The vocabulary of the box

Container Glossary

Every term you meet on spec sheets, quotes and this site — defined briefly, with links where a full guide exists.

TEU: Twenty-foot equivalent unit — capacity of one 20 ft container, the industry’s unit of count. Full guide: What is a TEU?
FEU: Forty-foot equivalent unit = 2 TEU. Freight rates quoted “per FEU” apply to one 40 ft container.
Tare weight: The weight of the empty container, painted on the doors. Subtract from max gross to get payload. See the weight guide.
Max gross: The heaviest a loaded container may legally be — box plus cargo. 30,480 kg for most units, 32,500 kg for many high cubes.
Payload: Max gross minus tare: the cargo weight a container can take. About 28 t for a 20 ft dry box.
VGM: Verified Gross Mass — the weighed, documented weight of a packed container required by SOLAS before vessel loading.
High cube (HC): A container 9′6″ (2.896 m) tall instead of the standard 8′6″. See high cube container.
General purpose (GP): The standard enclosed dry container — as opposed to reefer, open top or other specials. Also called “dry van”.
Reefer: Refrigerated container holding −30 to +30 °C. Smaller inside than a dry box. See reefer dimensions.
Open top: Container with a removable tarpaulin roof for crane loading. See open top dimensions.
Flat rack: A container reduced to floor and end walls, for machinery and oversized cargo. See flat rack dimensions.
ISO tank: A liquid tank in a 20 ft frame, 21,000–26,000 L. See tank container.
OOG: Out of gauge — cargo protruding beyond the container envelope (over-height, over-width), typically on flat racks or open tops; priced with extra slots.
Twist-lock: The rotating fitting that locks corner castings to ships, chassis, cranes and other containers.
Corner casting: The steel fitting at each of the eight corners — the only points a container is designed to be lifted, stacked and locked by.
CSC plate: The safety-approval plate riveted to the door: structural ratings, tare, max gross and inspection status under the Container Safety Convention.
ISO 6346: The marking standard behind container numbers (MSKU 307703 0) and size/type codes (22G1, 45R1). See ISO standards.
ISO 668: The standard fixing container dimensions and ratings — the reason every box fits every ship.
Gooseneck chassis: A lowered road chassis whose front “neck” drops into a tunnel under 40 ft+ containers, cutting overall height — often required for high cubes.
Pallet-wide: European container variant ~2.5 m wide internally, taking EUR pallets two-abreast without waste: a 45 ft PW holds 33 EUR pallets.
One-trip: A container that has made one loaded voyage from the factory — “new” for practical purposes in the resale market.
Cargo-worthy (CW): Inspection grade meaning fit for international shipping: structurally sound, valid CSC. Below it sits wind-and-water-tight (WWT), fine for storage.
WWT: Wind and water tight — keeps weather out but is no longer certified for ocean freight. The usual grade of storage containers.
CBM: Cubic metre — the volume unit of ocean freight. A 20 ft box holds 33.2 CBM. See the CBM guide.
Load line (reefer): The red line inside a reefer marking maximum cargo height — air must circulate above the load.
Twenty / forty (equipment slang): “A twenty” = a 20 ft container; “a forty” = 40 ft; “a forty-five” = 45 ft. “High cube forty” = 40 ft HC.
Conex / sea can: US and Canadian slang for a shipping container. See container names.
Intermodal: Moving between ship, rail and truck without unpacking — the whole point of the standard container.
Demurrage: Charges for a container sitting in the port beyond its free days — the terminal’s meter running on your box until you collect it.
Detention: Charges for keeping the carrier’s container outside the port beyond free time — the clock between picking the box up and returning it empty.
LCL / FCL: Less-than-container-load vs full-container-load. LCL shares a box with other shippers’ cargo, priced per CBM; FCL books the whole container. Under ~15 m³, LCL is usually cheaper — see the CBM guide.
Dunnage: The material that fills voids and braces cargo inside the box — airbags, timber, boards. Its weight counts toward VGM.
Lashing: Steel rods and turnbuckles securing container stacks to the ship’s deck — the system that keeps 10-high stacks aboard in a seaway.