Load Planning Software: What to Look For Before You Buy

Good load planning software takes your packing list, a vehicle or container size and your handling rules, and returns a plan your warehouse can actually load: a 3D arrangement, a loading order, weights and a document for the dock. When you compare tools, test them on one of your own difficult loads rather than the vendor’s demo, and check how fast you get from spreadsheet to printed plan.

This guide lists the features that matter in daily dispatch work, the ones that are nice to have, and the questions worth asking before you sign up. If you are still deciding whether you need software at all, start with load planning in Excel vs a 3D planner.

The core: a correct 3D model of your load

Everything else depends on the model being right. A planner should work in real inside dimensions (length, width and height of the load space, not the outside of the trailer), know the maximum payload, and show every item where it will physically stand. A 3D view is not decoration: it is how a planner spots an overhanging carton, a gap that needs dunnage or a stack that is too tall for the door.

• Vehicle library. Standard semitrailers (around 13.6 × 2.45 × 2.7 m inside), mega trailers, rigid trucks, 20′ and 40′ containers, high cubes, reefers and, if you ship by air, ULDs. You should also be able to type a custom size.
• Accurate units. Centimetres, millimetres, metres and inches for size; kilograms and pounds for weight. Watch for tools that silently round.
• Manual adjustment. The optimiser’s answer is a starting point. You need to drag, stack, turn and remove items without fighting the software.
• Flat drawings. Top, side and rear views are what drivers and loaders read. 3D alone is hard to print.

Constraints the optimiser must respect

An optimiser that only maximises volume will happily put a 900 kg crate on top of a pallet of glassware. Check which rules each tool understands and whether you can set them per item rather than for the whole load.

For background on the rules themselves, see pallet stacking rules and weight distribution in a trailer.

Getting data in and plans out

Most of a planner’s time goes on data entry, not on optimising. The quickest tools let you copy rows from Excel or Google Sheets and paste them straight into the cargo list; slower ones require a file in their own template. Ideally you get both: paste for daily work, file import for larger or recurring lists.

On the output side, ask what the warehouse and driver receive. A useful plan document contains the vehicle, a load summary (volume, weight, loading metres), the manifest, the step-by-step loading sequence and top/side/rear drawings. A read-only link that opens on a phone saves printing and keeps everyone looking at the latest version. What drivers need in a loading plan covers this in detail.

Operational features worth paying for

• Loading sequence. A numbered order, ideally playable step by step, so the dock loads from the front wall towards the doors in the order the plan assumes.
• Multi-stop. Stop numbers per item, with later drops loaded deeper. See multi-drop load planning.
• Several vehicles. When an order does not fit, the tool should spill it into a second truck rather than just listing what was left behind.
• Saved plans and undo. Recurring loads are common; re-using last week’s plan is faster than starting again.
• Loading metres and fill statistics. Useful for quoting groupage and for fill rate reporting.

A worked test: one load, three minutes

Say a typical outbound order is 22 Euro pallets (120 × 80 × 140 cm, 480 kg each) plus 6 industrial pallets (120 × 100 × 120 cm, 650 kg each) for a standard 13.6 m curtainsider with 24,000 kg payload. Total weight is 22 × 480 + 6 × 650 = 10,560 + 3,900 = 14,460 kg, well within payload, so this is a space problem rather than a weight problem.

Floor space check: the Euro pallets need 22 × 0.96 m² = 21.12 m² and the industrial pallets 6 × 1.2 m² = 7.2 m², 28.32 m² in total. The trailer floor is roughly 13.6 × 2.45 = 33.32 m², so on paper it fits single-stacked, but only if the mixed footprints are arranged well. That is exactly the case where tools differ. Run the same list in each candidate and note: time to enter the data, whether everything was loaded, the loading metres used, whether the pallets ended up in neat lanes a forklift driver can actually build, and how readable the PDF is.

Questions to ask vendors

1. 1Is there a trial of the full product, how long is it, and does it cost anything?
2. 2What is the price per planner per month and per year, and are features like file import or axle loads in a higher tier?
3. 3Can I paste from Excel, and can I import files from the tool I use today?
4. 4How are axle loads calculated, and what does the estimate leave out (tractor weight, fuel, driver)?
5. 5Can several vehicles be planned together, and can they be different types?
6. 6What does the driver or warehouse receive, and do they need an account to see it?
7. 7Where is my data stored, and can I export my plans if I leave?
8. 8Does it run in a browser, or does it need installation and IT approval?

Price and contract terms

Load planners range from free calculators to enterprise systems integrated with a TMS or WMS. For a small or mid-sized dispatch team, the deciding factors are usually the price per planner, whether the trial is long enough to plan real loads, and whether you can cancel monthly. Compare the yearly cost for the number of planners you actually have, and check which features sit behind a higher plan.

EveryLoading, for example, runs in the browser and starts with a free account; Pro unlocks everything, including paste from Excel, loading sequence, multi-stop, several trucks, axle estimate, PDFs and share links. If you are moving from another planner, what to compare when switching walks through the transition.