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Freight equipment

Box trailer

A box trailer is a rigid enclosed body on a semi-trailer chassis. Everything it is good at, and everything it is bad at, follows from having no side that opens.

Mode
Road
Published figures
15, each with a named publisher

A trailer with one way in

A box trailer has fixed insulated or panelled walls, a fixed roof and doors at the rear. There is no curtain to draw back and, on most units, no side access at all. Cargo enters and leaves through the back, which is a smaller constraint than it sounds for a full load and a large one for a multi-drop round.

The body is a structure rather than a cover. That single difference explains why it is chosen: a rigid wall resists weather, resists a knife, and can be sealed in a way fabric cannot.

Rear-only loading changes how a round is planned

With a curtainsider, a driver reaching the third delivery can open the side and take out the pallets for it. With a box, everything in front of those pallets has to come out first, or the load has to have been built in reverse delivery order in the first place.

That makes loading sequence a planning decision rather than a yard decision. On a single full load between two points it does not matter at all. On a round with five drops it decides whether the day works, and it is worth stating the drop order at the point of booking rather than discovering it at the first delivery.

Where the enclosure earns its place

Goods that are attractive to theft benefit from a wall that cannot be opened quietly at a parking place. Goods that must stay clean and dry benefit from a body that does not flex, leak at the seams or admit road spray through a curtain join.

Some box bodies are insulated without carrying a refrigeration unit. That keeps a temperature stable for longer than a curtainsider would, which is not the same thing as controlling it — an insulated box slows a change, and only a refrigerated unit holds a setpoint.

What it costs

A rigid body weighs more than curtains and frames, and every kilogram of body is a kilogram not available for cargo. For dense freight that reaches the weight limit before it fills the space, that trade is felt directly.

Access at collection and delivery also has to be genuine. A box trailer that cannot reverse onto a dock, at a site with no forklift able to reach inside, is a vehicle that cannot be unloaded — a problem a curtainsider would not have had.

Suited to

What this equipment is for.

  • High-value or easily resold goods, where a cuttable side is a real risk rather than a theoretical one
  • Goods that must stay clean and dry, including food-grade and pharmaceutical packaging
  • Full loads between two points, where rear-only access costs nothing
  • Consignments where the body has to be sealed and the seal has to hold

Specifications

Published figures, and who publishes them.

These are not industry constants. Each figure below is one named publisher’s statement about its own equipment on the date it was checked, and where publishers disagree the row says so. For a specific shipment, the specification that matters is the one for the actual vehicle or container being used.

