International Shipping Containers Explained

*Updated on March 22, 2025
How much cargo will you be able to fit into your shipping container when you relocate? Which size shipping container will be the right one for your move?

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The Intermodal Shipping Container Explained

The intermodal shipping container is the unsung hero of modern logistics. It enables the efficient movement of cargo from one side of the earth to the other at a reasonable cost. Today, these containers are ubiquitous; you will see them wherever you go around the world. Near any port, you will find high stacks of them, ready to be loaded or unloaded and shipped anywhere within hours.

The container as we know it today was introduced in the 1950s and has since transformed global trade. In the following years, ports were rebuilt to accommodate them, as were tributary and distributary industries.

In recent years, modern technology has allowed shipping companies to build larger ships with smaller crews. To accommodate these ships, harbors have been deepened, and even the Panama Canal was widened—all thanks to these simple yet ingenious metal boxes.

You’ve seen them on trucks, trains, and, of course, on ships. This is the meaning of the word “intermodal”: the same container can be used across different modes of transportation and vessel types. Almost all dry goods shipped throughout the world are transported in shipping containers.

The same containers that will move your household goods from the USA to a new country will also be used for sending goods, mail, and most of the world’s cargo. You will likely also see these containers repurposed for various uses on land, which can sometimes cause confusion.

Shipping Containers for International Relocations

There are many types of containers developed for domestic and land shipping, but only a few are used for international relocations. As you drive along the highways, you may notice 8’ or 10’ containers often used in the USA for domestic shipping.

For international relocations, the only containers used are 20’, 40’, and 40’ high cube containers. Occasionally, other containers are used for commercial cargo, but not for household goods.

There are also containers with doors at either end, and those that open along the length of the container, as well as those without a roof (used for things like coal). However, these are not used for international shipments of household goods.

All of the containers we use have a single set of doors that are sealed by SDC International Shipping movers. The seal on the container usually remains intact until your container is delivered to your destination.

[This seal may be broken if your container is manually inspected. Some countries require that goods be transferred to moving vans for delivery; in these cases, you may not see the container at the destination.]

Any container that goes on a ship must be certified as sea-worthy. This means it has been checked to ensure it can be properly sealed to protect the cargo from seawater and that the integrity of the container is maintained, meaning it can support fully packed containers stacked on top of it.

Shipping Container Dimensions

There are three container sizes that SDC International Movers uses for sending your household goods and personal effects from the USA to your new home.

The 20’ Container

The 20’ container is 20 feet long. The doors of the container open to the entire width, meaning that if it fits in the container, you will be able to get it through the door. The container resembles a square prism. The width of the container is two inches larger at 7’ 8” compared to the height of 7’ 6”. The internal dimensions give you an exact measurement of 1,160 cubic feet.

Of course, you won’t be able to use all 1,160 cubic feet. There will inevitably be a significant amount of empty space between items that don’t fit perfectly together. Unless you’re sending only standard shipping boxes, you’ll be lucky to fit in 950 cubic feet. Even then, don’t forget that the cartons themselves will take up some room.

Our professional movers are very experienced. They pack hundreds of containers each year and know how to maximize the space available in your container. When SDC International Shipping’s movers both pack and load your container, you can expect to fit in about 1,100 cubic feet of cargo.

How much is 1,100 cubic feet of cargo? The contents of a typical three-bedroom house can usually fit into a 20’ container. In addition to professionally packing and loading your items, our movers also disassemble many furniture pieces like dining room tables, bedroom sets, and other furniture. Critically, knock-down furniture does not withstand disassembly well and is not taken apart.

When these pieces are disassembled, they occupy much less room in your container, allowing you to use the space for other items. This also helps avoid damage and breakage to your furniture, as the compact loading of the container can put extra pressure on the delicate joints holding your furniture together.

If you were considering loading your own container, please keep in mind that when a moving container is delivered to your house for loading, it is on the chassis of a truck, and the floor of the container is usually about 5 feet off the ground. Unless you are loading your cargo from a storage facility with a loading dock equipped for containers, containers should only be loaded by professionals.

Many countries will allow the import of your automobile or other licensed vehicles as part of your household goods. Depending on the exact location of both your point of origin and ultimate destination, it often makes the most sense to ship the car in your shipping container. One of the most popular cars we are asked to ship is the Toyota RAV4. This car is 73” wide and 69” high, and it will fit into the container.

Shipping a car needs to be arranged ahead of time, as many legal hurdles must be cleared, including the car’s title for export. We will also need to send a special lift to get the car into the container.

