Reference
20' Standard
General purpose, closed on all sides. Full internal dimensions, door opening, capacity and weights below.
- Inside length
- 5.895 m
- Inside width
- 2.350 m
- Inside height
- 2.392 m
- Door width
- 2.340 m
- Door height
- 2.292 m
- Capacity
- 33 m³
- Tare weight
- 2230 kg
- Max cargo weight
- 28230 kg
About the 20' Standard
The general purpose container that carries the majority of the world's containerised freight. It is closed on all sides with double doors at one end, though variants exist with doors at both ends, or with doors running along one side for cargo that has to be loaded sideways.
At twenty feet it is the natural choice for dense cargo, because it reaches its weight limit long before it runs out of room. Loaded with something heavy, floor area is the constraint that never binds — the payload does.
It is also the unit the industry counts in: one 20' box is one TEU, the twenty-foot equivalent unit used to state ship capacity, terminal throughput and trade volumes.
What it carries
How it is built
- A welded steel frame with corner castings at all eight corners, which take the crane spreader, the twistlocks that hold it to the deck and the lashings that secure it.
- Side walls and roof pressed from corrugated low-alloy weathering steel — the corrugation stiffens the panel, and the alloy forms a protective oxide layer instead of rusting through.
- Double doors at one end, closed by vertical locking bars with cam fittings that pull the door tight against the frame.
- A rubber gasket running the full perimeter of the door aperture, sealing against driven rain and dust.
- A floor of thick marine-grade plywood, usually film-faced, bolted onto steel cross-members that carry forklift wheel loads.
- Lashing points along the side rails and at floor level for securing cargo inside.
- Built in several door configurations: doors at one end, at both ends, or with additional doors along part or the whole length of one or both sides.
Why it is used
- Running costs are low — maintenance is generally limited to panel dents, door seals and floor boards.
- Fully intermodal: the same sealed box moves by ship, rail and road without the cargo being rehandled at any interchange.
- Corner castings sit at ISO-standard positions, so any crane, spreader, chassis or railcar in the world can take it.
- Weatherproof and lockable, which limits both moisture damage and pilferage.
- The most widely available equipment there is, so a booking rarely fails for want of a box.
- The self-supporting, stackable frame also makes retired units useful for site storage and modular building.
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