Shipping Container Dimensions

A shipping container dimension is a set of measurements, not the length painted on the door. A 40-foot box is 40 feet long on the outside. Inside it is shorter, the door is shorter than the ceiling, and the payload on one series is not the payload on the next. This guide covers exterior and interior length, width, and height, the door opening, cubic capacity in cubic meters and cubic feet, tare weight, and maximum payload for a standard 20-foot general purpose container, a 40-foot general purpose, a 40-foot high cube, a 45-foot high cube, and 20-foot and 40-foot reefers. Open-top and flat-rack equipment is at the end, briefly.

The numbers are published figures for one series of each type in Hapag-Lloyd's container specification. That booklet reprints an ISO 668 table of external sizes and minimum internals, then lists the carrier's own series. It says those series are a sample, that production can move an internal dimension by up to 10 mm (3/8 inch), and that the brochure is not a guarantee for the box you will be assigned. Another manufacturer's 20-foot can differ by tens of millimeters and by a tonne of tare. Treat every figure below as typical of that published series. The CSC plate on the assigned container is the weight rating that applies, and a load with no slack should be checked against that box's internal measurements.

Feet and inches below are the millimeter figure divided by 25.4 and rounded to the nearest eighth of an inch. External width and the two standard heights are the ISO foot sizes (8 ft, 8 ft 6 in, and 9 ft 6 in). Their metric equivalents, 2,438 mm, 2,591 mm, and 2,896 mm, are the rounded values of those foot sizes.

Pack a carton onto a pallet with the pallet optimizer, turn the handling unit into cubic meters with the CBM calculator, and test a quantity against a box with the container load calculator.

External size

External dimensions run to the corner fittings. General-purpose boxes of the same length share them. A high cube is the same length and width, and one foot taller. These are the external sizes the Hapag-Lloyd booklet attributes to ISO 668.

The same table sets minimum internals a general-purpose container has to meet: length 5,898 mm (20-foot), 12,029 mm (40-foot), and 13,556 mm (45-foot); width 2,350 mm (7 ft 8½ in); height 2,350 mm on an 8 ft 6 in box and 2,667 mm (8 ft 9 in) on a 9 ft 6 in box. Minimum door opening in that table is 2,337 mm wide (7 ft 8 in), 2,261 mm high (7 ft 5 in) on a standard-height box, and 2,565 mm high (8 ft 5 in) on a high cube. Operating series are larger than those minimums. The minimum is the floor, not the number to plan a tight load against.

One published series of each type

Each row is one series in the booklet, so the arithmetic can be checked. Payload is maximum gross minus tare. A neighboring series on the same page can differ enough to change a pallet count or the payload. Those differences are under the table.

ISO size-type codes in the booklet's ISO 6346 list: 22G1 for a 20-foot general purpose, 42G1 for a 40-foot general purpose, 45G1 for a 40-foot high cube, L5G1 for a 45-foot high cube, 22R1 for a 20-foot reefer, and 45R1 for a 40-foot high-cube reefer. The 40-foot reefer dimensioned below is a high cube. The code list also names a standard-height 40-foot reefer (42R1). The dimension pages in the booklet are the 20-foot reefer and the 9 ft 6 in reefer.

20-foot general purpose. The row is the wooden-floor series with internal height 2,393 mm, tare 2,300 kg, and a 32,500 kg gross (payload 30,200 kg). Another series on the same page is 5,898 mm long inside, rated 30,480 kg gross, tare 2,300 kg, payload 28,180 kg, capacity 33.0 m³ (1,165 ft³). A third lists internal height 2,395 mm and tare 2,350 kg. Plan around 33.2 m³, then read the plate.

40-foot general purpose. The row is the wooden-floor series used for the floor plans in the standard pallet sizes guide: 12,032 × 2,352 × 2,395 mm, payload 28,800 kg. Another series is 12,029 × 2,350 × 2,392 mm, gross 30,480 kg, tare 3,780 kg, payload 26,700 kg.

40-foot high cube. Internal length matches the 40-foot GP on this series. Internal height is 305 mm greater (2,700 mm versus 2,395 mm) and the door is 305 mm taller (2,597 mm versus 2,292 mm). Capacity goes from 67.7 m³ to 76.3 m³. Payload on this row is 28,600 kg, 200 kg under the GP row, because tare is 200 kg higher. A wider series on the same page is 2,432 mm inside instead of 2,352 mm, tare 3,850 kg, payload 28,650 kg, still 76.3 m³. A steel-floor series is listed at 76.4 m³.

