Truck Packer vs 3DLoadCalculator: The Same 3D Load Plan for $28 vs $85 a Month

Truck Packer and 3DLoadCalculator do the same core job: they build 3D load plans for trucks, trailers and shipping containers, pack them in one click, show weight per container and share the plan with people who don't have an account. The difference is price and how fast you get going. Truck Packer costs $28 a month and runs in any browser with no training, while 3DLoadCalculator costs $85 per user a month (or $10 for a one-day ticket). To be straight with you, 3DLoadCalculator still has stronger stacking rules and center-of-gravity checks today.

3DLoadCalculator costs $85 per user per month, or $10 for a day

Source: 3DLoadCalculator pricing

Monthly Pro is $85 per user. Yearly is $850 per user, and it drops to $595 per user per year once you buy three or more seats. There's also a $10 day ticket that gives you 24 hours of Pro, and people who only view plans are free, up to 10 per paid seat. The trial runs 7 days or 200 calculations, whichever comes first. If you plan one load a quarter, that day ticket is honestly hard to beat.

Truck Packer Pro costs $28 a month, $57 less, and annual billing saves 25%

Source: Truck Packer pricing

Pro is for one person and includes unlimited packs, the case and container library, CSV import, PDF export, AutoPack, weight visualization, sharable packs and the loadout checklist. You can pause it when you don't have loads to plan. Business is contact-for-pricing and adds multi-user orgs, collaborative packs, multi-truck packing, the advanced CSV importer, WMS integrations, API access and SSO. The trial is 7 days with no credit card.

Both plan trucks, trailers and ISO containers; Truck Packer ships about 83 presets

Source: 3DLoadCalculator

3DLoadCalculator's stock equipment is ISO containers (20ft, 40ft, 40ft and 45ft High Cube) plus trailers and your own custom units. Truck Packer's library has about 83 presets covering trailers, ISO 20, 40 and 45ft containers, air ULDs, pallets, rail cars and rental trucks, and you load it with anything boxed: cartons, crates, pallets or road cases. Our users are 67% tour production, 24% warehouse and distribution and 9% freight and logistics. I'm a FOH engineer, and I built Truck Packer to be the easiest load planner to use after years of drawing packs in SketchUp. If you run a production shop, there's a bonus: manufacturer case catalogs import in one click, including Gator Cases with 565 items.

3DLoadCalculator has 6 cargo constraints today; Truck Packer's AutoPack rules are in progress

Source: 3DLoadCalculator features

Both tools pack in one click. 3DLoadCalculator lets you set Do Not Stack, Do Not Rotate, Do Not Tilt, Floor, Max Layers and Max Load per item, keep groups together or in order, and step through the load sequence in 3D. It also flags items that won't fit through the door. Truck Packer's AutoPack is a space solver that doesn't know stack limits, bottom-only items or unload priority yet, so you'll still drag a few things after it runs. 3DLoadCalculator is ahead here for now.

3DLoadCalculator rates center of gravity today; Truck Packer's axle weights are in progress

Source: 3DLoadCalculator features

3DLoadCalculator rates every container Optimal, Acceptable, Warning or Critical based on balance along its length and width, warns when weight sits too high, and has a rule that balances weight side to side. Truck Packer shows weight per container and a weight heat map, and it flags collisions when items overlap. Axle and kingpin weights aren't shipped yet, and we're working on them. If you need balance numbers today, that's a point for 3DLoadCalculator.

Both share a 3D plan with no account; Truck Packer adds a QR code per truck

Source: Truck Packer changelog

3DLoadCalculator's public link opens the 3D plan for anyone, no account, and its PDF manifest has loading steps and a QR code. Truck Packer's crew view also opens on any phone with no account, opens on the truck you were looking at, and puts a QR code on the screen so the crew can scan it at the dock. The shared pack carries notes and a loadout checklist the crew checks off together. There's nothing to install and you build the pack by drag and drop, so a new person can be useful on day one.

3DLoadCalculator imports up to 5,000 rows; Truck Packer adds an API on Business

Source: 3DLoadCalculator features

3DLoadCalculator reads .xlsx, .xls and .csv, up to 5,000 rows a file. It doesn't list an API. Truck Packer imports CSV on Pro, and on Business the advanced importer reads dimensions written in one column like 48x24x30, which is how a lot of packing lists and pull sheets come out. API access comes with Business, and Stagera pushes pull sheets straight into Truck Packer for rental shops (changelog).

Pier2Pier's 3D calculator is free with no login

Source: Pier2Pier 3D Load Calculator

For a one-off, try Pier2Pier first. Manual entry is free, you don't register, and it covers containers, air ULDs, trucks and trailers, pallets, rotation and stacking rules, and a PDF report. A 6-week trial adds Excel import and custom equipment. It won't remember your items from load to load, but it'll tell you if it fits.

Truck Packer does the same 3D load plan for $57 a month less

Source: 3DLoadCalculator pricing and Truck Packer pricing

Whether you're loading a 40ft container of cartons, a trailer of pallets or a truck full of road cases, both tools build the plan in 3D, pack it in one click and hand the crew a link. Truck Packer does that for $28 a month instead of $85 per user, and it's easier to get a crew on because there's no install, no training and no account needed to open the pack. You can also pause it when it's quiet. The honest line: 3DLoadCalculator has stacking rules and center-of-gravity ratings today that we're still building, and its $10 day ticket is great if you only plan a few loads a year.

Got a load to plan this week? Log in to Truck Packer and pack it.