20ft, 40ft or 40ft high cube? How to choose, and when LCL makes sense

The three containers most importers use

Containers are named by their outside length. What matters for your goods is the space inside. The figures below come from Hapag-Lloyd's container specification pages. Hapag-Lloyd notes that real containers vary by manufacturer, so treat them as typical rather than exact.

• 20ft standard (opens in a new tab): inside 5,900 mm long, 2,352 mm wide and 2,395 mm high. Capacity 33.2 cubic metres. Maximum payload 28,130 kg.
• 40ft standard (opens in a new tab): inside 12,032 mm long, 2,352 mm wide and 2,395 mm high. Capacity 67.7 cubic metres. Maximum payload 28,750 kg.
• 40ft high cube (opens in a new tab): inside 12,032 mm long, 2,350 mm wide and 2,700 mm high. Capacity 76.3 cubic metres. Maximum payload 28,600 kg.

Cubic metres (written cbm or m³) are the volume measure used across shipping. Payload is the weight of goods a container can carry, on top of the container's own weight, called the tare. Maersk's published figures (opens in a new tab) are close but not identical, for example 76.4 cbm for a 40ft high cube. Small differences like this are normal between fleets.

Doors and height: the numbers that catch people out

The door is smaller than the inside. On all three containers the door opening is 2,340 mm wide. It is 2,292 mm high on the standard boxes and 2,597 mm on the high cube. Anything taller or wider than the door will not go in, however much space there is inside.

The high cube's extra 305 mm of inside height is the main difference from a standard 40ft. It helps with tall cartons, stacked furniture or flat-packed garden buildings that would leave a gap at the top of a standard box. If your cartons cannot use that extra height, a standard 40ft may do the same job.

Will you run out of space or weight first?

As a rough check, a 40ft standard holds 67.7 cbm with a payload of 28,750 kg. That works out at about 425 kg for every cubic metre. Most furniture, garden products and homeware are far lighter than that for their size, so these loads tend to fill up before they get heavy. Dense goods such as stone, ceramics or cast iron can be the other way round, and a 20ft may be the better choice for them.

Weight limits are not the same everywhere. Maersk notes that the maximum varies by container type and size, and that specific limits can vary by country. Lorries on UK roads also have their own limits. If a load is heavy, ask your forwarder and haulier what can actually be carried before the supplier packs it.

Working out what your order needs

1. Get the carton size and gross weight for every product from the supplier's packing list.
2. Work out the volume of one carton in cubic metres: length × width × height, in metres. A carton of 120 cm × 60 cm × 50 cm is 1.2 × 0.6 × 0.5 = 0.36 cbm.
3. Multiply by the number of cartons, add up all your products, and do the same for weight.
4. Leave room for gaps. Cartons rarely fit a container perfectly, and pallets and fragile items that cannot be stacked all take space.
5. Check your longest and tallest items against the door opening, not only the inside size.

Example only: an order of 160 cartons at 0.36 cbm each comes to 57.6 cbm. That is far too much for a 20ft at 33.2 cbm. It fits a 40ft standard at 67.7 cbm with about 10 cbm left for gaps. If the cartons were 30 kg each, the total of 4,800 kg would be well inside the payload.

Full container or shared container?

With a full container load (FCL), you book the whole box, whether you fill it or not. With less than container load (LCL), your goods share a container with other shipments. A provider combines several smaller shipments at a point of origin, which is called consolidation. At the other end they are broken down again, called deconsolidation, as Maersk explains (opens in a new tab).

Maersk's guide to ocean freight (opens in a new tab) sets out the trade-offs:

• Cost: LCL is priced on the volume you use, in cubic metres. FCL is a fixed price per container, so the cost per unit falls as you fill it.
• Speed: LCL is usually slower because goods wait to be consolidated, and it is more exposed to delays.
• Handling: LCL goods are handled more often, which Maersk describes as higher risk exposure. An FCL container stays sealed from origin to destination.
• Size: Maersk suggests LCL for shipments under about 15 cbm, or two to three pallets, and FCL from around 15 cbm upwards. It also notes FCL can work out cheaper even when the container is not full.

When LCL makes sense

• A first trial order or samples, where a full container would be mostly empty.
• Small top-up orders between full containers.
• Sturdy, well-packed goods, since they will be handled more.
• Shipments where the arrival date is not tight.

FCL tends to win as you approach 15 cbm, for fragile or high-value goods, and when a delivery date matters. Get both prices from your forwarder before deciding, and ask exactly what the LCL price includes at the UK end, from unloading to delivery. The real cost of importing a container covers the wider set of charges.

A bigger box costs more if it is held up

Size also affects what you pay if a container is delayed at the port. Under Maersk's UK import tariff from 1 August 2026, a 40ft and a 40ft high cube are charged the same daily rates, and both cost more than a 20ft. Storage at Felixstowe, London Gateway or Southampton from day 6, for example, is £33 a day for a 20ft dry container and £51 for a 40ft. Demurrage and detention, explained covers how those days are counted.

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