In 1989 in Long Island, New York, a local contractor bought a shipping crate for $100 USD. Inside the crate he discovered a Lotus Esprit from James Bond film “The Spy Who Loved Me”. He sold the car to none other than Elon Musk for the paltry sum of $1m USD.
Although this unusual find joins a list of similarly bizarre container finds, the vast majority of the world’s 530 million containers carry commodities all over the world, helping people to live and businesses to grow.
Below is our guide to Container Sizes to help your teams understand and decide on the best options when moving your products across land and sea.
CONTAINERS
Size: They say size isn’t everything but when it comes to shipping containers it is the main consideration. The most common sizes are 20-foot and 40-foot containers. Both are 8 feet wide. Too big and you are wasting space and money, too small and your goods might not all fit inside.
DRY CONTAINERS
20-FOOT/40-FOOT/40-FOOTHIGH CUBE
The most common freight containers, they are known as “dry” as they are not suitable for the transportation of liquids.
A 20-foot container’s internal dimensions are
- In feet: 19’ 4” long x 7’ 9” wide x 7’ 10” high
- In meters: 5.898m long x 2.352m wide x 2.393m high
- Usable Capacity: 32.6m3
It has 146 sq ft (13.86m2) of floor space and 1,172 cubic ft of volume (33.2m3). Depending on the type of pallet you use, it can hold 10 standard pallets or 12 Euro pallets without stacking.
40-Foot container dimensions
- In feet: 39’ 6” long x 7’ 9” wide x 7’ 10” high
- In meters: 12.025m long x 2.352m wide x 2.393m high
- Usable Capacity: 67.7m3
It has 285 sq ft (26.47m2) of floor space and 2,120 cubic ft (60m3) of volume. Depending on the type of pallet you use, it can hold 22 standard pallets or 27 Euro pallets without stacking.
What Is a 40ft High Cube Shipping Container?
Standing 300mm (12 inches) taller than the standard unit, a 40ft high cube container delivers an extra 9 cubic meters of capacity over its standard counterpart.
Standard 40ft container capacity: 2360 cu ft (66.83m³)
40ft high cube capacity: 2660cu ft (75.32m³)
REFRIGERATED CONTAINERS
20 Foot
- INSIDE LENGTH: 5.724 m
- INSIDE WIDTH: 2.286 m
- INSIDE HEIGHT: 2.014 m
- DOOR WIDTH: 2.286 m
- DOOR HEIGHT: 2.067 m
- CAPACITY: 26 m3
- TARE WEIGHT: 2550 Kgs
- MAX CARGO WEIGHT: 21450 Kgs
40 Foot
- INSIDE LENGTH: 11.840 m
- INSIDE WIDTH: 2.286 m
- INSIDE HEIGHT: 2.120 m
- DOOR WIDTH: 2.286 m
- DOOR HEIGHT: 2.195 m
- CAPACITY: 60 m3
- TARE WEIGHT: 3850 Kgs
- MAX CARGO WEIGHT: 26630 Kgs
SPECIALIZED CONTAINERS
Specialised containers are non-standard containers for specialist purposes, such as side door containers are suitable for larger individual items. Tunnel containers are good for frequent loading access and top loading containers work best for over-height dry cargo.
PG Paper’s Logistics Division
The Logistics Division of PG Paper plays a crucial role in our business, working across 5 continents and 60 countries. Working closely with port authorities, shipping agents, customs and suppliers, we ensure fast, efficient delivery of our products to our clients.
– Written By
Fiona Dempster, Head of PG Paper Logistics