of two reasons: "pallet did not fit" (the built pallet has no room left in the container) or "does not fit on the pallet" (the item itself doesn't fit on the pallet's footprint or under the max loaded height).

PDF/Excel exports of a pallet plan include an extra Pallets sheet, and Excel import accepts an optional Pallet column (yes/no) to mark which rows in a supplier packing list are already palletized.

% / fill with pallets: the mix is filled in whole pallets — each such item is built into full pallets first, then the solver decides how many of each pallet fit the container in the requested ratio. Counts in the mix table are pieces on those full pallets. This needs a container to fill, so it is not available in pallets-only mode.

Excel import & template

Use Import Excel (in the File & snapshots panel) to fill the items table from a supplier's packing list (.xlsx). Download Template first if you're unsure of the expected column layout — it's a ready-to-fill spreadsheet with the right headers. Dimension columns are read as centimetres; if your supplier's sheet is in millimetres, say so in the header (Length (mm)) and the importer will convert. Rows with missing or invalid data are skipped and listed with the reason so you can fix and re-import. Items without a colour column are given distinct palette colours automatically.

Reading the result

Once Calculate finishes, the viewport on the right fills with:

• Metrics bar — Volume used (VUF, average across containers), Loaded weight, Packed / Unpacked units and Compute time. If any container spills over into a second or third one, container tabs appear above the 3D view so you can flip between them, each showing its own volume-utilization percentage.
• 3D view — drag to orbit, scroll to zoom. Hover any box for a tooltip with its name, dimensions, weight and position. A yellow DOOR marker and floor grid orient you: loading starts at the wall opposite the door and works toward it.
• Loading-sequence slider — below the 3D view. Drag it (or press ▶ to autoplay) to step through the exact physical loading order the plan implies; boxes not yet "loaded" at the current step are shown ghosted/translucent so the container shape stays visible throughout.
• Center of gravity — off by default (see Advanced options to enable it). Once on, a CG tile appears in the metrics bar with the x/y/z coordinates and a Front/Back · Left/Right weight-split percentage, plus a marker sphere in the 3D view. Both recompute for whatever the sequence slider is currently showing, and the split turns amber if any side exceeds 60% of the total weight.
• Unpacked items — if any cargo didn't fit, a table below the 3D view lists the item, quantity and reason (e.g. no space, over payload).

Advanced options

Open the Advanced options disclosure in the sidebar for:

• Dimensional tolerance (cm) — packs each item inside an envelope enlarged by this amount per axis, guaranteeing at least that much clearance between neighbouring pieces. Reported volume figures still reflect real cargo volume only.
• Gravity support rule — on by default; rejects placements where a box would rest on less than the configured Min base support (%) of solid surface beneath it, preventing floating/overhanging stacks.
• Show center of gravity — toggles the CG tile and 3D marker described above (default off).
• Containers to load — how many containers to plan. A number is a target: a % / fill row fills exactly that many, and cargo that doesn't fit in one overflows into the next. As many as needed keeps opening containers until every item is placed — available only when there is no % / fill row, since "fill an unlimited number of containers" has no answer.
• Road payload override (kg) — caps the effective payload used for utilization figures to a road-leg limit (e.g. ~22–25t in the EU) when it's lower than the container's own rated payload. Leave empty to use the container's rating as-is.
• Advanced optimization (genetic engine) — a future alternate packing engine; the toggle stays disabled until a second engine is available on the server.

Custom container dimensions: choose Custom… in the Container dropdown to enter your own inner length/width/height and max payload instead of picking a preset.

Accounts & snapshots

The calculator works fully logged out. Create a free account (header "Log in / Sign up", email + password) only when you want to save a plan:

• Save snapshot — stores the current manifest and result under a name you choose; prompts you to sign up or log in first if you aren't already.
• Load snapshot — lists your saved snapshots with the date they were saved; Load restores the form and the 3D result, Delete removes it.

Snapshots are private to your account — no one else can see or load them.

Share links

After a calculation, press Share link (next to the export buttons) to create a public, read-only link at /s/<token>. Anyone with that link can view the frozen 3D load plan and step through the loading sequence — no account or login needed on their side, and they can't edit the manifest or see your sidebar/actions. Copy the link with the button in the dialog that appears.

Export PDF / Excel

Once a result is on screen, use Export PDF or Export Excel in the metrics bar to download a placement list for your warehouse or freight crew — a per-container table of every box, its position and its place in the loading sequence.

Still stuck?

Email info@skyteamlabs.com and we'll help you out, or check About & pricing for a feature overview.