20GP (20-foot general purpose container)

✅ Internal dimensions: 5.898m × 2.352m × 2.385m

✅ Internal volume: approximately 33.1 cubic meters

✅ Maximum loading weight: approximately 28 tons (actually depends on the destination port's weight limit and the actual load capacity of each container)

✅ Suitable goods: Heavy goods, such as steel products, stone materials, hardware, etc.

40GP (40-foot general purpose container)

✅ Internal dimensions: 12.032m × 2.352m × 2.385m

✅ Internal volume: approximately 67.5 cubic meters✅ Maximum loading weight: approximately 26.5 tons (subject to route, port policies, and the actual load capacity of each container)

✅ Suitable goods: medium-weight goods, such as home appliances, machinery, furniture, etc.

 ⚠️ Note: The length of 40GP is twice that of 20GP, but its maximum load capacity is lower than that of 20GP, so it is not suitable for overweight goods!

40HQ (40-foot high cube container)

✅ Internal dimensions: 11.89m × 2.35m × 2.69m

✅ Volume: approximately 76 cubic meters (9 cubic meters more than 40GP)

✅ Maximum loading weight: approximately 26.5 tons

✅ Suitable goods: Bulky goods (large in volume but light in weight), such as paper products, plastic products, clothing, cotton, etc. 

⚠️ Note:  Compared with 40GP, 40HQ only has an increased height, which is suitable for loading tall goods or bulky goods. For heavy goods, such as metal products, stone materials, etc., they may be overloaded before being fully loaded.

How to calculate how much of your goods can fit?

❌ Case 1: Bulky goods not fully loaded, resulting in wasted freight!A home textile enterprise in Guangdong exported a batch of quilts, and the customer required a 40HQ container. The salesperson made a rough estimate and directly loaded the container, but it was full when only 70% was loaded, leading to increased freight costs! Later, by switching to the volume calculation method, it was found that 2×20GP containers were more cost-effective, ultimately saving nearly 500 US dollars in freight!

❌ Case 2: Heavy goods overweight, fined by the dock!A stone factory in Fujian exported a batch of marble using a 40GP container, but did not calculate the weight. After loading, it was found that the container was 3 tons overweight, causing the dock to refuse shipment. Not only did they have to unpack the container again, but they also paid an additional 800 US dollars in container detention fees! Later, switching to 20GP containers avoided the fine.       

 Choose the right container type and pack properly, saving money and worry! Packing is a technical task. Choosing the wrong container type or using the wrong packing method may lead to Increased freight costs, cargo damage, or even overweight fines!  Hope today's article can help everyone improve packing efficiency and save foreign trade costs!