--- title: "Understanding Loads & Load Types" description: "What a Load is (a physical cargo unit with dimensions, weight, quantity and handling rules) and how reusable Load Carrier templates such as \"Euro Pallet\" fill in default dimensions." url: "https://support.pr-9.orbit.do/en/core-features/understanding-loads-load-types" locale: "en" apps: ["mission", "connect", "cockpit"] lastReviewed: "2026-10-21" --- # Understanding Loads & Load Types What a Load is (a physical cargo unit with dimensions, weight, quantity and handling rules) and how reusable Load Carrier templates such as "Euro Pallet" fill in default dimensions. > **Note:** A `Load` is a physical unit of cargo — a pallet, a box, a container — that a shipment carries and a tour hauls. A load type is a reusable template that fills in its typical dimensions for you. ## What a load is A `Load` is one physical thing to be moved. It records: * **What it is** — a pallet, box, container, or loose item. * **Dimensions** — length, width, and height. * **Weight**. * **Quantity** — how many identical units this line represents. * **Handling rules** — whether it is stackable, and flags such as dangerous goods or waste. A load always belongs to a `Shipment`, and rides along on the `Tour` that carries that shipment. You add and edit loads while entering a shipment's freight — they appear under the shipment's **Loads** section in Orbit MissionControl. ## One line can be many units A single load line can stand for several identical units. Two pallets of the same goods are usually one load with a quantity of two, not two separate entries. When you want a total, read the quantity — shown as **Total Load Count** and **Total Weight** on the shipment — rather than counting the lines. ## Load types: reusable templates Most freight comes in standard formats — a Euro pallet, an industrial pallet, a standard box. Rather than re-typing dimensions each time, Orbit lets you define reusable templates. In Orbit MissionControl these are managed under **Settings → Load Carriers**, and each one carries a name, such as "Euro Pallet", and default dimensions. When you pick a load carrier while entering freight, its preset dimensions fill in automatically — and you can still overwrite them for a particular load when that shipment is different. Load carriers are available across your organisation, and a template can be restricted so it is only offered to certain shippers. ## Loads on shipments and tours The same cargo appears wherever it is relevant. On a `Shipment` you see what is being carried and its history. On a `Tour` you see that same cargo as part of the run, tied to the stops where it is picked up and dropped off, along with its current loading status. You don't enter it twice — it is one load, shown in the place that matters. A load's dimensions, weight, and stacking rules are also what Orbit uses to check whether the cargo fits inside the assigned vehicle. That fit check is shown as a 3D load plan. ## ADR points for dangerous goods A `Tour` that carries only a small amount of dangerous goods can be exempt from most ADR rules (ADR 1.1.3.6). Orbit works this out for you: it gives each dangerous-goods `Load` points and adds them up per tour, so you see at a glance whether the tour needs full ADR compliance. ### How a load gets its points A load's points are its **Net Weight/Volume** times its points multiplier. Enter the net weight or volume for the whole load line, not per unit: a line of four drums with 25 kg each is 100 kg. Orbit recalculates the points every time the load is saved. Orbit takes the multiplier from the first of these that applies: 1. **The multiplier the load already carries.** A multiplier sent with the load, or stored on it from an earlier save, is kept. 2. **The transport category.** Each category fixes a multiplier: | Transport category | Multiplier | | ------------------ | ---------- | | 1 | 50 | | 2 | 3 | | 3 | 1 | | 4 | 0 | A few category 1 substances count 20, as ADR 1.1.3.6.3 sets. 3. **The ADR table.** Without a transport category, Orbit looks up the **UN Number**, narrowed by the **Classification Code** and the **Packaging Group** when you entered them. It uses the table only when every remaining row has the same multiplier. When the rows disagree, Orbit does not pick one: the load stays without points until it gets a transport category. Some loads always count zero: * **Limited Quantity** (LQ) and **Exempted Quantity** (EQ) loads. * Transport category 4 loads. Transport category 0 works differently. Its loads have no points, but a tour with one such load is never exempt, whatever its total. ### When a tour is exempt A tour is exempt when its loads add up to 1000 points or fewer, including exactly 1000, and none of them is in transport category 0. Above 1000 points, or with a category 0 load on board, the tour needs full ADR compliance. ### The ADR badge Orbit MissionControl shows an ADR badge on the tour details and on the shipment details. Orbit Connect shows it on the tour details and on each callout in the Marketplace. A shipment's badge counts that shipment's loads only. The badge appears only when a load carries dangerous goods and reads: | Badge | Meaning | | ---------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------- | | **Exempt (ADR 1.1.3.6)** | 1000 points or fewer and no transport category 0 | | The total, such as **1250 Points** | More than 1000 points: full ADR compliance required | | **Full ADR compliance required** | At least one load is in transport category 0 | | **ADR data incomplete** | Orbit cannot work out the points of at least one load | Hover over the badge to see each load with its calculation and the tour's total out of 1000. For an incomplete badge, the tooltip names each load and what it is missing, such as the **Points multiplier** or the **Net weight/volume**. In Orbit Cockpit, the driver sees the same verdict in the tour's insights: **This tour contains dangerous goods**, followed by the points and whether the tour is exempt. ### Example Nordlicht Spedition plans a `Tour` from Hamburg to Lyon with 300 litres of a category 2 paint (300 × 3 = 900 points) and 80 kg of a category 3 adhesive (80 × 1 = 80 points). The tour totals 980 points, and the badge reads **Exempt (ADR 1.1.3.6)**. When Julia adds a carton of limited-quantity aerosols, the total stays at 980. When she adds 25 kg of a category 1 substance (1250 points), the badge shows **2230 Points**, and the tour needs full ADR compliance. ## Related articles * [LoadPlan 3D](https://support.pr-9.orbit.do/en/core-features/load-plan-3-d) — how Orbit visualises whether the loads fit inside a vehicle. * [Load Status Tracking](https://support.pr-9.orbit.do/en/core-features/load-status-tracking) — how a load's loaded and unloaded status is recorded during a tour. * [Shipments](https://support.pr-9.orbit.do/en/core-features/shipments) — the shipment that carries the loads. ## FAQ **Q: What's the difference between a load and a load carrier?** A load is the actual cargo on a shipment, with its own dimensions and weight. A load carrier, managed in Settings, is a reusable template that fills in typical dimensions — for example a "Euro Pallet" preset. The template is not cargo itself; it just saves you typing. **Q: Can I change the dimensions the template filled in?** Yes. Presets are a starting point. Overwrite the length, width, height, weight, or stackability on any individual load whenever a shipment differs from the standard. **Q: How do I record two identical pallets?** Enter one load and set its quantity to two. The shipment totals reflect the count automatically, so there is no need to add a separate line per pallet. **Q: Where do I see whether the cargo fits in the vehicle?** On the 3D load plan, which uses each load's dimensions, weight, and stacking rules. See LoadPlan 3D. **Q: Do I have to enter the ADR points myself?** No. Enter the transport category and the net weight or volume of the load line, and Orbit calculates the points. Without a transport category, Orbit uses the UN number when the ADR table gives one clear multiplier for it. **Q: Why does the badge show “ADR data incomplete”?** Orbit could not work out the points of at least one load, usually because its net weight or volume is missing, or because its UN number has several table rows with different multipliers and no transport category was entered. Hover over the badge to see which load is affected, then add the missing data to that load.