10ft Shipping Containers
Side access is pinched, the setback leaves nothing to manoeuvre in, or all that is needed is a lockable spot for the mower, an air compressor and a wall of hand tools.
Reference
Container sizes, dimensions, capacity and weights
Every figure in one place — internal and external, door openings, cubic capacity and tare — along with the part a table cannot tell you: how much room the truck needs, how much ground the unit takes once it is standing, and which measurement catches people out.
- Width
- 2.44m external on every size
- Standard height
- 2.59m external
- High cube height
- 2.90m external
Every enquiry answered within one business day.You hear back from a person, not an autoresponder. Enquiries that land on a weekend are answered the next business day.
Read the internal figures, not the name
A container is named for its external length in feet, and every one of them loses steel to the walls and the doors before you get to usable space. A 20ft gives you a shade under six metres inside; a 40ft a fraction over twelve. If something has to fit exactly, work from the internal number, then take a little more off for the fact that it has to travel in through a door opening narrower than the container.
Corrugation is the other thing worth knowing. The walls are profiled for stiffness, so internal width is measured between the peaks of the corrugations and anything full-width will touch at the ridges rather than sit flat against the wall.
10ft
10ft Shipping Containers
Short enough to tuck down the side of a house, behind a shed or into the corner of a small block where a longer unit simply will not turn. It weighs about as much as a small car empty, which widens the list of trucks that can bring it and the list of gateways it can get through.
Inside, it is smaller than the cubic figure makes it sound once you allow for reaching things: about the floor area of a single garage bay, with full height. Trade tools, a locked store on a site with no shed, seasonal gear and overflow from a house move all fit comfortably. Anything on pallets is the test — two Australian standard pallets sit across the width with very little to spare, so plan the loading before you plan the purchase.
| External (L × W × H) | 2.99m × 2.44m × 2.59m |
|---|---|
| Internal (L × W × H) | 2.83m × 2.35m × 2.39m |
| Door opening (W × H) | 2.34m × 2.28m |
| Internal volume | 15.9m³ |
| Tare weight | approx 1,300 kg |
20ft
20ft Shipping Containers
The default for good reason. Six metres of external length fits most driveways, most yards and most gateways, it is the size every truck in the game is set up to carry, and it is far and away the easiest unit to sell on again when you are finished with it.
Inside you have a shade under six metres of usable run and full standing height. As a working rule it takes around ten Australian standard pallets on the floor in a single layer, or a small car with the doors shut and not much room to walk around it. If the contents are long rather than heavy — timber, pipe, racking — measure the load and remember it has to swing in through a 2.34m door rather than appear inside by magic.
| External (L × W × H) | 6.06m × 2.44m × 2.59m |
|---|---|
| Internal (L × W × H) | 5.90m × 2.35m × 2.39m |
| Door opening (W × H) | 2.34m × 2.28m |
| Internal volume | 33.2m³ |
| Tare weight | approx 2,200 kg |
40ft
40ft Shipping Containers
Twelve metres of container and, more to the point, a truck that is longer again. This is the size where access stops being a formality: the vehicle needs somewhere to line up straight, room to lay the unit down and space to pull clear afterwards, and a suburban cul-de-sac rarely has all three.
The trade-off worth thinking about is two 20fts against one 40ft. Two shorter units cost more in total, need two deliveries and take more ground once you leave room to walk between them, but they will get into sites a 40ft cannot reach, they can sit in two different places, and they can be sold separately later. Where the run of clear ground exists, a single 40ft is the cheaper way to buy volume by a comfortable margin.
| External (L × W × H) | 12.19m × 2.44m × 2.59m |
|---|---|
| Internal (L × W × H) | 12.03m × 2.35m × 2.39m |
| Door opening (W × H) | 2.34m × 2.28m |
| Internal volume | 67.7m³ |
| Tare weight | approx 3,800 kg |
The extra foot
High cube containers
Same footprint, same length, 300mm more headroom. The size to buy if anything is going to happen to the inside.
| Size | External L × W × H | Internal L × W × H | Door W × H | Capacity | Tare |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20ft High Cube | 6.06m × 2.44m × 2.90m | 5.90m × 2.35m × 2.70m | 2.34m × 2.58m | 37.4m³ | approx 2,350 kg |
| 40ft High Cube | 12.19m × 2.44m × 2.90m | 12.03m × 2.35m × 2.70m | 2.34m × 2.58m | 76.4m³ | approx 3,900 kg |
The door opening is the part people miss. A high cube door is 2.58m tall against 2.28m on a standard, and that half-metre is the difference between a machine driving in and a machine being craned over the side. If a forklift, a quad bike, a hoist or racking has to go in through the doors, measure the tallest thing at its tallest point and compare it with the door rather than the ceiling.
Anything being lined, insulated, clad or fitted with a mezzanine should start as a high cube as well. Cladding takes height off the ceiling and a floor covering takes more off the bottom, and a standard container that started at 2.39m internal gets uncomfortable quickly once both are done.
