Sea cargo reference
40' Standard
The same cross-section, at twice the length. The figures below are the inside of the box, the door, and the weights.
- Internal length
- 12.029 m
- Internal width
- 2.350 m
- Internal height
- 2.392 m
- Door opening, width
- 2.340 m
- Door opening, height
- 2.292 m
- Cubic capacity
- 67 m³
- Empty weight
- 3780 kg
- Payload
- 26700 kg
How a 40' Standard is used
It shares the cross-section and the door opening of the 20' standard, at double the length. Anything that fits through one will fit through the other.
Volume roughly doubles, while empty weight rises by only about seventy per cent. That makes it markedly cheaper per cubic metre for light, bulky cargo. The trade-off is payload: a 40' standard carries less weight than a 20', because the extra steel comes out of the cargo allowance.
It counts as two TEU. Together with the high-cube build, it accounts for most of the global fleet by capacity. On the inland legs, road weight limits often bind before the container's own maximum does.
Cargo it suits
How the box is made
- A welded steel frame with a corner casting on each of the eight corners. Those castings take the crane spreader, the twistlocks that hold the box to the deck, and the lashings that secure it.
- Side walls and roof are pressed from corrugated low-alloy weathering steel. The corrugation stiffens the panel. The alloy grows a protective oxide skin instead of rusting through.
- Double doors sit at one end. Vertical locking bars with cam fittings pull each door tight against the frame.
- A rubber gasket runs the full edge of the door opening and seals against driven rain and dust.
- The floor is thick marine plywood, usually film-faced, bolted to steel cross-members that carry forklift wheel loads.
- Lashing points run along the side rails and at floor level so cargo can be secured inside.
- Built with several door layouts: doors at one end, at both ends, or extra doors along part or all of one or both sides.
- Twenty and forty foot are the lengths that dominate. Smaller boxes are now rare, and the trend has run towards longer units such as the 45 ft.
Why shippers choose it
- Running costs stay low. Upkeep is mostly dents, door seals and floor boards.
- The same sealed box moves by ship, rail and road. The cargo is not handled again at each change of mode.
- Corner castings sit in the ISO positions, so any crane, spreader, chassis or railcar can take the box.
- The box is weatherproof and can be locked, which limits both moisture damage and theft.
- This is the most widely available equipment, so a booking rarely fails because no box is free.
- The frame supports itself and stacks, so a retired unit is still useful for site storage or a modular building.