A TEU is a Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit, the standard measure of container ship capacity. One 20ft container equals 1 TEU and one 40ft container equals 2 TEU (one FEU, Forty-foot Equivalent Unit). Port and ship capacities are quoted in TEU.

What is a high-cube container?

A high-cube (HC) container is about 30 cm (1 ft) taller than a standard container, giving roughly 2.69 m of internal height instead of 2.39 m. It is widely used for lightweight, voluminous cargo because it adds cubic capacity without changing the footprint.

Why is the internal volume less than length times width times height?

Internal usable volume is reduced by corrugated walls, corner posts, the door frame and floor thickness. Quoted cubic capacity already accounts for these, so it is several percent below the raw internal dimension product.

What does tare and payload mean?

Tare weight is the empty container's own weight. Payload (or net weight) is the maximum cargo it may legally carry. Tare plus payload equals the gross weight, which is capped by ISO and by road/rail limits at destination.

Is this reference calculated online?

No. All dimensions and the unit conversion run locally in your browser. Nothing is sent anywhere.

ISO Shipping Container Size Reference

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ISO container dimensions

Intermodal shipping containers follow ISO 668, which fixes their external footprint so they stack and lock identically on any ship, train or chassis worldwide. Internal space, door opening and payload vary by type. This reference lists the common containers with external and internal dimensions, capacity and weights, switchable between metric and imperial.

How it works

External dimensions are standardised: every 20ft container is 6.058 m long and every 40ft is 12.192 m, both 2.438 m wide, so corner castings align for stacking and lifting. Internal dimensions are smaller because of wall corrugation, corner posts and the door frame — the door opening width and height limit what can be loaded. Cubic capacity is the manufacturer-rated usable volume, always a few percent below internal length × width × height. The imperial toggle converts metres to feet (× 3.28084), m² to ft², m³ to ft³ and kg to lb.

Tips and examples

For palletised cargo, a 20ft holds about 11 Euro pallets or 9–10 standard pallets on one tier; a 40ft roughly doubles that. Choose a high-cube when cargo is light but bulky to gain ~13% more volume for the same floor space. Reefer (refrigerated) containers lose internal length and height to the cooling unit and insulation, so always size cargo against reefer internal dimensions, not the dry equivalent. Confirm the gross-weight limit at every leg — road limits at destination are often stricter than the container’s ISO maximum.