On the ground
What the numbers mean once it is standing on your block
The truck needs more room than the container
Container length is not the number that decides whether a delivery works. A tilt-tray lays the unit down by driving forward out from under it, so it wants a straight, clear, firm run behind the landing spot with several times the container's own length available, plus space in front for the truck itself and clear air overhead for the tray to lift. Branches, wires, verandah eaves and a gate post 100mm too close have stopped more deliveries than distance ever has. Side loaders and crane trucks trade that length for width and setup room. Which one suits your site is worked out before anything is booked — the delivery page covers it properly.
A 20ft on a suburban block
Six metres by two and a half is a smaller footprint than most people picture — roughly a single-car garage laid on the ground — but it wants a metre of clearance around it so doors can swing, so you can walk past, and so rain running off the roof is not tipping straight against a fence. Leave the doors facing the direction you will approach from and think about where the water goes before the truck arrives, not after the first storm. Anything permanent, or anything near a boundary, is a question for your local council rather than for us; the rules genuinely differ from one area to the next.
Tare weight is what the ground carries
An empty 20ft is a couple of tonnes and an empty 40ft closer to four, and all of it lands on four corner castings rather than spreading across the footprint. On hardstand that is a non-event. On soil, sand or fill after a wet week it is not, and a unit that settles unevenly racks the frame just enough that the doors stop closing sweetly. Timber sleepers, concrete pads or a bed of compacted road base under the four corners fix it for very little money, and getting them level with each other matters more than getting each one level on its own.
Cubic capacity assumes you fill it to the roof
Thirty-three cubic metres in a 20ft is a true figure and a misleading one, because almost nobody stacks tight to the ceiling and keeps access to the back. Take a third off for aisles, reach and the fact that you will want the things you use most within arm's reach of the doors, and the number you are left with is the one to plan against.
The range
Every size we deliver
20ft Shipping Containers
There is about seven metres of straight, reasonably level ground for it to sit on, and you would rather not discover in half a year that the bigger box was the answer.
40ft Shipping Containers
You have the space, the approach is genuinely open, and the aim is the largest amount of storage per dollar spent that anybody sells.
Common questions
Sizes, weights and capacity
How wide is a shipping container inside?
About 2.35 metres, and that figure holds for every ISO container regardless of its length or height. Width is the dimension that never changes, which is why containers stack and mate the way they do. It matters most when you are loading pallets: two Australian standard pallets sit side by side across the width with a few centimetres to spare, so the width sets your loading pattern before the length does.
What is the real difference between a standard container and a high cube?
Three hundred millimetres of height and nothing else. A standard is 2.59m outside and about 2.39m inside; a high cube is 2.90m outside and about 2.70m inside. Length, width and footprint are identical. That extra foot only matters when something has to happen to the inside — lining and cladding eat 100mm off the ceiling and more off the floor, roller doors need headroom above the opening, and a forklift mast wants clearance at the door. If the container is going to be modified or fitted out, take the high cube.
How many pallets fit in a 20ft container?
Roughly ten Australian standard pallets on the floor in a single layer, and about twenty-one in a 40ft, though both figures move with pallet size and how disciplined the loading is. Stacking changes the answer completely. If your job is measured in pallets rather than cubic metres, say so when you enquire, because pallet count is usually the thing that settles the argument between a 20ft and a 40ft.
How much does an empty shipping container weigh?
Around 1,300 kg for a 10ft, 2,200 kg for a 20ft and 3,800 kg for a 40ft, with high cubes a little heavier again. That is tare — the container with nothing in it. It matters twice over: it decides which truck can bring it, and it is the load the ground has to carry, concentrated on four corner castings rather than spread across the footprint.
How much ground do I need for a container to be delivered?
More than the container, and in the right shape. Length is the easy part; what a tilt-tray needs is a straight, clear, reasonably firm run behind the landing spot to slide the unit off, plus room in front for the truck itself and headroom for the tray to lift without finding branches or wires. A side loader trades some of that length for width alongside. Which one suits your site is a conversation worth having before anything is booked — start on the delivery page.
Do container dimensions vary between manufacturers?
Not meaningfully, which is the entire point of the standard. External dimensions are fixed within a few millimetres so units built anywhere can stack, lock and travel together. Internal figures wander slightly with wall construction and floor thickness, and tare weight varies more than anything else. If you are fitting something to the millimetre, work off the actual unit rather than a published table.
How high can I stack containers?
Empty units stack safely several high when the corner castings are aligned and locked and the base is genuinely level, which is how they travel on a ship. On a private site the sensible limit is usually set by what you can safely lift, work around and access rather than by the containers themselves, and by whatever your local council has to say about structures on the block. Ring your council before you plan anything permanent; the rules differ from one area to the next.
Get a price
Not sure which size the job wants
Describe what is going in it and how much room you have at the far end, and we will tell you which size fits and which yard has one. Every enquiry answered within one business day.
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