Home
What's new?

Shipping World
Freight Container
Container ships
Container ports
Shipping lines
Container Sale
Container Shipping
Shipping News

Shipping Tools
Freight
Shipping Index
IMDG Code
Country Code
Shipping Terms
My Bookstore
Shipping resources
Links
Search

Shipping Directory
Maritime Schools

Relaxation
Interesting videos
Container Homes

Site Info
About me
Contact
Site Policies

[?] Subscribe To This Site

XML RSS
Add to Google
Add to My Yahoo!
Add to My MSN
Subscribe with Bloglines

Shipping container sizes

Shipping container sizes as well as markings, specifications are to comply with international standards so that containers can be used as intermodal receptacles. Of course, there are always special containers which have length and width dimensions similar to those of ISO ones but have different heights and weights. Such non-standard boxes may not be intermodal worldwide.

Among many sets of ISO container standards, ISO 668:1995 covers details about shipping container sizes and weights, which are summarized in the following table. It worth to noting that ISO 668:1995 also accepts in certain countries there are legal limitation to their overall height of vehicle and load (for example for rail/road service).

Dimensions
Container 20' (20'DC)
40' standard (40'DC)
40' high
(40'HC)
imperial
metric
imperial
metric
imperial
metric
External
Length
19' 10,5"
6,058 m
40'
12,192 m
40'
12,192m
Width
8'
2,438 m
8'
2,438 m
8'
2,438m
Height
8'6"
2,591 m
8'6"
2,591 m
9'6"
2,896m
Internal
(min)
Length
5,867 m
11,998 m
11,998 m
Width
2,330 m
2,330 m
2,330 m
Height
2,350 m
2,350 m
2,655 m
Gross mass
24000 kg
52900 lb
30480 kg
67200 lb
30480 kg
67200 lb

Container width

According to ISO 668:1995, all ISO containers have width of 2.438m (8').

Container height

Currently, there’re two main types of container height: standard and high. A standard container is 8’6” in height, while a high box is 9’6”. The fact that a receptacle is called a standard or a high container is just a matter of habit. Years ago, 8’ high containers were popular and considered standard. These are rarely in use today, and instead, a standard container now means a 8’6”.

Container length

The length of a 40’ (12.192 m) long container is considered a starting basis. Containers with shorter nominal sizes (e.g. 30’, 20’, 10’) have lengths so as for when these combining together, with distance of 3” between two of them, the total length is equal to 40’.

Such 3” appears to be safety tolerance between two containers sitting next each other, so as to those vans in practice can be completely fit when stacking many tiers on top of one another (in container yards, depots, or on board of container ships).

Due to such a 3” distance, boxes other than 40’ (e.g. 20’) are shorter than what their nominal length suggests. For example, a 20’ container is not exactly 20’ long, in fact its real length is 19' 10,5" (20’ minus half of 3”).

Container combination

Example of module combination
(Source: Container Handbook)


Return from Shipping Container Sizes to Home Page


New! Comments

Have your say about what you just read! Leave me a comment in the box below.