Shipping container
sizes, measured

The two standard ISO sizes are the 20 ft container (6.06 × 2.44 × 2.59 m, 33.2 m³) and the 40 ft container (12.19 × 2.44 × 2.59 m, 67.7 m³). The 40 ft high cube, one foot taller at 2.90 m, is now the most widely built type. 10 ft and 45 ft units round out the ISO range; 48 ft and 53 ft are US domestic sizes.

All ISO containers are 8 ft (2.438 m) wide externally, with about 2.35 m usable inside. Only US domestic 48 ft and 53 ft units and European pallet-wide containers are wider at 2.5 m internal.

Height only. A standard container is 8′6″ (2.591 m) tall; a high cube is 9′6″ (2.896 m). On a 40 ft box that extra foot adds 8.7 m³ of capacity.

Empty, a 20 ft container weighs about 2,230 kg and a 40 ft about 3,740 kg. Loaded, both are limited to a max gross around 30,480 kg (32,500 kg for many high cubes).

Floor-loaded in one tier: 11 EUR or 10 US pallets in a 20 ft, 25 EUR or 21 US pallets in a 40 ft. Double-stacking doubles those counts when pallet height and weight allow.

Typical 2025–26 ranges: used cargo-worthy 20 ft $1,200–2,500; one-trip 20 ft $2,500–4,000; used 40 ft high cube $1,800–3,500; one-trip $3,500–5,500. Coastal markets run cheaper than inland.

Twenty-foot equivalent unit — the capacity of one 20 ft container, used to count everything in container shipping. A 40 ft box equals 2 TEU; the largest ships carry more than 24,000 TEU.

Rule of thumb: dense, heavy cargo (over ~850 kg per m³) fits a 20 ft before hitting weight limits; light, bulky cargo ships cheapest per cubic metre in a 40 ft high cube; anything over 25 m³ of cargo almost always justifies a 40 ft.