Sea cargo reference
20' Flatrack
An open bed with fixed end walls. The figures below are the inside of the box, the door, and the weights.
- Internal length
- 5.698 m
- Internal width
- 2.230 m
- Internal height
- 2.255 m
- Door opening, width
- Does not apply
- Door opening, height
- Does not apply
- Cubic capacity
- Does not apply
- Empty weight
- 2500 kg
- Payload
- 21500 kg
How a 20' Flatrack is used
A load bed with end walls, no sides and no roof, so cargo can overhang the width and stand well clear of the deck.
It exists for cargo no closed unit will take: pieces wider than the door opening, taller than the roof, or heavy enough that the load must sit on a reinforced steel deck rather than a plywood floor.
With no enclosure, door sizes and cubic capacity do not apply. What decides the load is deck area, the payload rating, and how the cargo can be lashed down.
Cargo it suits
How the box is made
- A steel deck on a reinforced underframe, rated for a heavy point load rather than a load spread evenly.
- End walls only. They are fixed on a standard unit and hinged on a collapsible one. There are no side walls and no roof.
- Lashing rings sit in the side rails, often with pockets for stanchions.
- Corner castings sit in the standard ISO positions, so the unit handles and stacks like any other container.
- A steel frame with a softwood floor. The end walls are strong enough to take cargo lashings and to let several flatracks stack.
- Lashing rings sit in the side rails, the corner posts and the floor, rated to 2,000 kg on 20 ft units.
- Some 20 ft flatracks have forklift pockets.
- Stanchions can be fitted when the cargo needs uprights.
Why shippers choose it
- Takes cargo wider and taller than any closed unit can accept.
- The payload rating is high, which suits dense cargo such as steel, stone and machinery.
- Loading can come from the side or from above, so the door opening never limits the piece.
Check these before you book
- Cargo is fully open to weather and spray, and it usually needs wrapping or sheeting.
- Lashing and weight distribution are worked out for each shipment. Over-width or over-height cargo also limits what can be stowed next to it.