Container Dimensions

Standard Shipping Container Dimensions
Container Type	External Length	Internal Length	External Height	Internal Height	External Width	Internal Width
20ft Shipping Container	20ft (6.09m)	19ft 9 inches (6.01m)	8ft 6 inches (2.59m)	7ft 10 inches (2.39m)	8ft (2.44m)	7ft 10 inches (2.34m)
40ft Shipping Container	40ft (12.18m)	39ft 9 inches (12.11m)	8ft 6 inches (2.59m)	7ft 10 inches (2.39m)	8ft (2.44m)	7ft 10 inches (2.34m)
20ft High Cube Shipping Container	20ft (6.09m)	19ft 9 inches (6.01m)	9ft 6 inches (2.90m)	8ft 10 inches (2.69m)	8ft (2.44m)	7ft 10 inches (2.3m)
40ft High Cube Shipping Container	40ft (12.18m)	39ft 9 inches (12.11m)	9ft 6 inches (2.90m)	8ft 10 inches (2.69m)	8ft (2.44m)	7ft 10 inches (2.34m)

External Shipping container dimensions:

Container Length:

20ft (6.09m) and 40ft (12.19m) are the industry standard container lengths.

For storage and other non-shipping applications other sizes are created by cutting down larger containers to the required size. The most common cut-down sizes are 8ft (2.44m), 12ft (3.66m), 16ft (4.88m), 24ft (7.32m) and 32ft (9.75m).

Container Height:

A standard container is typically 8ft 6 inches (2.59m) high.

High Cube Containers are typically 9ft 6 inches (2.90m) high.

The most common height of a container is 8ft 6ins (2.59m), though 9ft 6 inches (2.90m) high-cube containers are becoming increasingly common. In the past 8ft high (2.44m) was very common and there are some containers 9ft (2.74m) available but these are rare.

Container Width:

The standard width of a container is 8ft (2.44m). To accommodate some types of pallets, particularly in Europe 2.5m (8ft 2.4 inches) wide containers are available though they are less commonly available to buy on the second-hand market.

Internal Shipping container dimensions:

The sides of a container are in nearly all cases, corrugated. The depth of the corrugation is usually 1 inch (25mm), which means that 2 inches (50mm) is lost from the external width dimension (1 inch each side). The back (blank end) is also corrugated and the doors are around 2 inches (50mm) thick meaning that approximately 3 inches (75mm) is lost from the length.

The main reduction from external to internal dimensions is with height. The floor of a standard container has an underside clearance of approximately 6 inches (150mm) and the floor has a thickness of 27mm (1.1 inches). As the roof is corrugated another 1 inch (25mm) is lost resulting in an internal dimension of around 8 inches less than external – 7ft 10 inches (2.39m), though this can vary slightly either way depending on the floor thickness and construction method used.

Through the door height is additionally reduced because of the steel top rail above the door, this is a part of the structural integrity of the container, typically it's 4 inches (100mm) thus reducing the entrance height to 7ft 6ins (2.28m), though this can vary slightly either way.