Confused between 20ft shipping container vs 40ft shipping container? Well, you are not alone who is puzzled by the thought. They both belong to the standard shipping container category and are universal and the most common. The shippers and the business people generally use 20 and 40ft ones as they can easily transport them using different intermodal transportation methods like the sea, air, truck, or train. They are also known as dry van containers as they carry all the dry goods. There is a reference that is set for standard measurements of these containers. The Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit (TEU) is for 20ft shipping container and the Forty-Foot Equivalent Unit or FEU is for 40ft container.

How 20ft and 40t shipping containers appear different?

They both look different from each other as 20ft box is smaller than 40ft one. It is not the size that matters, the loading weight, price, and the usage of both of them are quite different from one another. They both are heavy-duty steel or aluminum boxes that can carry all the dry loads for longer periods. Mostly every different container type has them as variants, be its open top, side door, double door, or others. Though they both are made of the same metal and carry the same dry cargo, they appear distinct in the case of size and dimensions.

Now let’s see the dimensional difference between both of them:

What are the dimensions of a 20ft shipping container?

The dimensions of 20ft shipping containers are:

• Internal dimension 19’4 x 7’8 x 7’10
• External dimension 19’10 x 8’0” x 8’6”
• Door Opening 7’8 x 7’5
• Max gross weight 67200 pounds

What are the dimensions of a 40ft shipping container?

The dimensions of 40ft shipping containers are:

• Internal dimension 39’5 x 7’8 x 7’10
• External dimension 40’ x 8’ x 8’6”
• Door Opening 7’8 x 7’5
• Max gross weight 67200 pounds

The 20ft and 40ft boxes are available in different container types. Let’s discuss them and their dimensions one by one.

20ft vs 40ft Dry van

A 20ft dry van is an ideal cargo container that is widely in use for the transport and storage of dry loads. They are basic boxes that are sturdy, robust, and highly durable. They can work efficiently for longer periods without any issue.

Whereas 40ft dry van is bigger than 20ft and has the capacity to load more cargo than 20ft ones. They also come a bit pricier than 20ft but the build of both the maritime container is from the same metal.

The dimensions of both are:

20 feet Dry Van

• Internal dimensions 19’4×7’8×7’10
• External dimensions 19’10×8’x8’6
• Door opening 7’8×7’5
• Max. gross weight 67200 lbs.

40 feet Dry Van

• Internal dimensions 39’5×7’8×7’10
• External dimensions 40’x8’x8’6
• Door opening 7’8×7’5
• Max. gross weight 67200 lbs.
  

20ft vs 40ft Pallet wide

The 40ft pallet wide containers can carry more Euro pallets in them in comparison to 20ft pallet wide containers. They are perfect for transporting goods that are fragile as they stop the goods from moving during transportation that happens due to fiction.

The dimensions of both of them are:

20ft Pallet wide

• Internal dimension 19’4 x 7’11 x 7’10
• External dimension 19’10 x 8’ x 8’6”
• Door Opening 7’8 x 7’6
• Max gross weight 67200 pounds
  

40ft Pallet wide

• Internal dimension 39’5 x 7’11” x 7’10
• External dimension 40’ x 8’ x 8’6”
• Door Opening 7’8 x 7’6
• Max gross weight 67200 pounds

20ft vs 40ft Double Door

In a 40ft double door container, the loaders can fill more merchandise than a 20ft double door and can also compartmentalize the goods easily. The shipper has the access to the shipping box from both sides. So, different shippers can keep different items safely and can save their money as well.

The dimension of the containers are:

20ft Double Door

• Internal dimension 19’4” x 7’8” x 7’10”
• External dimension 19’10 x 8’ x 8’6”
• Door Opening 7’8 x 7’5
• Max gross weight 67200 pounds

40ft Double Door

• Internal dimension 39’5 x 7’8” x 7’10
• External dimension 40’ x 8’ x 8’6”
• Door Opening 7’8 x 7’5
• Max gross weight 67200 pounds

20ft Side Door

They are perfect for transporting and storing large and heavier goods. As the shippers can load the merchandise using forklifts by using the side door. It allows the free movement of forklifts with ease.

The dimension of a 20ft side door is:

• Internal dimension 19’2” x 7’3” x 8’6”
• External dimension 19’10 x 8’ x 8’6”
• Door Opening 6’11 x 8’1
• Side Door 18’8 x 7’1
• Max gross weight 52910 pounds

20ft vs 40ft Open Top

Both the open top containers are different from each other in terms of carrying the load. The former can carry less load than the latter. And they both are good for carrying tall items that need to be put in the box with the help of a crane. They provide ease of putting protruding goods as they have a tarpaulin cover that is a strong cloth.