45-foot high cube. Internal length is 13,556 mm, which is 1,524 mm (5 ft) longer than the 40-foot high cube, and capacity is 86.0 m³. Tare on this row is 4,700 kg. The next series on the page is tare 5,050 kg and payload 27,450 kg. The booklet tells shippers to watch high-cube height on inland routes (bridges and tunnels). A 45-foot box also has to be offered on the lane and accepted by the terminal and the dray route. The extra length does not raise the 32,500 kg gross on this series.

20-foot reefer. Outside, this box is the same 6,058 × 2,438 × 2,591 mm envelope as a 20-foot GP. The machinery bulkhead shortens and narrows the interior: about 450 mm shorter and about 70 mm narrower than the 20-foot GP row. This series prints a maximum stowage height, the red load line, of 2,184 mm (7 ft 2 in) against an interior height of 2,267 mm. Cargo above the line blocks return air. Other 20-foot reefer rows on the page are about 28.1 to 28.2 m³, and one non-foodstuff series is 29.9 m³. On this row the booklet's door width (2,290 mm) is 6 mm wider than the internal width (2,284 mm). Use the smaller figure for a rigid unit.

40-foot high-cube reefer. Outside, this box is the same 12,192 × 2,438 × 2,896 mm envelope as a 40-foot dry high cube. Interior length is about 433 mm shorter than that dry high cube because of the bulkhead. Capacity 67.6 m³ lines up with 11,599 × 2,290 × 2,545 mm. The door height on this row (2,557 mm) is listed 12 mm above the internal height. Use the smaller of the two for a rigid piece, and stop at the load line when the box prints one. A different series on the same page is 11,578 × 2,280 × 2,525 mm, capacity 66.7 m³ (2,356 ft³), tare 4,300 kg, payload 29,700 kg, with a printed load line of 2,425 mm (7 ft 11½ in).

Open top and flat rack

These are specials, for cargo that will not go through a dry-van door. The series spread is as wide as it is on dry boxes.

20-foot open top, one wooden-floor series: internal length 5,895 mm (19 ft 4⅛ in), width 2,350 mm (7 ft 8½ in), height 2,380 mm (7 ft 9¾ in) on the centerline and 2,340 mm (7 ft 8⅛ in) at the side wall. Capacity 32.5 m³ (1,148 ft³). Tare 2,450 kg, payload 30,050 kg, maximum gross 32,500 kg. The roof opening on one 20-foot wooden-floor series is 5,338 × 2,230 mm. The door header swings out so a crane can load through the roof or the doorway. A 40-foot open-top series on the same pages is about 12,029 × 2,350 mm inside, about 2,380 mm high at the center, capacity about 66.5 m³ (2,348 ft³), tare 4,050 kg, payload 28,450 kg, at a 32,500 kg gross.

20-foot flat rack, collapsible ends, listed as ISO size type 22P3: length between corner posts about 5,612 to 5,638 mm (about 18 ft 5 in to 18 ft 6 in), width between posts 2,227 mm (7 ft 3⅝ in), height from the floor to the top of the end wall about 2,219 to 2,235 mm. Payload on the listed series runs from 31,260 kg on one series to 42,100 kg on another, and the booklet says the top of that range applies only when the weight is spread over the floor. A short heavy piece is rated lower. A 40-foot high-cube flat rack (45P3) lists 11,652 mm between the posts and payloads from 44,050 kg to 54,200 kg by series, again only with the load carried along the side rails. Ask the carrier for the rating before you book out-of-gauge cargo.

How many pallets fit

Counts below are one layer, no overhang, pallets square to the walls. The footprints are the 48 × 40 inch GMA pallet (1,219 × 1,016 mm) and the Euro pallet (1,200 × 800 mm). The row-by-row proof for a 20-foot and a 40-foot dry box is in the standard pallet sizes guide. The 45-foot and reefer counts use that same method on the interiors in the table above.

Two 48-inch sides are 2,438 mm and do not fit across a 2,352 mm dry interior, so the GMA plan pairs the 40-inch sides across the width and turns one strip to pick up the extra pallets. On the 45-foot interior that mix is 13 pallets with the 1,016 mm side along a 1,219 mm strip (13 × 1,016 = 13,208 mm) plus 11 pallets with the 1,219 mm side along the other strip (11 × 1,219 = 13,409 mm). Width used is 1,219 + 1,016 = 2,235 mm, inside a 2,352 mm box. A 25th pallet overlaps one of the strips.

