20ft Container Dimensions

The 20ft container (officially the ISO 1CC, often called a TEU — twenty-foot equivalent unit) is the most common shipping container in the world and the baseline for global freight pricing. Roughly half of all dry containers in service today are 20ft. Use the figures below to plan FCL loads, then check the fit with our container CBM calculator or single product container calculator.

Internal dimensions (loadable space)

• Length: 5.90 m (19.4 ft)
• Width: 2.35 m (7.7 ft)
• Height: 2.39 m (7.8 ft)
• Door opening: 2.34 m × 2.28 m (7.7 × 7.5 ft)

External dimensions

• Length: 6.06 m (20 ft)
• Width: 2.44 m (8 ft)
• Height: 2.59 m (8.5 ft)

Capacity & weight

• Internal volume: ~33.2 CBM (1,172 ft³)
• Usable volume: ~28 CBM after stacking gaps and door clearance
• Max payload: ~28,000 kg (61,729 lb)
• Tare weight: ~2,200 kg
• Max gross weight: ~30,480 kg
• Pallets: 9–10 Euro pallets (1.2 × 0.8 m) or 10 US/GMA pallets (48 × 40 in), single layer

When does a 20ft hit weight before volume?

A 20ft container weight-outs at roughly 1 ton per CBM. Dense cargo — tiles, machinery, books, canned goods, glass — will usually reach the 28-ton payload limit long before the 28 CBM volume limit. Light cargo — pillows, plastics, toys, garments — fills the space first. Run both numbers in the CBM calculator before booking.

20ft vs 40ft — when to choose which

Pick a 20ft when your cargo is dense, when origin/destination handling fees favour smaller boxes, or when total volume is under ~25 CBM. Pick a 40ft or 40HC when volume is over ~30 CBM, because the freight rate per CBM drops sharply — a 40ft is rarely double the price of a 20ft on the same lane.

Common 20ft FCL use cases

• Heavy industrial parts, machinery, automotive components
• Tiles, marble, granite, ceramics, building materials
• Beverages, canned food, bottled goods
• Smaller importers shipping 18–28 CBM mixed loads
• Cross-trade routes where 20ft equipment is more readily available

See also 40ft & 40HC container dimensions, the container capacity calculator, or pallet calculator to plan the layer-by-layer load.