Import tools
This container capacity calculator takes your carton or pallet dimensions, weight and order quantity and shows how many fit in a 20ft, a 40ft and a 40ft high cube, which limit fills each box first, and how many containers the order needs. It plans on the capacity loads actually reach, not the nameplate, and it applies the US road weight limit rather than the container's sea rating. The dimensions and ratings behind it are listed in the container types and sizes guide.
Use the calculatorPlanning estimate on realistic loaded capacity and US road-legal payload on a standard chassis. Final counts depend on carton geometry, dunnage and the loading plan at origin.
The tool works in two modes. Carton mode plans a loose-loaded container from the master carton; pallet mode plans a palletized load from the built pallet.
Inputs per mode
| Input | Carton mode | Pallet mode | Where it goes wrong |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dimensions | Outer length, width and height of one master carton | Footprint and loaded height of one pallet, deck included | Entering inner carton or product dimensions. The container is filled by the outside of the box. |
| Weight per unit | Gross weight of one packed carton | Weight of the loaded pallet, deck and wrap included | Using net product weight. A wood pallet alone adds 30 to 50 pounds. |
| Quantity | Cartons in the order | Pallets in the order | Averaging two carton sizes into one line. Each size is its own line; the tool totals them. |
| Stackable | Not needed | Yes or no | Marking crushable cargo stackable. The double-stack estimate assumes the bottom tier can take the load. |
Units can be entered in centimeters and kilograms or inches and pounds. Supplier packing lists from China, Vietnam and India come in metric, so the default is centimeters.
Most online calculators divide your carton volume into the nominal cube of the container, then tell you to expect 80 to 90 percent of the answer. This one plans on the loaded capacity directly.
Container capacity used by the calculator
| Container | Nominal cube | Realistic loose-loaded | Planning figure used | US pallets, one tier | Road-legal payload on a standard chassis |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20ft standard | 33.2 CBM | 25 to 28 CBM | 26 CBM | 10 (up to 11) | About 38,000 lb (17,200 kg) |
| 40ft standard | 67.7 CBM | 54 to 58 CBM | 56 CBM | 20 (up to 21) | About 44,000 lb (19,950 kg) |
| 40ft high cube | 76.4 CBM | 60 to 68 CBM | 64 CBM | 20 (up to 21), taller stacks | About 44,000 lb (19,950 kg) |
The gap between nominal and realistic is loading geometry: cartons do not tile the space perfectly, the door row is lost to clearance, and dunnage takes room. The payload column is the one importers rarely see. A 20ft is rated for about 28 tonnes at sea, but on a US highway the container rides a truck capped at 80,000 lb gross, and the short 20ft chassis concentrates the weight on one axle group. The calculator uses the road figure because that is the limit that stops a container at the port scale. Overweight cases almost always start the same way: a supplier loads a 20ft toward its sea rating because nobody told them the truck at the other end is capped.
Every container has two ceilings, and cargo hits one of them before the other. Dividing the road-legal payload by the planning cube gives the density at which the two meet.
The density where weight takes over from volume
| Container | Break density | In pounds per cubic foot | Cargo above this line |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20ft standard | About 660 kg per CBM | About 41 lb per cft | Weighs out first: tiles, metal parts, canned goods, dense machinery |
| 40ft standard | About 356 kg per CBM | About 22 lb per cft | Weighs out first: bottled liquids, paper, hardware |
| 40ft high cube | About 312 kg per CBM | About 19.5 lb per cft | Weighs out first: most consumer goods with liquid or metal content |
The table explains a booking pattern that confuses first-time FCL importers: dense cargo books 20ft containers not because the order is small but because a 40ft would ship more than half empty at the weight limit. A carton of ceramic tiles at 0.024 CBM and 22 kg reaches the 20ft weight ceiling at 781 cartons, with 18.7 CBM used out of 26; the same cargo in a 40ft stops at 906 cartons and 21.7 CBM in a 56 CBM box, so two 20fts carry more than one 40ft for that order. Whether an order needs a container at all is covered in FCL vs LCL.
The panel shows the same six lines for each of the three containers so the comparison is side by side.