Euro pallets on that 45-foot floor: 11 with the 1,200 mm side along an 800 mm strip (13,200 mm) plus 16 with the 800 mm side along a 1,200 mm strip (12,800 mm). That is 27, and the leftover length absorbs the ISO plan tolerance of +3 mm. Eleven pallets at 1,203 mm are 13,233 mm, still under 13,556 mm. The nominal 25 Euro pallets in a 40-foot do not have that slack, which is why the pallet guide says to plan 24 until the box is measured.

A 20-foot reefer at 2,284 mm wide still accepts the 2,235 mm mixed GMA plan, so the floor count stays at 9 even though the box is shorter: five pallets at 1,016 mm along the length (5,080 mm) and four at 1,219 mm (4,876 mm), both inside 5,450 mm. The next 20-foot reefer series in the booklet is 2,280 mm wide. The 2,235 mm mix does not fit, and that box holds 8, four rows of two. The same test applies to the 40-foot high-cube reefer: 11 + 9 = 20 pallets on the 2,290 mm series (11 × 1,016 = 11,176 mm and 9 × 1,219 = 10,971 mm, both inside 11,599 mm), and 18 on a 2,280 mm series.

A second layer, where the door allows it. A standard-height door is 2,292 mm. Two 48-inch units are 2,438 mm. They do not fit in the GP, and they do not fit through that door. On the 40-foot high cube the interior is 2,700 mm and the door is 2,597 mm, so both clear 2,438 mm. The floor count stays 20. A full second layer is 40 handling units, and they share the payload: 28,600 kg on the series above is about 715 kg each. The 45-foot high cube has the same door and the same interior height, with 24 floor spots.

Reefer load line. Two 48-inch units are 2,438 mm. The 40-foot reefer series with a printed load line of 2,425 mm is 13 mm short of that stack. Keep a reefer to one layer unless the red line on the assigned box clears it. The 20-foot reefer load line of 2,184 mm is one tall pallet, not two.

Floor-loaded cartons do not follow these counts. They can use the strips a pallet leaves at the walls. Run that mix through the container load calculator.

Usable CBM versus nominal capacity

Nominal capacity is the interior cube in the table: 33.2 m³ in the 20-foot GP, 67.7 m³ in the 40-foot GP, 76.3 m³ in the 40-foot high cube, 86.0 m³ in the 45-foot high cube. A solid block of that size does not fit through the door. Door height is the limit for a rigid piece.

The interior rectangle up to the door, on these series:

• 20-foot GP: 5.900 × 2.352 × 2.292 m = 31.8 m³ (about 1,123 ft³), against 33.2 m³ nominal. About 1.4 m³ sits above the door, under the roof.
• 40-foot GP: 12.032 × 2.352 × 2.292 m = 64.9 m³ (about 2,291 ft³), against 67.7 m³.
• 40-foot high cube: 12.032 × 2.352 × 2.597 m = 73.5 m³ (about 2,595 ft³), against 76.3 m³.
• 45-foot high cube: 13.556 × 2.352 × 2.597 m = 82.8 m³ (about 2,924 ft³), against 86.0 m³.

Palletized freight uses less, because the pallets do not cover the floor. A GMA pallet built to the standard door, 1,219 × 1,016 × 2,292 mm, is 2.84 m³. Nine of them are 25.5 m³ (about 902 ft³). Twenty of them are 56.8 m³ (about 2,005 ft³). That is the gap between the nameplate cube and a full single-stacked floor. The FCL vs LCL guide plans usable space in the mid-20s of cubic meters for a 20-foot and the mid-50s for a 40-foot for the same reason. A shorter pallet uses less cube and still takes the floor spot: a 48 × 40 × 48 inch unit is about 1.51 m³, and nine of them are about 13.6 m³.

At the high-cube door (2,597 mm) the same 20 GMA pallets are 64.3 m³ (about 2,272 ft³). Twenty-four of them in the 45-foot high cube are 77.2 m³ (about 2,726 ft³). Forty double-stacked 48-inch units in a 40-foot high cube are about 60.4 m³ (about 2,133 ft³), and the weight limit usually arrives before the cube does.

On the 20-foot reefer series, the interior up to the 2,184 mm load line is 5.450 × 2.284 × 2.184 m = 27.2 m³ (about 960 ft³), against 28.2 m³ nominal. On the 40-foot reefer series that prints both an interior height and a load line, the volume up to 2,425 mm is 11.578 × 2.280 × 2.425 m = 64.0 m³ (about 2,261 ft³), against 66.7 m³ nominal. Dunnage, carton voids, and the air gap take another cut. Chargeable CBM for a consolidated shipment is the cargo you tender, measured the way the CBM guide describes, not the container's nominal cube.

