Open side container
An open side container is a shipping container whose long side opens almost from end to end, through folding doors, as well as through the usual doors at one end: pallets, machines and long goods go in from the side, by forklift. On a 20 ft box the side opening is about 5.7 to 5.8 m long and 2.15 to 2.19 m high; inside it gives 5,898 × 2,287 × 2,299 mm, or 31 m³, and it weighs about 3,190 kg empty, more than a standard box. It also comes as a 20 ft and a 40 ft high cube. None was on sale by name among the listings we read on 20 October 2026; in our survey, a used standard 20 ft is priced from ₹1,04,000: ask partner sellers for a quote.
Updated 23 Oct 2026What is an open side container?
A steel shipping container with one long side made of doors. That side has two pairs of folding (bi-fold) doors, four leaves in all; on a maker’s data sheet we read, the outer leaves swing back about 270° to lie against the side wall, the inner ones about 180°. Each pair of leaves has its own locking bars and rubber gaskets, and the side has a lock box for a padlock, like the double doors that the box keeps at one end. To carry the floor where the side wall is missing, the bottom rail under the doors is reinforced, and the door frames take a little room inside.
Open side, side opening or side door container?
The names are used loosely, so check what a seller means:
- Full open side, or side opening: the whole side opens with no post in the way, as described above.
- 40 ft high cube with a centre post: a fixed post in the middle carries the roof, so the side opens as two openings of about 20 ft each.
- Side door container: several pairs of ordinary double doors along the side, separated by posts, with a narrower clear opening.
Some sellers call the side door container “open side”. Ask for the data sheet, the length of the clear side opening, and a photo of the side with the doors open.
Open side container dimensions
20 ft open side container dimensions
| 20 ft open side container | mm | cm | Feet and inches | Metres |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Outside length | 6,058 mm | 605.8 cm | 19′ 10½″ | 6.06 m |
| Outside width | 2,438 mm | 243.8 cm | 8′ | 2.44 m |
| Outside height | 2,591 mm | 259.1 cm | 8′ 6″ | 2.59 m |
| Inside length | 5,898 mm | 589.8 cm | 19′ 4″ | 5.90 m |
| Inside width | 2,287 mm | 228.7 cm | 7′ 6″ | 2.29 m |
| Inside height | 2,299 mm | 229.9 cm | 7′ 6½″ | 2.30 m |
| End door opening width | 2,170 mm | 217 cm | 7′ 1½″ | 2.17 m |
| End door opening height | 2,169 mm | 216.9 cm | 7′ 1½″ | 2.17 m |
| Side opening (length × height) | 5,702 to 5,846 × 2,154 to 2,189 mm (18′ 8½″ to 19′ 2″ × 7′ 1″ to 7′ 2″) on the makers' sheets | |||
| Floor area inside | 13.5 m² (145 sq ft) | |||
| Volume inside | 31 m³ (CBM), 1,095 cu ft, 31,000 litres | |||
| Weight empty (tare) | 3,190 kg (3,000 to 3,200 kg on the sheets) | |||
| Payload (typical) | 20,820 kg, about 21 tonnes | |||
| Maximum gross weight | 24,000, 24,160 or 30,480 kg, depending on the box | |||
Typical values: the median of 5 data sheets from makers, sellers and leasing companies, consulted on 20 October 2026; feet and inches rounded to the nearest half inch. The markings on the doors give the tare and maximum gross of each box: a box rated to a higher gross weight carries more, its gross weight minus its tare.
Inside, the open side box is 65 mm narrower and 94 mm lower than a standard 20 ft container, because of the door frames and the stronger floor, and its end door is 170 mm narrower; it holds the same 11 Euro pallets in one layer, by our count. The side opening is lower than the inside: measure your tallest load against the opening, not against the inside height.
20 ft and 40 ft high cube open side containers
| From the data sheets we read | 20 ft high cube open side | 40 ft high cube open side |
|---|---|---|
| Inside (L × W × H) | 5,898 × 2,287 × 2,604 mm | about 12,032 × 2,287 × 2,461 mm |
| Side opening (L × H) | 5,702 to 5,846 × 2,480 to 2,494 mm (18′ 8½″ to 19′ 2″ × 8′ 1½″ to 8′ 2″) | about 11,836 × 2,300 mm (38′ 10″ × 7′ 6½″) |
| End door (W × H) | 2,114 to 2,227 × 2,474 to 2,494 mm | about 2,226 × 2,348 mm |
| Volume | about 35 m³ | about 67 m³ |
| Empty weight (tare) | 3,180 to 3,600 kg | 5,170 to 5,920 kg |
| Maximum gross weight | 24,000 or 30,480 kg | 24,000 or 30,480 kg |
20 ft high cube: the data sheets of two makers, with a third for the inside height and the tare. 40 ft high cube: a maker's product page and two resellers' sheets, which do not agree on every figure, with another maker's sheet for the tare and the gross weight; the volume is calculated from the resellers' inside sizes. We found no data sheet for a 40 ft open side of standard height.
The high cube adds about 300 mm of height to the side opening of a 20 ft box. The 40 ft high cube opens about 11.8 m along its side, but its sheets give an inside height of only about 2.46 m, far less than a closed high cube: ask for the sheet of the box you are offered.
Open side container weight and strength
The extra doors, frames and locks make the box heavier: a 20 ft open side weighs about 3,190 kg empty, 960 kg more than a standard 20 ft, and a 40 ft high cube open side 5.2 to 5.9 tonnes, against about 3,865 kg for a closed one. Several sheets rate the box to a maximum gross weight of 24,000 kg rather than 30,480 kg: the CSC safety approval plate on the box gives its own rating.
