20ft Shipping Container
Approx. 33.2 m³
The standard 6.06 m ISO dry container: 33.2 m³ of volume, up to 28 t of payload, and the easiest size to move by road almost anywhere in the world.
Region
Shipping Containers for North American Buyers
Supply from European depots to US and Canadian ports, most often for specialist equipment and for containers loaded with European cargo.
- New & used
- Single & bulk orders
- Named destination port
- Delivered pricing
North America has a deep domestic container market, so a European purchase has to earn its place. Where it does, the reason is usually one of two: the equipment is specialist and available here now, or the container is being bought to carry European goods and travels as shipper-owned equipment.
All specifications on this site are given in both metric and imperial, because a spec table in millimetres alone is not usable by a buyer working in feet and inches.
Where European supply is competitive
- Shipper-owned loads — you are buying the box to load European cargo and ship it; the purchase belongs at the origin.
- Specialist equipment — flat racks, open tops, reefers and tanks available in Europe against your timescale.
- Project consignments — equipment procured alongside European machinery and moved as one shipment.
- Lot purchases by dealers — where European grade availability and pricing are attractive against domestic stock.
Imperial specifications
Every specification table on this site converts to feet, inches, pounds and cubic feet. A 40ft High Cube is 8 ft 6 in wide externally, 9 ft 6 in tall, with 2 698 mm — 8 ft 10 in — of internal height and about 2 700 cubic feet of capacity. Use the unit toggle on any container specification page.
Ports commonly named on North American enquiries
- US East Coast — New York/New Jersey, Norfolk, Savannah, Charleston, Houston
- US Gulf and West — New Orleans, Los Angeles/Long Beach, Oakland
- Canada — Montreal, Halifax, Vancouver
How supply and shipment are put together
Overseas supply separates into two questions that are often confused: which container you are buying, and how it reaches the destination you named.
Destination
You name the discharge port or the inland destination, and the specification.
Supply option
Suitable availability is assessed against that destination and against what can actually be booked to it, which is not always the nearest source of stock.
Shipment
Ocean freight on agreed Incoterms, with the responsibilities on each side written down before anything moves.
Quotation
Container, origin handling and freight to the agreed point, with destination charges identified rather than buried.
Buying a container and shipping cargo in it are two different transactions
A container bought as equipment and a container booked as freight are not the same movement, and conflating them is where overseas enquiries usually go wrong. Tell us which one you need. If the unit is to carry your cargo on the same voyage, that changes the condition requirement, the CSC position and the booking — and it is far cheaper to establish before the quotation than after it.
Containers supplied to North America
Specialist types
New or used
Both are supplied to every market we quote. The choice is about what the container has to do once it arrives.
New / one trip
- Appearance matters at the destination
- Long-term ownership is intended
- The unit will be converted or modified
- Recent production is preferred
Used
- Storage is the primary purpose
- Budget is the deciding factor
- Cosmetic condition is secondary
- Cargo worthy or wind and watertight meets the requirement
What decides an overseas quotation
Four variables carry most of the cost and nearly all of the risk of a surprise.
Discharge port
The named destination port, which determines the routing, the sailing options and a large part of the freight cost.
Incoterm
Where our responsibility ends and yours begins. This decides who pays destination handling, and it is worth agreeing explicitly.
Destination charges
Terminal handling, documentation and any local charges at discharge. We identify them rather than leaving them to arrive later.
Inland leg
Delivery beyond the port is a separate arrangement in most markets, and is quoted as such where it can be arranged at all.
Container supply by market
Destination pages for the markets we are asked about most. Each one covers what actually differs there rather than restating this page with a different name.
European logistics gateways
Major container gateways that may be relevant to supply or to international logistics, depending on the transaction. Listing a port here says where equipment concentrates in this trade — it is not a statement that we operate there.
Port delivery options- Hamburg
- Bremerhaven
- Rotterdam
- Antwerp
How a gateway fits the movement
- Supply point
- Road or terminal move
- Gateway port
- Ocean freight
- Destination
What we need in order to quote
Five things. A named destination port is worth more than any other single line on an overseas enquiry.
Container
Quantity
Destination
Terms
Commercial
Frequently asked questions
Why would a US buyer purchase containers from Germany?
Usually because the container is being loaded with European cargo, or because a specialist type is available here on a timescale domestic stock cannot match. For plain 20ft and 40ft dry boxes used in the US, domestic supply is normally the better answer.
Are specifications available in feet and inches?
Yes. Every table on this site converts between metric and imperial, and both are shown in the Product structured data.