Cargo containers come in a variety of sizes, but the three most common are 10 ft, 20 ft and 40 ft. Standard cargo containers are 8 ft wide and 8 ft high, but there are extra wide containers and extra tall containers (high-cube containers). Extra wide containers are very rare as they pose transportation issues, as they are more difficult to travel on roads and have to be transported as oversize loads. Check out the cargo container size guide below for help choosing the right size container for your needs.
| Cargo Container Size | Dimensions | Capacity |
|---|---|---|
| 10 Ft Cargo Containers | 10' L x 8' W x 8' H' | 10 ft cargo containers can fit about the same amount of stuff as a large bedroom. It is slightly smaller than a typical one car garage. |
| 20 Ft Cargo Containers | 20' L x 8' W x 8' H' | 20 ft cargo containers can fit about the same amount of stuff as a small one to two bedroom home or apartment, or a little less than a standard 2 car garage. |
| 40 Ft Cargo Containers | 40' L x 8' W x 8' H' | 40 ft cargo containers can store about the same amount of stuff as a 3-4 bedroom home, and is about 1.5 times the size of a standard 2 car garage. |
It's important to pick a place where you are going to keep the container and measure it before you have it delivered. It may sound stupid, but it's actually quite common to have a cargo container delivered only to realize you don't have enough space for it. You need to make sure you have a clear path to the drop site on at least one side of the container so that it can be dropped off. It's a good idea to get your stuff together that you will be keeping in the cargo container as an inventory check to see just how much stuff you have and give yourself a better idea of what size cargo container you need. One important rule to stick by is when in doubt go a size up. You will save yourself a lot of hassles by having a little bit of unused space instead of trying to cram all of your stuff into an undersized cargo container.
