Used
Used 40 feet high cube container (40 HC)
12.19 × 2.44 × 2.90 m outside · 76.4 m³ inside · about 3,865 kg empty
The used 40 ft high cube (40 HC, also listed as 40 HQ) is a 40 ft ISO box (45G1) built 305 mm taller than the standard one: 2,698 mm (8′ 10″) of clear height inside, 76.4 m³ on 28.3 m² (304 sq ft) of floor, and a door opening 2,585 mm high. It is a common starting box for a container home or a larger office, because the extra height survives a lined ceiling. Partner sellers who cover your PIN code quote it in the grade you ask for, delivered.
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Asking prices differ widely: for a used 40 feet high cube container (40 HC), half of the 27 sellers we read on 20 October 2026 ask between ₹1,58,000 and ₹2,22,000, ₹64,000 apart. Several quotes show you where the low end is.
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Why conversions start from a high cube
A room built in a box loses height to everything you add: a new floor over the plywood one, insulation and a ceiling under the roof, lights and a fan. The high cube starts 305 mm higher than a standard box, and that margin keeps a lined room comfortable. As an example, if the floor and the ceiling take 100 mm together, about 2,600 mm remain, against about 2,290 mm in a standard 40 ft box; the real figure depends on the layers your builder chooses. Its 12,032 mm of length divide into two or three rooms: a bedroom, a living room with a kitchen and a bathroom (container homes), or an office with a meeting room (container offices, where a converted 40 ft office was listed from ₹4,00,000, fit-out not detailed).
- For a home, an office or a café: a cargo-worthy box with straight walls and a roof without dents. Each door or window cut in the side removes steel from a wall that carries the roof, so start from sound corner posts and have every opening framed. Shops and cafés often start from a 20 ft box: see container shops and container cafés.
- For tall storage (racking, stacked cartons, machines): wind and water tight is enough, once the roof and the floor are checked.
- If height does not matter, a used standard 40 ft box has the same floor, to within a millimetre, and many more sellers.
On 20 October 2026, sellers who call their box cargo-worthy asked about the same as those who state no grade: ₹1,81,500 (16 sellers) against ₹1,92,000 (11 sellers). The word on a listing does not set the price: ask for photos of the roof and the floor, and for the dates on the CSC plate (the safety approval of the International Convention for Safe Containers).
Cargo-worthy
Sound walls, roof and floor, doors that seal: it can still go to sea.
- Structurally sound: no holes, frame and corner posts straight.
- Doors, locking bars and seals working; floor sound.
- Normally a CSC plate with a valid examination date, so it can still be shipped or stacked.
- Paint faded in places, dents and scuffs, patches of surface rust.
Check before you pay: the CSC plate and its last examination date, the floor near the doors, and the light test inside with the doors closed.
Wind and water tight
Keeps wind and rain out, but would not pass a shipping survey.
- No holes: the box keeps wind and rain out.
- Visible dents, surface rust at the foot of the walls and around the door frame.
- The floor may be worn or patched, the frame may carry repairs, the CSC approval may have lapsed.
- Right for storage on the ground, not for shipping goods by sea.
Check before you pay: the roof from above for dents that hold rain, the floor from inside, and the light test with the doors closed.
A grade is the seller's word, not a certificate. Container grades explained · How to inspect a used container
The roof comes first
Under insulation, a roof leak is found late and costs dear: water runs behind the lining before it shows. Before you buy for a conversion, look along the roof from a ladder for dents that hold water, rust around them and old patches; inside, look up with the doors shut for any daylight. Then check that the doors close square, since a long box that has stood on uneven ground can twist enough to make them bind. To a converter, a straight, dry roof is worth more than new paint.
Dimensions and capacity
| Measure | Size |
|---|---|
| ISO size-type code | 45G1 |
| External size (L × W × H) | 12,192 × 2,438 × 2,896 mm40′ × 8′ × 9′ 6″ |
| Internal size (L × W × H) | 12,032 × 2,351 × 2,698 mm39′ 5½″ × 7′ 8½″ × 8′ 10″ |
| Door opening (W × H) | 2,340 × 2,585 mm7′ 8″ × 8′ 6″ |
| Floor area inside | 28.3 m²304 sq ft |
| Inside volume | 76.4 m³2,698 cu ft |
| Tare weight (empty), range 3,700–4,200 kg | 3,865 kg |
| Payload (typical) | 28,655 kg |
| Maximum gross weight | 30,480 or 32,500 kg, depending on the box |
Typical values (median of 10 data sheets published by CMA CGM, Evergreen, Hapag-Lloyd, Maersk, MSC, ONE and ZIM, 20 October 2026); feet and inches rounded to the nearest half inch. The markings on the doors give the tare and maximum gross weight of each box, the maximum gross also being on its CSC plate: a box rated higher carries more, its maximum gross weight minus its tare. Every size in feet, cm and mm: 40 HC container dimensions.
Delivery: mind the height
On its trailer the high cube stands 2,896 mm (9′ 6″) plus the height of the deck, 305 mm more than a standard box. Look up along the route for cables, branches, gate arches and low bridges. Empty, it weighs about 3,865 kg (3,700 to 4,200 kg on the data sheets) and comes off by side-lifter or a hired crane: say in your request how it will come off the trailer, so that the delivered price includes the unloading.
For a home or an office, the box sits on piers or a strip foundation under the corners and the middle of the long sides, above flood level. Site preparation and unloading explains both. On trips of more than 439 km, published trailer rates for a 40 ft box come to about ₹74 to ₹93 per km, one way: an estimate, not a quote, which the delivered price estimate works out for the main routes.
Questions about the used 40 ft high cube
What is the inside height of a 40 ft high cube?
2,698 mm (8′ 10″) from the floor to the roof, 305 mm more than a standard 40 ft box. The door opening is 2,585 mm (8′ 6″) high, and the box stands 2,896 mm (9′ 6″) tall outside.
How much is a used 40 ft high cube in India?
Typically ₹1,90,000 (₹1.9 lakh), from 27 sellers on IndiaMART and TradeIndia, half of whom ask ₹1,58,000 to ₹2,22,000 (20 October 2026); by area, the typical price ran from Mumbai region (₹1,76,000) to Chennai (₹2,00,000). A used standard 40 ft box is typically ₹1,80,000 (80 sellers): the extra height costs little at the median, though the two figures do not come from exactly the same sellers. Ask how GST (18%) is charged: GST on shipping containers.
40 HC or 40 HQ: how can I tell a high cube from a standard 40 ft box?
HC and HQ are two names for the same high cube box. Ask for a photo of the door end: the size-type code next to the container number starts with 45 on a 40 ft high cube (usually 45G1) and with 42 on a standard box. Or measure it: 2,896 mm (9′ 6″) tall outside, against 2,591 mm (8′ 6″).
Used or new high cube for a container home?
A new box saves the rust treatment, the floor work and the repainting; a used cargo-worthy one with a sound roof costs less and does the job once it is treated. The one-trip 40 ft high cube page has the new box. The container house cost guide lists what comes on top of the box (the conversion, the foundation, the connections and the transport), and permission to place a container explains why a home needs a building permission.