Payload, and the US road limit under it

The payload column is what the container is built to carry at sea. It is not what a US highway allows a truck to carry.

FHWA's Interstate limits are 80,000 pounds gross vehicle weight, 20,000 pounds on a single axle, and 34,000 pounds on a tandem. Gross weight includes the tractor, the chassis, the container, the cargo, and the fuel. The 20-foot GP series above is rated for 66,579 pounds of payload. That cargo cannot sit inside an 80,000-pound rig once the tractor and chassis are on the scale.

The working cargo ceilings in the Charleston overweight container guide are about 38,000 to 39,000 pounds in a 20-foot box and about 43,000 to 44,000 pounds in a 40-foot box, on a typical tractor and chassis, loaded evenly. Those are planning figures for standard equipment, not a second line on the CSC plate. A 20-foot box fails an axle limit before it fails gross weight, because the cargo sits on a short wheelbase. A 40-foot high cube and a 45-foot high cube do not get a higher road gross. Their example payloads, 63,052 lb and 61,288 lb, are both well above what the rig can legally scale.

For dense freight, the road number is the one to put on the purchase order. The ocean rating is the one a supplier will load to if you leave the ceiling blank. The overweight guide covers sealed-container permits, tri-axle chassis, and the point at which a rework near the port costs less than moving the box heavy.

Choosing a 20-foot, a 40-foot, or a high cube

Match the box to the limit you will hit first: weight, floor spots, or door height.

Under the mid-teens in CBM, price a shared box too. The FCL vs LCL guide puts a common break-even around 13 to 15 m³. A 20-foot you cannot fill is a flat rate on empty air.

Dense cargo belongs in a 20-foot GP. Tile, metal, canned goods, resin, and machinery parts reach the road limit with floor left over. A 40-foot does not double the legal highway payload. It adds tare and length. Nine GMA floor spots are enough when each pallet is heavy.

Cube-limited cargo that clears a 2,292 mm door belongs in a 40-foot GP. You get 20 GMA floor spots instead of 9, and 67.7 m³ nominal instead of 33.2. The example payload, 28,800 kg, is lower than the 20-foot example of 30,200 kg. You are buying floor and cube.

Tall cargo, or a second layer, belongs in a 40-foot high cube. The door is 2,597 mm instead of 2,292 mm, and the interior is 2,700 mm. That is what lets a tall crate in, and what lets two 48-inch pallets stack. Nominal cube rises by 8.6 m³ on these series (76.3 versus 67.7). Payload does not rise with it. High-cube height needs overhead clearance inland. The equipment booklet calls that out.

A 45-foot high cube is a length buy. Four more GMA floor spots (24 versus 20) and 86.0 m³ instead of 76.3, at a lower example payload (27,800 kg), and only where the carrier, the terminal, and the dray route all take a 45-foot box. When any one of those is missing, the 40-foot high cube is the box you can actually get.

A reefer is for the set point. You give up length, width, and the strip above the load line, and you carry a higher tare. A 40-foot high-cube reefer at 67.6 m³ sits in the same nominal range as a 40-foot dry GP, on a shorter floor.

The bottom line

On the series in this guide, a 20-foot general-purpose container is 6,058 × 2,438 × 2,591 mm outside and 5,900 × 2,352 × 2,393 mm inside, with a 2,340 × 2,292 mm door, 33.2 m³ (1,172 ft³), tare 2,300 kg, and payload 30,200 kg. A 40-foot GP is 12,032 × 2,352 × 2,395 mm inside, 67.7 m³, payload 28,800 kg. A 40-foot high cube adds height: 2,700 mm inside, a 2,597 mm door, 76.3 m³, payload 28,600 kg on that series. A 45-foot high cube is 13,556 mm inside and 86.0 m³, with a higher tare. A 20-foot reefer on the series above is 5,450 mm long inside and 28.2 m³. A 40-foot reefer in this fleet is a high cube, 11,599 mm long inside and 67.6 m³, and the red load line is the height that counts. Single-stacked GMA pallets: 9 in a 20-foot, 20 in a 40-foot, 24 in a 45-foot. The CSC payload is the ocean rating. On a US Interstate the 80,000-pound gross, and the axle limits under it, stop the load first.

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