Container dimensions & specifications (20 & 40)

20 ft container is defined by its length though there is a lack of standardization in regard to height, ranging between 4 feet 3 inches (1.30 m) and 9 feet 6 inches (2.90 m), with the most common height being 8 feet 6 inches (2.59 m).Also, it is common to designate 45-foot (13.7 m) containers as 2 TEU, rather than 2.25 TEU.

Additionally there is a standard container with the same width but a doubled length of forty feet called a 40-foot container, which equals one forty-foot equivalent unit (often FEU or feu) in cargo transportation.

Load bearing of container stacking is at the 40-foot corner stone couplings. In order to allow stacking of these types a forty-foot inter-modal container has an exact length of 40 feet (12.192 m), while the standard twenty-foot inter-modal container is slightly shorter having an exact length of 19 feet 10.5 inches (6.058 m).

The maximum gross mass for a 20-foot (6.1 m) dry cargo container is 24,000 kilograms (53,000 lb). Subtracting the tare mass of the container itself, the maximum amount of cargo per TEU is reduced to approximately 21,600 kilograms (47,600 lb).

Similarly, the maximum gross mass for a 40-foot (12.2 m) dry cargo container (including the 9-foot-6-inch-high (2.90 m) cube container) is 30,480 kilograms (67,200 lb).After correcting for tare weight, this gives a cargo capacity of 26,500 kilograms (58,400 lb).

*Standard Container: *