20 feet container size and dimensions

20 feet container size in feet, cm, metres and mm

Buying one in India? Asia Containers does not sell containers: it reads sellers’ asking prices every week. On 20 October 2026, a quarter of the 116 sellers of a used 20 ft box asked ₹1,04,000 or less, and the typical asking price was ₹1,20,000: compare 20 feet container prices.

20 feet container length: is it really 20 feet?

Not quite. Outside, the box is 6,058 mm long, 19′ 10½″, so that two of them with the gap between them take the place of one 40 ft box (12,192 mm) on a ship or a train. Inside, the usable length is 5,900 mm (19′ 4½″). Every standard box shares the same width, 2,438 mm (8 ft), and the same height, 2,591 mm (8 ft 6 in); a high cube adds one foot.

Inside dimensions of a 20 ft container: length, width, height

The inside is smaller than the outside by the thickness of the corrugated walls, the frame and the floor: 5,900 mm long, 2,352 mm wide and 2,393 mm high, which makes 13.9 m² (149 sq ft) of floor. That floor is about the size of a small room or a single-car garage.

20 ft container door size

The doors open 2,340 mm wide and 2,280 mm high, lower than the inside because of the frame above them. A machine or a cupboard taller than 2,280 mm will not go in, even though it would stand inside. Container door dimensions compares the doors of every type.

20 ft container capacity: CBM, pallets and kg

• Volume: 33.2 m³ (1,172 cubic feet, or 33,200 litres).
• Pallets: 11 Euro pallets (1,200 × 800 mm) or 9 pallets of 1,200 × 1,000 mm on the floor in one layer, laid in two lanes along the box. That is our count from the inside size with a little play, not a loading plan.
• Weight of goods: typically 28,260 kg, about 28 tonnes. Heavy goods such as tiles, steel, stone or bagged cement reach that limit long before they fill the box, so a 20 ft box is often loaded by weight, not by volume.

The full volume is never used: cartons of mixed sizes, pallets and the bracing that holds the load leave gaps, and a box packed to the last centimetre cannot be unloaded by hand.

20 ft container weight: empty (tare), payload and maximum

Empty, a 20 ft box weighs about 2,230 kg, a little over two tonnes (2,120 to 2,350 kg on the data sheets). That is the weight a crane, a side-lifter or a truck-mounted crane has to lift when it is delivered. Its maximum gross weight, box and goods together, is 30,480 or 32,500 kg depending on the box: take away the tare and that leaves about 28,250 or 30,270 kg of goods. The markings on its doors give the tare and the maximum gross weight of that particular box, and its CSC safety-approval plate repeats the maximum gross (container weight compares every type).

Difference between a 20 ft and a 40 ft container

The 40 ft box has the same width and height and twice the length: 67.7 m³ and 23 Euro pallets against 33.2 m³ and 11. It does not carry twice the weight, though: both are rated to the same maximum gross weight, so its typical payload, 28,780 kg, is about the same as the 20 ft’s. Heavy goods go in 20 ft boxes and light, bulky goods in 40 ft ones. On the ground, a 20 ft box needs a level spot of about 6.1 × 2.5 m and a 20 ft trailer to reach it; a 40 ft box needs twice the length. The 40 feet container size guide gives it in full.

Questions about the 20 ft container size

What is the height of a 20 ft container?

2,591 mm (8′ 6″) outside, 2,393 mm (7′ 10″) inside, and 2,280 mm at the door. A 20 ft high cube, a rarer box, stands 2,896 mm tall outside and gives 2,698 mm inside, on one manufacturer’s data sheet: see the used 20 ft high cube.

How high is a 20 ft container on a truck?

In India, a truck or a trailer carrying an ISO container may stand at most 4.52 m tall overall, under rule 93 of the Central Motor Vehicles Rules as amended in 2020. The box is 2,591 mm tall; the deck of the trailer comes on top of that, and it varies from one trailer to another. Ask the transporter for the deck height of the trailer they will send, and check gates, cables and branches on the way against the total.

What is a 20 ft container called: 20 GP, 20 DV or TEU?

A 20 ft GP (general purpose) or 20 ft DV (dry van) box. It counts as one TEU, the twenty-foot equivalent unit in which ships and ports are measured. Its size-type code, painted next to the container number, is usually 22G1: 2 for the 20 ft length, 2 for the 8 ft 6 in height, G1 for a general-purpose box with small air vents near the roof. Some boxes carry 22G0, another general-purpose variant of the same size.

Can a car fit in a 20-foot container?

A car narrower than the door opening (2,340 mm, with the mirrors folded) and shorter than 5,900 mm fits, and most hatchbacks and sedans do, though its doors will barely open inside: the driver climbs out through a window. It has to be lashed to the rings in the floor; to ship it abroad, the shipping line has its own rules for vehicles.