40ft Container Dimensions, Capacity & Loading Guide

Using pinwheel (mixed-orientation) loading, a 40ft container fits 20 standard pallets (120×100cm), 24 Euro pallets (120×80cm), or 20 pallets at 110×110cm on a single floor layer — exactly double a 20ft container, since it's twice the length. 40ft High Cube adds ~30cm of extra stacking height, which can mean an additional layer for shorter cartons.

A 40ft High Cube is 30cm taller than a Standard 40ft (270cm vs 239cm), giving roughly 13% more volume (~76 CBM vs ~67 CBM) for effectively the same floor footprint and weight limit. High Cube is the better choice for light, bulky cargo where you'll run out of volume before you run out of weight allowance — common for garments, furniture, and packaging materials. For dense, heavy cargo where weight is the limiting factor anyway, the extra height often goes unused.