Internal length
13,620 mmVerbatim 'Internal Length | 13620 mm' for type SDK 27 eLB41-STG. Schmitz's S.BO PACE states the same length as '13.62 m'. Both are for the standard European semi-trailer; national long-vehicle regimes are out of scope of these figures.Krone (Fahrzeugwerk Bernard Krone GmbH & Co. KG) — source, checked 2026-08-14
Internal width
2,480 mmVerbatim 'Internal Width | 2480 mm'. Schmitz's S.BO PACE publishes 2,490 mm for the same class — a 10 mm difference between the two largest builders, which is exactly why a single canonical box-trailer width must not be asserted. Both are bounded by the 2.55 m external limit in 96/53/EC Annex I 1.2(a).Krone (Fahrzeugwerk Bernard Krone GmbH & Co. KG) — source, checked 2026-08-14
Internal height
2,715 mmVerbatim 'Internal Height | 2715 mm' for one Krone type. Schmitz does not publish a single height for the equivalent trailer — its S.BO PACE table lists a discrete menu: 'Interior height | 2,610, 2,710, 2,810 and 3,210 | mm'. So box-trailer height is an ordering choice, not a class property.Krone (Fahrzeugwerk Bernard Krone GmbH & Co. KG) — source, checked 2026-08-14
Loading height at the rear portal aperture
2,650 mmVerbatim 'Loading height in the rear portal | 2650 mm'. This is the door-aperture height and is 65 mm LESS than the internal height (2,715 mm) on the very same trailer — the practical constraint when loading tall freight through the back. It is NOT the deck height above ground, and it must not be labelled 'loading height' without the words 'rear portal', or readers will take it for platform height. Only Krone publishes it; Schmitz does not.Krone (Fahrzeugwerk Bernard Krone GmbH & Co. KG) — source, checked 2026-08-14
Payload
31,110 kgVerbatim 'Payload (Technically possible) | 31110 kg' with 'Dead weight approx. | 7890 kg' and 'Permissible total weight | 39000 kg'. Note the pattern worth explaining on the page: the box body is ~1,950 kg heavier than Krone's own curtainsider (7,890 vs 5,940 kg), so its payload is ~1,950 kg lower. The 40 t combination cap in 96/53/EC Annex I 2.2.2 still applies on top.Krone (Fahrzeugwerk Bernard Krone GmbH & Co. KG) — source, checked 2026-08-14
Tare weight
from 5,600 (Schmitz S.BO PACE) / approx. 7,890 (Krone Dry Liner) kgDeliberately given as two manufacturer values because the spread is large and real: Schmitz prints 'Unladen weight | from 5,600 | kg' (note 'from' — a best case), Krone prints 'Dead weight approx. | 7890 kg'. A ~2.3 t difference between builders on nominally the same equipment. Never average them, never publish one as the box-trailer tare.Schmitz Cargobull (with Krone comparison) — source, checked 2026-08-14
Euro pallet capacity
34 (Euro pallets); 26 (ISO pallets) palletsVerbatim 'Pallet spaces | 34 | Euro pallets or 26 ISO pallets'. Cleaner than the curtainsider entry because this page states one length (13.62 m) against one pallet figure, so the mapping is unambiguous. Still a nominal figure dependent on loading pattern and on the 2,490 mm internal width of this specific model.Schmitz Cargobull — source, checked 2026-08-14
Load securing, EN 12642 Code XL
Certified as standard by Schmitz and Krone on curtainsiders; optional on Kögel platform bodies certificationThree separate verbatim confirmations, and the difference between them matters: Schmitz — 'DIN EN 12642 Code XL. Certified structural rigidity as standard.'; Krone data sheet — 'load security certificate according EN 12642 Code XL'; Kögel platform page — 'Optionally with certification according to EN 12642 XL (VDI 2700)'. So XL is standard on mainstream curtainsiders but an ORDERED OPTION on platform bodies. A page must not state that any given trailer arriving on a job is XL-certified — that is a per-vehicle fact, and the EC guidelines say the load capability should be marked on the vehicle and that if no mark can be seen it must be assumed the curtain has no load-bearing function.Schmitz Cargobull / Krone / Kögel — source, checked 2026-08-14
Side wall strength, EN 12642 XL
40 (0.4 P), distributed over the length and at least 75% of internal sidewall height % of payloadFrom the English PDF of 'Cargo securing for road transport — 2014 European best practices guidelines' (ISBN 978-92-79-43665-9) downloaded from this record, around pp. 16-18. Verbatim: 'If the side walls are built according to EN 12642 XL the side walls are tested to take up a force corresponding to 40 % of the payload (0.4 P) uniformly distributed over the length and at least 75% of internal height of the sidewall.' Companion values on the same pages: XL headboard 50 % (0.5 P), XL rear wall 30 % (0.3 P); the lower Code L grades are headboard 40 % max 5,000 daN, side walls 30 %, rear wall 25 % max 3,100 daN. Critically, the guidelines state that 'side walls in a curtainsider built according to EN 12642 L is regarded as a weather protection only'. The guidelines are not legally binding; the EN standard text itself is paywalled by CEN and was not consulted.European Commission, Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport — source, checked 2026-08-14
Lashing point placement (EN 12640)
in pairs opposite each other; 0.7–1.2 m longitudinal spacing; max 0.25 m from the outer edge mVerbatim from the same 2014 EC publication (around p. 21): 'Lashing points in load carriers should be placed in pairs, opposite each other, along the long sides with a spacing of 0.7 – 1.2 m longitudinally and a maximum of 0.25 metres from the outer edge. Continuous lashing anchorage bars are preferable.' This is the answer to 'number of load securing points where standardised': the standard fixes SPACING and STRENGTH, not a count — so no count may be published as standardised. Builders differ within it (Krone's Multi Lock rave offers positions every 100 mm, far denser than the minimum).European Commission, Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport — source, checked 2026-08-14
Lashing point strength (EN 12640)
800 (3.5–7.5 t); 1,000 (above 7.5–12.0 t); 2,000 (above 12.0 t), 4,000 generally recommended daNTable 3 of the same publication, reproduced verbatim including its asterisk: 'Vehicle total mass in tonnes / Strength of lashing point in daN — 3.5 to 7.5 : 800; above 7.5 to 12.0 : 1.000; above 12.0 : 2.000* *(in general 4.000 daN is recommended)'. For any semi-trailer in scope here only the 'above 12.0 t' row applies. The guidelines add that 'Lashing points in sound condition on a vehicle in sound condition are considered to meet the requirements ... even if no certificates are available', which is a condition-dependent presumption, not a guarantee.European Commission, Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport — source, checked 2026-08-14

