How to create a container stowage plan
A stowage plan shows which package sits where in the container — a drawing plus a list. It answers three questions at once: does it all fit, how is it loaded and what should the consignee expect. With the 3D calculator it comes out of your cargo dimensions, without Excel and without a drawing program.
What belongs in a stowage plan
There is no standard for it — but there is a consensus about what it has to deliver. A usable stowage plan states:
- The container with type and internal dimensions (20′ GP, 40′ HC …), so the drawing has a scale.
- Every position with description, quantity, dimensions and weight — that is the packing list at the same time.
- The position in the container, at least as a picture, ideally with tiers and rows.
- The totals: volume, weight, loading metres used and utilisation against volume and payload.
- What is left over: what did not fit and how many containers it takes in total.
What a geometric stowage plan is not: a load securing calculation. Lashings, friction coefficients, centre of gravity and axle loads are not in it and have to be checked separately. Mixing the two sells a drawing as a safety certificate.
Four steps to a stowage plan
| Step | What happens |
|---|---|
| 1. Pick the container | A type from the list or your own dimensions; optionally the carrier's internal dimensions. |
| 2. Enter the cargo | Position by position — or paste the packing list from Excel, columns are detected. |
| 3. Let it calculate | The packer searches for the arrangement, the result stands next to it live in 3D. |
| 4. Pass it on | As a link, an image, or a printable loading plan with a QR code back to the 3D plan. |
Stackability is where most stowage plans run out of air
A plan that treats every package as freely stackable looks good and is worthless at the loading dock. So each position carries what it actually takes:
- Not stackable — stands on the floor, nothing underneath it.
- Limited stacking — "one on top" means one further tier, no more.
- Stackable up to … cm — the way it is written in enquiries. The tower may only reach that height above the container floor.
- Rotatable or not — goods that may stand crosswise often add several floor positions.
The calculator takes these per position and sticks to them — even when less fits as a result. A longer package is not placed on a shorter one so that it ends in mid-air at the edge: what sits on top has to stand on something.
When it turns into more than one container
That is not an error, it is a result. The calculator then says how many containers it takes, distributes the cargo across them and reports volume and weight per container — each one is placed, weighed and hauled separately, after all. The weight is levelled as evenly as possible without needing one container more than necessary.
Passing the plan on
Three formats, depending on who gets it:
| Format | What for |
|---|---|
| Link | The recipient opens the same 3D plan in the browser and can rotate it — no sign-up. |
| Image (PNG) | For email and quotations: the view plus the figures per container. |
| Loading plan (PDF) | To print for the dock, with a QR code back to the interactive plan. |
Frequent questions
What is a stowage plan?
A representation of which packages are loaded into a container in which arrangement — a drawing plus a position list with dimensions, weights and totals.
Who prepares the stowage plan?
Usually the shipper or the forwarder who packs. For groupage it is the container packing station; for FCL shipments often the shipper themselves.
Is a stowage plan mandatory?
Not generally — the VGM declaration is. In practice consignees, customs and insurers ask for one regularly, because it documents what was in the container and how it stood.
Free, no sign-up — enter the dimensions, pass the plan on as a link, image or PDF.