The length of the car is 182”, and we need to leave a few spare inches, meaning it will take up about two-thirds of the container. However, don’t despair; if you want to send your car, especially to locations like Europe, it is a good idea to do so, and you can use the 40’ container.

The 40’ Container

The 40’ container is the same height and width as the 20’ container, but as its name implies, it is twice as long. This means that instead of 1,160 cubic feet, it can accommodate just over 2,300 cubic feet of cargo space. This should be sufficient for most households, including larger ones. The 40’ container provides enough cargo space for most family moves. Even for regular households, there should be enough room in your container to accommodate both your household goods and an automobile.

Please note that while the most popular pickup trucks, like the Ford F-150, will just fit into a container, we will have to check the regulations at your destination country. Some countries will consider them commercial goods and not part of your household goods, even if that is how you are personally using them.

Many times, our clients want to send along items that are only available in the USA or that are difficult to find or very expensive in other countries. Some of these items include outdoor grills, fire pits, sports equipment, extra bicycles, playground equipment, etc. If you are moving somewhere with a yard, you will likely want to take many of these items with you. You might also have equipment for hobbies, such as scuba gear, skiing equipment, kayaks, or canoes. When you send a 40’ container, you have plenty of room for these items.

In general, the total cost of a 40’ container is only about 1.5 times the cost of a 20’ container. So if you are unsure whether you will be able to fit all of your belongings into a 20’ container, you might want to treat your family to the 40’ container, allowing you to avoid difficult decisions about what to send to your new home and what to leave behind. The 40’ container is spacious, and when properly packed, it can hold a lot of cargo.

If you need even more cargo space than the 40’ container, there is an even larger option: the 40’ high cube.

The 40’ HC Container

The 40’ high cube container is the same size as the regular 40’ container, but instead of being 7’ 6” tall, it is 8’ 6” tall. This adds 13.3% to the container’s capacity, allowing it to hold nearly 2,700 cubic feet of cargo space. Most clients will not require this much space. The rare occasions when it is necessary are cases where people send a large household and a vehicle.

Some countries will allow the import of more than one vehicle type. If your family is sending both a motorcycle and an automobile, along with your household goods and personal effects, you might need a 40’ HC container.

Please note that typical customs regulations do not allow you to ship unlimited quantities of items tax-free. Some may be tempted to utilize the extra space in a 40’ high cube container to bring many items for family and friends living in their destination country. We cannot discourage this enough.

When you send your belongings according to the customs rules and regulations of the country, your container will typically be delivered to your destination quickly and without incident. However, if you have an unusual amount of items, it is likely to trigger a costly manual inspection of your container. It makes perfect sense to bring a few boxes of those great American towels in your container.

It does not make sense to bring 12 boxes of new towels to give as gifts to cousins and friends. This is a trap that past clients have fallen into when they had excess cargo space available to them.

How Much Cargo Fits In a Shipping Container

So which size container will be the best for your family? We have offered some guidelines here that will help give you some preliminary guidance:

Container Type	Suitable for
20’ container	suitable for most families, can accommodate the contents of a typical 3 bedroom house when packed carefully by professionals
40’ container	suitable for a larger household, or an entire household along with an automobile
40’ HC container	suitable for very large households, or a large household with a car

The typical cost of a 40’ container is about 50% more than that of a 20’ container. The high cube containers cost a little more than that.

If you are confused about which container size best suits you, ask your SDC International Shipping relocation specialist to set up an on-site survey of your house. Sometimes we can also advise you about which items might be better left behind. You might think that you want to send a piece of furniture, but it isn’t always a good idea to bring items that don’t weather the storms of the seas very well.

For most destinations, it usually makes sense to send a 20’ container if you intend to send 500 cubic feet or more. We can facilitate door-to-door shipments to almost anywhere in the world starting at 100 cubic feet. However, the cost per cubic foot of cargo is much greater.

For most of the world, the cost of sending a full container load is about equal to sending 500 cubic feet of a less-than-full container load, as those are shipped using consolidation services that combine your shipment with those of others to the same port. This is a very efficient way of sending smaller shipments.

To Europe, Australia and the UK, You don’t Need To Choose

If you are moving to Europe, Australia, or the UK, you won’t have to decide which container size best suits you. For these locations, SDC International Shipping offers groupage consolidations. Because we have such a high volume of cargo to these destinations, we can send our own containers at volume discounts that we pass along to our clients.

You don’t have to choose between sending 1,000 cubic feet and 2,000 cubic feet; you can send 1,350 or whatever meets your needs. We continuously fill the largest containers available and send them to these destinations, where we deconsolidate them.