Why Load Factors Are Really Low
Trucks leave half empty less often because of low volume than because of how the load was planned. A dispatcher judges from experience that "this looks like one 11-ton truck," orders get added or cancelled just before shipping, and an extra vehicle is called in as a buffer. Those accumulated safety margins are the empty space.
The second cause is planning by weight alone. An 11-ton wing-body truck holds roughly 16 to 18 T-11 pallets (1,100 × 1,100 mm) on the floor. Load 18 pallets of light goods at 300 kg each and the weight is 5.4 tons, which looks like a 49% load factor even though the floor is already full. Heavy goods at 1 ton per pallet hit the weight limit at 11 pallets, leaving about 40% of the floor unused. Unless weight and volume are read together, the load factor itself does not describe reality.
The Constraints Behind a Load Plan
Load planning is not about how much fits. It is about how much fits while every condition is respected.
Physical constraints of vehicle and cargo
Operational constraints
Calculation Methods: From Rules to Optimization
The simplest method is volume conversion. Divide total order volume by the vehicle's cubic capacity and assume only 80 to 85% is usable because of gaps. The answer is instant, but it ignores real dimensions and stacking rules, so cargo that fits on paper is sometimes left on the dock.
3D load simulation places each box and pallet individually, taking into account actual dimensions, allowed rotations, stacking rules and unloading order. It also produces a loading diagram as a direct output.
The engine should match the situation.
In practice, most teams set a time limit on the solver and use the best answer found within it.
Connecting the Systems
Load planning sits between the WMS and the TMS.
The most common blocker is master data. If item dimensions and weights are missing, or registered only per single unit, no algorithm can help.
Instructions for the dock should stay simple. The loading sheet lists sequence, pallet ID and position, while the loading diagram is shown step by step on a tablet or handheld at the dock. If scanning a pallet label displays its position, the gap between experienced and new workers narrows.
Measuring the Effect
Freight savings are hard to prove with a simple before-and-after comparison, because volume and delivery regions shift every month. A safer approach is to plan the same historical orders with both the old and the new method and compare the vehicles required, then track freight cost per box or per ton-kilometer once the system is live.
How POLYGLOTSOFT Helps
Load planning is not a feature that is finished in one release. Dimension data has to be cleaned up, the logic moves from volume conversion to 3D simulation and solvers, and constraints are refined with feedback from the dock. POLYGLOTSOFT builds the load planning module between your WMS and TMS through subscription-based development and improves it every month. You can start with integration rather than replacing existing systems, so if load factor is a concern, contact us for an assessment based on your current shipping data.