---
title: "20 ft container: Definition and Meaning | NPSA"
description: "A 20 ft container is the standard short ISO shipping container. It is about 19 feet 10 1/2 inches long, 8 feet wide and 8 feet 6 inches tall on the outside."
url: https://npsa.preview.multisites.ai/glossary/20-ft-container
publisher: National Portable Storage Association (NPSA)
phone: "(816) 960-6552"
email: info@npsa.org
---

Dimensions and weight

# 20 ft container

A 20 ft container is the standard short ISO shipping container. It is about 19 feet 10 1/2 inches long, 8 feet wide and 8 feet 6 inches tall on the outside. It is the most common size in portable storage and counts as one twenty-foot equivalent unit.

## Why it matters

The 20 ft box is the workhorse of portable storage. It fits a typical driveway or yard, and many delivery trucks can place it on the ground. Operators buy it in volume because used units are easy to find and resell. The inside is smaller than the outside, so a customer who needs a full 20 feet of space should check inside length. A common mistake is to assume a 20 ft box is light. A steel box can weigh several thousand pounds empty, which affects the truck, the ground and the lift. Ask for the exact empty weight and door opening.

[Read: Shipping container sizes and dimensions for rental fleets](https://npsa.preview.multisites.ai/guides/container-sizes-and-dimensions)

Definition source: [en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intermodal_container)

## Related terms

[### 8 ft container An 8 ft container is a small steel storage container about 8 feet long. One dealer lists an 8-foot steel container at about 7 feet 11 inches long and 7 feet 2 inches wide outside, and 7 feet 6 inches high. It is a small, non-standard size, not an ISO 20-foot or 40-foot box.](https://npsa.preview.multisites.ai/glossary/8-ft-container)[### 40 ft container A 40 ft container is a long ISO shipping container, 40 feet long and 8 feet wide. Standard height is 8 feet 6 inches. A high cube version is about 9 feet 6 inches tall. It holds roughly twice the length of a 20 ft box.](https://npsa.preview.multisites.ai/glossary/40-ft-container)[### twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) A twenty-foot equivalent unit is a general unit of cargo capacity based on a 20-foot-long intermodal container. It is mostly used for container ships and ports. A 20-foot container counts as one TEU, and a 40-foot container counts as two TEU.](https://npsa.preview.multisites.ai/glossary/twenty-foot-equivalent-unit-teu)[### internal dimensions Internal dimensions are the length, width and height of the usable space inside a container. They are smaller than the outside size because of wall thickness, floor and roof structure. ISO 1496 is the authoritative document for internal container dimensions.](https://npsa.preview.multisites.ai/glossary/internal-dimensions)[### tare weight Tare weight is the weight of an empty container or vehicle. Subtract it from the gross weight to find the weight of the goods inside. On a shipping container, it is not set by the ISO standards. It depends on how the container was built.](https://npsa.preview.multisites.ai/glossary/tare-weight)[### high cube container A high cube container is a container that is taller than standard, usually 9 feet 6 inches tall outside, compared with 8 feet 6 inches for a standard unit. It is often written HC or HQ. The extra height adds inside room.](https://npsa.preview.multisites.ai/glossary/high-cube-container)

[All 220 terms](https://npsa.preview.multisites.ai/glossary)

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