The dimension of both of them are:

20ft Open Top

• Internal dimension 19’3×7’8×7’7
• External dimension 19’10x8x8’6
• Door Opening 7’8 x 7’5
• Max gross weight 67200 pounds

40ft Open Top

• Internal dimension 39’5 x 7’8” x 7’7
• External dimension 40’ x 8’ x 8’6”
• Door Opening 7’8 x 7’5
• Max gross weight 67200 pounds

20ft vs 40ft Hard Top Open Top

The 20ft hard top open top is known for carrying more goods than the 40ft one. They provide more security to the goods than the open top as they have removable steel cover rather than tarpaulin ones.

The dimensional difference between them are:

20ft Hard Top Open Top

• Internal dimension 19’3 x 7’8 x 7’7”
• External dimension 19’10 x 8’ x 8’6”
• Door Opening 7’8” x 7’5
• Max gross weight 67200 pounds

40ft Hard Top Open Top

• Internal dimension 36’5 x 7’8 x 7’7”
• External dimension 40’ x 8’ x 8’6”
• Door Opening 7’8” x 7’6
• Max gross weight 67200 pounds
  

20ft vs 40ft Flat Rack

The main difference between them is that they both carry different loads of cargo. Where 40ft flat rack has the capacity of carrying the cargo in larger amounts, the 20ft ones have lesser. They are ideal for carrying large metal pipes. The shippers can stack them on one another after removing the end wall panels.

The dimensions are:

20ft Flat Rack

• Internal dimension 18’ x 6’10’’ x 7’
• External dimension 19’ x 8’ x 8’6’’
• Tare weight 2600 kg
• Max gross weight 72752 pounds

40ft Flat Rack

• Internal dimension 39’ x 6’10” x 7’
• External dimension 40’ x 8’ x 8’6”
• Tare weight 4795 kg
• Max gross weight 99207 pounds

20ft vs 40ft Platform Container

The 20 and 40ft platform units are suitable for carrying over-the-gauge cargo that extends the steel shipping container. They can save one from empty container positioning as you can easily stack them on one another.

The dimension of the platform containers are:

20ft Platform Container

• External dimension 19’ x 8’
• Tare weight 5560 kg
• Max gross weight 67200 pounds

40ft Platform Container

• External dimension 40’ x 8’6”
• Tare weight 12570 kg
• Max gross weight 99210 pounds
  

20ft vs 40ft Insulated Container

They both can carry the perishable goods by maintaining the temperature inside the shipping box and are ideal for carrying temperature-sensitive goods. They are different from each other in dimension.

So the dimension of both of them are:

20ft Insulated

• Internal Dimension 19’1” x 7’6” x 7’5”
• External Dimension 19’10” x 8’ x 8’6”
• Door opening 7’6” x 7’5”
• Max gross weight 67200 pounds

40ft Insulated

• Internal Dimension 39′ 2” x 7’6” x 7’5”
• External Dimension 40’ x 8’ x 8’6”
• Door opening 7’6” x 7’5”
• Max gross weight 67200 pounds

20ft Reefer

20ft refrigerated container can easily carry the perishable goods and keep them safe for a longer time. They can do so as they refrigeration unit that maintains the ideal temperature inside the cargo unit.

The dimension is:

• Internal dimension 17’10” x 7’6” x 7’5”
• External dimension 19’10” x 8’ x 8’6”
• Door Opening 7’6” x 7’4”
• Max gross weight 67200 pounds

20ft Bulker

They are used to transport or store goods that need bulk movement. They are ideal for moving goods like grains, coffee, malt, or other such items.

The dimension of the bulker container is:

• Internal Dimension 19’4” x 7’8” x 7’9”
• External Dimension 19’10” x 8’ x 8’6”
• Door opening 7’8” x 7’5”
• Max gross weight 67200 pounds

After this, let’s move to, “How much can be loaded in 20ft and 40ft containers?”

• 20ft metal shipping container is lesser in size than a 40ft one. You can even put a 20ft box into 40ft one.
• The 20ft box carries 11 Euro-Pallets and 10 standard pallets.
• A 40ft box carries 24 Euro-Pallets and 21 standard pallets.

20ft Shipping Containers vs 40ft Shipping Containers- Major Differences

Both the containers have evident differences. Let’s look at them separately.

Price Range – The price range of a 40ft is more than a 20ft unit. As the loaders can keep more number of merchandise in the box in 40ft one. Weight – The 40ft is heavier than the 20ft storage container. That is why 40ft cargo box can carry more weight than a 20ft one. Loading and Storage Space – The 40ft shipping container is ideal for loading more goods as it has more loading space and storage space than 20ft boxes.

Thus, we see here that there is a huge difference between both of the containers. Hope now your confusion of 20ft shipping container vs 40ft shipping container is resolved. You should keep all the factors like dimensions, type, size, usage in mind so that when you go to buy, you choose the best.