Container dimensions

The only difference is height. A standard container has an internal height of 2.392 m, while a high-cube adds roughly 30 cm, giving 2.697 m. External width and length are identical, so both fit the same chassis, cell guides and terminal equipment.

That extra 30 cm translates to about 13% more cubic capacity - 76.2 m³ against 67.7 m³ on a 40-footer. For dense cargo like tiles, machinery or canned goods you will hit the weight limit long before you fill the space, so the standard unit is usually cheaper and just as good. For light, bulky freight - furniture, textiles, packaging - the high-cube pays for itself immediately.

One practical warning: a high-cube on a standard chassis reaches roughly 4.15 m total road height. Several European countries cap combination height at 4.00 m, and low bridges, tunnels and warehouse doors do not care what your booking says. Confirm the route before you book a high-cube for inland moves.

Three numbers govern what you can legally load. Tare is the empty weight of the container itself. Max payload is the heaviest cargo it is rated to carry. Max gross is the two added together - the figure stencilled on the container door and the one customs, terminals and road authorities actually check.

For most 20 ft and 40 ft units, max gross is 30,480 kg under the ISO standard; 45 ft high-cubes are typically rated to 32,500 kg, and flatracks considerably higher because they are built for concentrated loads.

The trap is that payload rarely limits you in practice. A 20 ft box rated for 28,000 kg of cargo will exceed road weight limits in most of Europe long before it is full. Plan against the total weight of the truck-and-trailer combination on your route, not the container's rating. Also note that tare varies between individual containers of the same type - always read the plate on the unit you are actually given.

Start from how the cargo is loaded, not what it is.

If it fits through the doors on a forklift or pallet truck, a standard or high-cube unit is the default and the cheapest. Choose high-cube when volume runs out before weight.

If the cargo is too tall for the doors or must be craned in from above - machinery, marble slabs, pipe bundles - use an open top, which has a removable tarpaulin roof. If the load is oversized in width as well, or has no flat base to sit on, use a flatrack. These have no side walls and are rated for heavy, concentrated weight. Platforms go a step further with no walls or posts at all, for genuinely outsized project cargo.

Temperature-controlled goods need a reefer, which draws power from the vessel and from a genset on the road leg. Free-flowing dry goods like grain or plastic pellets suit a bulk container loaded through roof hatches, while liquids move in tank containers. For European road and rail, a pallet-wide unit fits three Euro pallets across instead of two - a meaningful gain if your cargo is palletised.

The container's ISO rating is a ceiling, not a permission. What you can actually move is set by the road and rail rules of every country on the route, and they differ.

Most EU member states allow 40 tonnes gross for a standard articulated combination, rising to 44 tonnes for intermodal journeys where the container arrives or leaves by rail or water. Türkiye applies its own limits under the highway traffic regulation. Some corridors permit more with a permit; some bridges and seasonal thaw restrictions permit considerably less.

Because the tractor, chassis and fuel all count toward that gross figure, the cargo you can legally carry is usually far below the container's payload rating - often around 24-26 tonnes for a standard European road move, whatever the door plate says.

Since 2016 the SOLAS convention has also required shippers to submit a Verified Gross Mass before a container is loaded onto a vessel. If the VGM is missing, the box does not sail. Weigh the loaded unit or calculate it from verified cargo, packaging and tare weights.