Linear foot calculator
Enter how much trailer length your shipment takes and what it weighs. This page works out the linear feet, the weight per linear foot, and whether the shipment sits in the zone where carrier tariffs commonly switch to rating by space. It pairs with the freight class calculator: class prices the freight, linear feet price the room it takes.
Your shipment
Width and height are optional; they feed the density cross-check. A standard trailer is 96 to 102 in wide inside.
How we got there
Questions
What is a linear foot rule?
A linear foot rule is a tariff term that lets a carrier rate a shipment by the trailer space it occupies instead of by weight and class, once the shipment passes a length or weight-per-foot trigger in that carrier's tariff.
When does the linear foot rule apply?
Triggers vary by carrier and by rate agreement. The widely used rule of thumb is a shipment over 10 to 12 linear feet, or over about 1,000 lb per linear foot. Your carrier's tariff sets the actual trigger for your account.
How many linear feet is a pallet?
A GMA pallet is 48 in long, so one pallet deep is 4 linear feet of trailer. Pallets loaded two wide across a 96 in trailer still use 4 linear feet per row of two.
Sources
- Carrier LTL tariffs (linear foot and capacity rules), read November 12, 2026
- NMFC Item 110 (density method, for the cross-check)
Rules last checked November 12, 2026 · How we check every figure