A side made of doors is weaker than a corrugated wall. One maker’s sheets for its 20 ft and 20 ft high cube open side boxes still give the full stacking and racking test loads of ISO 1496-1, the standard for general cargo containers, with approval by classification societies. A box built with less strength carries a different code, as the next section explains.
Can an open side container be shipped by sea?
Yes, if it was built as one and its CSC plate is valid: that maker’s sheets approve its open side boxes for carriage at sea, on deck or below, by road and by rail. A standard box with its side cut out afterwards cannot travel as a container until it is recertified.
Open side container ISO code
The size-type code painted next to the container number says whether a box opens at the side. In the registry of ISO 6346 codes, G2 marks a general cargo box with a full opening on one or both sides, G3 a box with partial side openings, such as side doors, and GD or GG the same boxes with reduced stacking or racking strength. So a full open side 20 ft box should read 22G2, a 20 ft high cube 25G2 and a 40 ft high cube 45G2.
A box whose code reads 22G1 or 45G1, the codes of closed boxes, may have had its side cut open after it was built, though some sellers’ papers also print G1 codes for boxes built as open sides: ask whether it was built as one, and for its CSC plate and approval papers. Under the International Convention for Safe Containers, as amended in 1991, a box modified in its structure loses the approval of its CSC plate until it is recertified, after new tests if required; India’s classification society asks for recertification too. Such a box can still serve for storage on the ground, but not as a shipping container. The size and type codes are explained with the other sizes.
What is an open side container used for?
- Storage you can reach: goods at the back of the box come out without emptying the front, which suits a shop’s stock, spare parts, or a farm’s tools and sacks.
- Pallets and long goods by forklift: pipes, timber, steel sections or rolls go in from the side, where the door at the end would need them pushed in one by one.
- Site store: a contractor’s store for tools, cement and long materials, opened in the morning and locked at night.
- Shop, café or stall: opened along its side, the box becomes a counter or a stage; see the container shop and container café.
In the Indian monsoon, the many door joints are the weak point: a box that will stay outside needs its gaskets in good condition.
How do you open an open side container?
- Unlock the padlock in the lock box of the side door.
- Lift the handles of the locking bars of the first pair of leaves and turn them to free the cams at the top and bottom.
- Swing the pair out, fold the inner leaf against the outer one, then swing both back against the side wall; do the same with the second pair.
- To close, fold the leaves back in the reverse order, check that each locking bar engages top and bottom and that the gaskets sit flat, then lock.
On a 20 ft box each leaf is about 1.4 m wide: leave at least that much clear ground along the side to open the doors, and much more if a forklift will load from that side, so ask its driver how much room it needs to turn with a pallet. Set the box with its opening side facing that open ground, on level supports: a box that twists makes its doors jam. Site preparation and unloading explains the supports and the access. The end doors open like those of any container.
Open side container price in India
No listing we read on 20 October 2026 offered an open side box by name. One listed a used 40 ft high cube with “side door” among its specifications, but called it a dry container and said nothing of its doors: we count it as a standard box. Indian marketplaces do list “open side” containers, but the listing we could open stated neither the condition, nor the date, nor the size clearly, and the same price appeared on other products of the same site: we do not publish such prices. We found no Indian factory documented as building ISO open side boxes (shipping container manufacturers in India). An open side box is dearer to build than a standard one, so expect sellers to ask more for one of the same age and condition.
For comparison, on 20 October 2026, sellers asked from ₹1,04,000 for a used standard 20 ft container, with a typical asking price of ₹1,20,000; from ₹1,14,000 for a used 20 ft high cube; from ₹2,25,000 for a new or one-trip 20 ft; from ₹1,55,000 for a used 40 ft; and from ₹1,58,000 for a used 40 ft high cube. These are asking prices, before delivery, and most listings do not say whether GST is included; a container bears 18% GST under HSN heading 8609 (GST on shipping containers).
The button below fills in a quote request for an open side container: add the size you want (20 ft, 20 ft high cube or 40 ft high cube), and the partner sellers who cover your PIN code reply if they can supply one, with a delivered price. Ask them for the size-type code and a photo of the CSC plate. To use one for a few months only, ask for it on rent.
Ask for an open side container quote →
Open side container for sale: what to check before you buy
Besides the checks of how to inspect a used container: open and close every leaf, which should swing freely and hang straight; check that the locking bars and their cams engage at the top and the bottom; look at the gaskets, torn or flattened; and look at the bottom rail under the side doors and the floor edge behind it, where forklifts strike and rust starts. In daylight, from inside with the doors shut, any light at the joints shows where water will come in.
Open side, open top or flat rack?
- Open side: loading from the side, by forklift, with the roof and walls kept: the goods stay dry and locked up.
- Open top: loading from above, by crane, for heavy or tall loads; the roof is a tarpaulin.
- Flat rack: no side walls and no roof, for loads wider than a container.
- Double door container: doors at both ends, to load at one end and unload at the other; see container sizes.
40 ft open side container
What is a 40 foot open side shipping container?
A 40 ft box, usually a high cube, whose long side opens over about 11.8 m in one opening, or in two openings either side of a centre post. The sheets we read give it a tare of 5.2 to 5.9 tonnes and an inside height of about 2.46 m. We found fewer data sheets for it than for the 20 ft open side, and its figures vary more from one sheet to another.
Other container types and prices
Published 23 October 2026. Sizes and weights: medians of 5 data sheets of makers, sellers and leasing companies for the 20 ft box, and the data sheets of makers and resellers for the high cubes; codes from the ISO 6346 registry; checked on 23 October 2026; prices from the reading of sellers' asking prices of 20 October 2026.