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.
North America
Shipping Containers to the United States
Supply from European depots to US ports — worth doing for specialist equipment and for containers loaded with European cargo.
- New & used
- Single & bulk orders
- Named destination port
- Delivered pricing
The United States has a deep domestic container market, so a European purchase has to have a reason. In practice there are two good ones: the container is being loaded with European goods and shipped as shipper-owned equipment, or the type you need is available in Europe now and not domestically on your timescale.
For plain 20ft and 40ft dry boxes destined for use in the US, domestic supply will usually beat a transatlantic purchase, and we will say so.
Shipper-owned containers from Europe
If you are buying the container in order to load European cargo into it, the purchase belongs at the origin and the economics work. The requirements are a cargo-worthy unit with a valid CSC plate and a carrier that accepts shipper-owned equipment on the service — confirm both before committing. See worldwide delivery.
Specifications in feet, inches and pounds
Every specification table on this site converts between metric and imperial. A 40ft High Cube gives 8 ft 10 in of internal height and roughly 2 700 cubic feet of capacity; a 20ft gives about 1 170 cubic feet. Use the unit toggle on any container page.
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 United States
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.
Destination ports
Ports commonly named on enquiries for this market. Naming the discharge port is the single most useful thing on an overseas enquiry: a quotation to a country is guesswork, a quotation to a terminal is a price.
Port delivery options- New York/New Jersey
- Savannah
- Houston
- Los Angeles/Long Beach
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
Is it worth importing containers from Europe to the US?
For specialist types available here now, and for boxes being loaded with European cargo, yes. For standard dry containers used domestically, usually not — the freight component rarely justifies it.
Are your specifications available in imperial units?
Yes. Every dimension, weight and capacity on the site converts to feet, inches, pounds and cubic feet.