EU legal maximum

Maximum height
4.00 mAnnex I, point 1.3, applying to any vehicle. This is the ceiling that produces the mega-trailer design: 4.00 m overall minus tyres, chassis and roof leaves the ~3.00 m internal height Krone quotes. National derogations exist — Article 4(2) permits member states to allow vehicles in NATIONAL transport that deviate from point 1.3 among others, which is why higher combinations run lawfully in some states and not across borders. EUR-Lex consolidated texts are documentation tools with no legal effect; only the Official Journal versions are authentic.European Union — Directive 96/53/EC, consolidated text (EUR-Lex) — source, checked 2026-08-14
Maximum width
2.55 (general); 2.60 (conditioned vehicles) mAnnex I, point 1.2: (a) all vehicles except conditioned vehicles 2.55 m; (b) superstructures of conditioned vehicles or conditioned containers/swap bodies 2.60 m. The extra 50 mm for conditioned bodies is precisely what allows a reefer to reach 2,490 mm internally despite insulated walls, and explains Schmitz's '2,460 or 2,490 mm'. Consolidated text — see the authenticity caveat above.European Union — Directive 96/53/EC, consolidated text (EUR-Lex) — source, checked 2026-08-14
Maximum length, articulated vehicle
16.50 mAnnex I, point 1.1 (articulated vehicle); a road train is 18.75 m. Together with point 1.6 — maximum distance from the fifth-wheel kingpin axis to the rear of a semi-trailer, 12.00 m — this is why 13.62 m is the near-universal European internal length. Point 1.5 additionally requires the combination to turn within a swept circle of 12.50 m outer / 5.30 m inner radius. Consolidated text; national derogations under Article 4.European Union — Directive 96/53/EC, consolidated text (EUR-Lex) — source, checked 2026-08-14
Maximum weight, combination
40 t (five/six-axle articulated); 44 t (three-axle tractor + two/three-axle semi-trailer in intermodal transport with containers/swap bodies up to 45 ft); 42 t (two-axle tractor + three-axle semi-trailer, same intermodal case) tonnesAnnex I, point 2.2.2 (a)-(d). This is the number that makes every manufacturer payload figure above non-bookable, and it is the one regulatory fact an equipment page cannot omit: the 40 t covers tractor + trailer + load. The 44 t and 42 t figures apply ONLY to the intermodal container/swap-body case described in the text and must not be quoted as a general road limit. Member states may permit deviations in national transport under Article 4(2), so cross-border and domestic limits differ.European Union — Directive 96/53/EC, consolidated text (EUR-Lex) — source, checked 2026-08-14

Considerations

What constrains it.

  • Rear-only loading, which makes the loading sequence part of the plan rather than an afterthought
  • A dock, a tail lift or a forklift able to work inside the body at both ends
  • Higher tare than a curtainsider, which reduces payload for dense cargo
  • Insulation is not refrigeration — an insulated body slows change, it does not hold a setpoint
  • Internal restraint is still required; a wall stops cargo leaving, not moving

From equipment to load plan

Confirm the unit against the actual cargo.

Suitability depends on the goods, loading method and the specification of the equipment that will actually be used.

European road freight