Container dimensions: 20ft, 40ft, 40ft HC and 45ft
Updated · Sky Team Labs
A 20ft standard container is about 5.90 m long, 2.35 m wide and 2.39 m high inside; a 40ft is 12.03 m long with the same width and height; a 40ft high cube adds 30 cm of height (2.70 m); a 45ft high cube is 13.56 m long. The figure most load plans get wrong is not the inside height but the door: on a 20ft or 40ft standard box it is 10 cm lower than the ceiling.
Container dimensions table (mm)
All four boxes share one inside width of about 2,350 mm; they differ in length and height. The rows below are one carrier's nominal fleet figures (Hapag-Lloyd), so every number in a row comes from the same box.
| Container | Inside L × W × H | Door W × H | Tare kg | Max payload kg | Capacity m³ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20ft standard (22G1) | 5,895 × 2,350 × 2,392 | 2,340 × 2,292 | 2,250 | 28,230 | 33.2 |
| 40ft standard (42G1) | 12,029 × 2,350 × 2,392 | 2,340 × 2,292 | 3,780 | 26,700 | 67.7 |
| 40ft high cube (45G1) | 12,024 × 2,350 × 2,697 | 2,340 × 2,597 | 4,020 | 26,460 | 76.3 |
| 45ft high cube (L5G1) | 13,557 × 2,353 × 2,700 | 2,340 × 2,585 | 4,820 | 25,660 | 86.1 |
Source: Hapag-Lloyd Container Specification, first-listed series per type. Hapag-Lloyd states tare can vary ±2 % and inside dimensions up to 10 mm.
Door opening: the limit a load plan misses
On a 20ft or 40ft standard container the door opening is 2,292 mm high, 100 mm lower than the 2,392 mm inside height. Any single unit — a loaded pallet, a crate, a machine on skids — taller than about 2.29 m fits inside on paper and still cannot go through the door. On a 40ft high cube the door is 2,597 mm, so units up to roughly 2.59 m pass.
ISO minimums: the numbers to plan against when you don't know the box
ISO 1496-1 sets the smallest a general-purpose container may be inside, and every carrier's box is at or above it. When the carrier or the exact box is unknown at planning time, these are the safe figures.
| ISO 1496-1 minimum | 20ft | 40ft | 45ft |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inside length, mm | 5,867 | 11,998 | 13,542 |
| Inside width, mm | 2,330 | 2,330 | 2,330 |
| Inside height, mm (standard 2,591 mm box) | 2,350 | 2,350 | — |
| Inside height, mm (high cube 2,896 mm box) | — | 2,655 | 2,655 |
| Door opening W × H, mm (standard box) | 2,286 × 2,261 | 2,286 × 2,261 | — |
| Door opening height, mm (high cube) | — | 2,566 | 2,566 |
Inside height = external height minus 241 mm (ISO 1496-1:1990, table 2). Door minimum for standard boxes: ISO 1496-1:1990 §5.7. 45ft minimum length: ISO 1496-1:1990/Amd.4:2006, table 2. High-cube door minimum as listed in Hapag-Lloyd's ISO table.
Payload: the same size box, different limits
Max payload is the most variable figure in the table. Within Hapag-Lloyd's own fleet one 20ft series is rated 28,230 kg and another 30,130 kg — a 1,900 kg difference for the same inside size, because the second is built for 32,500 kg gross instead of 30,480 kg. The payload printed on the door (CSC plate) of the box you receive is the one that counts. On the road leg, national axle and gross limits often cap the load below the box rating; in the calculator that is the Road payload override in Advanced options.
Using these sizes in the calculator
The Container Loading Calculator ships 4 presets: 20ft standard (5,898 × 2,352 × 2,393 mm, 28,180 kg payload), 40ft standard (12,032 × 2,352 × 2,393 mm, 26,680 kg), 40ft high cube (12,032 × 2,352 × 2,698 mm, 26,460 kg) and a 13.6 m EU semi-trailer (13,620 × 2,480 × 2,700 mm, 24,000 kg). A 45ft is not a preset: choose Custom… in the Container dropdown and enter 1355.7 × 235.3 × 270 cm with 25,660 kg, or the ISO minimums above for a worst case. The calculator takes centimetres; see Help and docs for the rest of the setup.