ldm_calculator
Calculate loading metres (LDM) for European road freight to determine how much trailer length a pallet load occupies. Supports presets or custom dimensions, and checks fit against vehicle length and payload.
Instructions
Calculate loading metres (LDM) for European road freight — how much trailer length a pallet load occupies. 1 LDM = 1 linear metre of a 2.4m-wide trailer; a standard artic is 13.6 LDM.
Provide a pallet preset OR custom length_mm + width_mm — omitting both errors with a usage hint. Behavior: deterministic; stackable=true with stack_height 2 or 3 divides the floor footprint accordingly; fits reports whether the load fits the chosen vehicle's LENGTH (give weight_kg to also see total_weight_kg against the vehicle's max payload); utilisation_percent is of the vehicle's length. Rate-limited (anonymous use: 25 requests/day per IP): a 429 error body carries retry_after_seconds and a Retry-After header — back off and retry, or call get_subscribe_link for higher limits.
Returns: ldm, vehicle (name, length_m, max_payload_kg), utilisation_percent, pallet_spaces (used/available), total_weight_kg, fits and warnings under result, plus confidence, _source and citation (the FreightUtils v1 response envelope).
Related: vehicle_lookup (the trailer specs behind the vehicle presets), pallet_fitting_calculator (boxes onto one pallet), consignment_calculator (mixed lines including LDM).
Input Schema
| Name | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| pallet | No | Pallet preset: euro=1200x800mm, uk=1200x1000mm, half=800x600mm, quarter=600x400mm. Provide this OR length_mm + width_mm. | |
| vehicle | No | Vehicle preset: artic 13.6m (default), rigid10 = 10m rigid, rigid75 = 7.5t rigid, luton van, or custom. | |
| quantity | No | Number of pallets. Default: 1. | |
| width_mm | No | Custom pallet width in millimetres. Example: 980. | |
| length_mm | No | Custom pallet length in millimetres (use with width_mm instead of a preset). Example: 1140. | |
| stackable | No | Whether pallets can be double/triple-stacked — halves (or thirds) the floor footprint. Default: false. | |
| weight_kg | No | Weight per pallet in kg — enables the payload side of the fits check. | |
| stack_height | No | Stack height when stackable: 2 or 3. Default: 2. | |
| vehicle_length_m | No | Custom vehicle load length in metres (required when vehicle=custom). |
Output Schema
| Name | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| ok | Yes | ||
| result | Yes | ||
| _source | Yes | ||
| citation | Yes | ||
| validity | No | ||
| warnings | No | ||
| confidence | Yes | ||
| blocking_errors | No | ||
| envelope_version | Yes | ||
| normalized_input | No |