Coreline International — International sea | corelineinternational.com

Coreline International — International sea | corelineinternational.com

20 ft and 40 ft Container Dimensions

Interior length, width, height, usable volume, tare weight and payload for the standard and high-cube boxes, in one place.

A 20 ft standard container measures 5.90 x 2.35 x 2.39 m inside, which works out to about 33 m³. Empty it weighs roughly 2,230 kg, and because the maximum gross weight is 30,480 kg, the payload left for cargo is about 28,200 kg — the highest weight-per-volume ratio of the common boxes.

A 40 ft standard container measures 12.03 x 2.35 x 2.39 m inside, about 67-68 m³. Its tare is about 3,700-3,900 kg, so at the same 30,480 kg gross cap the payload falls to roughly 26,500-26,700 kg. The extra length buys volume, not strength.

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The 40 ft high-cube keeps the 40 ft footprint and adds one foot of height: 2.90 m exterior against 2.59 m on the standard box. Usable volume rises to about 76 m³, which makes it the default for light, bulky cargo that cubes out before it weighs out.

Width is the quiet constraint: all three boxes are 2.35 m wide inside, so two EUR pallets of 1,200 x 800 mm sit side by side with little to spare. That is why a 20 ft floor holds about 10 EUR pallets and a 40 ft about 20 before any second tier.

Read the numbers together: choose by payload first when cargo is dense, by volume first when cargo is light, and treat the high-cube as the fix for loads that fill a standard box's height while barely touching its weight limit.

  • 20 ft standard: 5.90 x 2.35 x 2.39 m, ~33 m³, ~2,230 kg tare, ~28,200 kg payload
  • 40 ft standard: 12.03 x 2.35 x 2.39 m, ~67-68 m³, ~3,700-3,900 kg tare, ~26,500-26,700 kg payload
  • 40 ft high-cube: same footprint, 2.90 m exterior height, ~76 m³
  • All three share the 30,480 kg maximum gross weight

Further reading