How do I calculate my truck’s remaining payload?

Start with payload capacity (the yellow door-jamb sticker, or GVWR minus curb weight), then subtract the weight of occupants and cargo AND the trailer’s tongue weight. What’s left is your remaining payload.

Why does tongue weight reduce payload?

Tongue weight rests on the tow vehicle through the hitch, so it is part of the load the vehicle carries. It comes out of the same payload budget as passengers and cargo — which is why heavy trailers so often push a truck over its payload before its tow rating.

Truck payload calculator

Payload — not the tow rating — is the limit most trucks hit first, because the trailer's tongue weight lands on the truck along with your passengers and gear. See how much you have left.

Written by Hemant RawatLast reviewed July 2026How we verify

Your numbers

Enter payload directly (yellow door-jamb sticker), or GVWR and curb weight and we'll work it out.

Payload capacity (if known)

GVWR

Curb weight

Occupants + cargo in the vehicle

Trailer tongue weight

Remaining payload

What counts against payload

Payload is what your tow vehicle can carry: GVWR minus curb weight. Everything you add to the truck comes out of it — passengers, gear in the cab and bed, aftermarket accessories, and crucially the trailer's tongue weight, which presses down through the hitch. A fifth-wheel or gooseneck's pin weight hits payload even harder.

Find your payload figure

The most accurate number is on the yellow sticker in the driver's door jamb ("the combined weight of occupants and cargo should never exceed …"). That figure is specific to your exact truck. If you only have GVWR and curb weight, this calculator subtracts them for you — but the door-jamb number is the one to trust.

Payload is only one limit. Check the whole setup with the"Can I tow this?" checker, and see the fulltowing-weights glossary.

Sources

CURT Manufacturing — Towing capacity & payload
U.S. eCFR (Cornell LII) — 49 CFR 571.3 — definitions (GVWR, GAWR)

Values are summarized from public references and were last verified July 2026. See ourmethodologyfor how we source and verify; manufacturer rating labels and your owner's manual always take precedence.