What the results mean
| Line | What it shows | Example: 1,200 cartons of 60 x 40 x 40 cm at 12 kg, 40ft high cube |
|---|---|---|
| Units by volume | Planning cube divided by unit volume | 64 / 0.096 = 666 cartons |
| Units by weight | Road-legal payload divided by unit weight | 19,950 / 12 = 1,662 cartons |
| Units per container | The smaller of the two | 666 cartons |
| Governing limit | Volume or weight, in words | Volume: the box fills before the truck is heavy |
| Containers needed | Order quantity divided by units per container, rounded up | 1,200 / 666 = 2 high cubes |
| Last container | Units in the final box and its fill percentage | 534 cartons, 80 percent full |
In pallet mode the volume line is floor positions, 10 in a 20ft and 20 in a 40ft or high cube, times one or two tiers, rather than a cube division; the weight line works the same way as for cartons. On the same carton order a standard 40ft holds 583 cartons and needs three containers, the third of them with 34 cartons in it. The high cube costs the same drayage and usually the same ocean rate, and here it saves a whole container. That is why the three boxes sit side by side in the result.
20ft standard
5 containers · 120 cartons in the last container
40ft standard
3 containers · 34 cartons in the last container
40ft high cube
2 containers · 534 cartons in the last container
Orders rarely divide into whole containers, and the last box is where money is lost or found. The calculator flags three cases. A remainder under about 13 CBM is LCL territory: ship it as a consolidated shipment rather than paying for an empty box, or hold it for the next order. A remainder between 13 and 25 CBM is a 20ft, usually the right call on its own. A remainder just short of a full container is a reason to talk to the supplier, because adding a few hundred cartons to fill the box costs less per unit than shipping them later. The CBM guide has the break-even math in detail.
The container count and the governing limit are the first two numbers on every FCL quote Platton prices for US importers, and they go onto the quote as the tool shows them.
The FCL quote is priced on the container type and count from your carton list, with the high cube quoted alongside the standard 40ft whenever the volume line says it saves a box, so the equipment decision is made on two prices rather than on habit.
When the governing limit is weight, the quote shows the 20ft split next to the single heavy box with a tri-axle chassis and permit on the drayage leg, so the cheaper of the two road-legal options is a line on the quote rather than a surprise at the port scale.
Cartons that do not fill the last container are priced as LCL on the same quote, or combined with another supplier's cargo through buyers consolidation so the partial box becomes a full one.
Because it plans on the capacity a real load reaches. A 40ft standard is 67.7 CBM inside but loads to 54 to 58 CBM of cartons once door clearance, imperfect stacking and dunnage are accounted for, and the calculator uses 56. Dividing your carton volume into 67.7 would give a number the container cannot actually hold, which is how orders end up with a few hundred cartons left on the origin floor.
It depends on the carton, which is what the calculator is for. On the 64 CBM planning figure, a 60 x 40 x 40 cm master carton at 0.096 CBM fits about 666 times, a 50 x 50 x 30 cm carton at 0.075 CBM about 850 times, and a 40 x 30 x 20 cm carton at 0.024 CBM over 2,600 times by volume, though at that size weight usually caps the count first. Enter the real carton and weight to get the number for your order.
Yes. It caps cargo at the weight a standard chassis can legally carry on US roads under the 80,000 lb gross vehicle limit, about 38,000 lb in a 20ft and about 44,000 lb in a 40ft or high cube, which is well below the container's sea rating of roughly 28 tonnes in a 20ft. A container loaded to the sea rating at origin arrives legal for the vessel and illegal for the truck, which is the expensive version of this problem.
Often, and the calculator estimates it when the pallet is marked stackable. The high cube has 2.69 m of internal height, so two pallets of up to about 1.25 m loaded height, deck included, can ride one on the other with clearance for handling. In a standard 40ft, at 2.39 m inside and a 2.28 m door, the tiers would have to be under about 1.10 m each, which few loads meet. Double-stacking assumes the bottom tier can carry the top one without crushing, so crushable cartons stay single tier.
The last-container line gives the unit count in the final box, its fill percentage and its CBM, and the flag next to it changes with the volume: an LCL flag under about 13 CBM, a 20ft suggestion between 13 and 25 CBM, and a fill-the-box note when the remainder is within a few hundred cartons of a full container. Read the flag together with the containers-needed line, because a remainder that pushes the count from two boxes to three is usually worth a call to the supplier.
Container types and sizes: the dimensions, payloads and special formats in full.
What is CBM: the volume math per carton and the LCL break-even.
FCL vs LCL: whether the order needs a container at all.
Ocean freight rates: what a container costs to move once the count is known.
CBM calculator: the volume total for a mixed carton list.
Freight class calculator: the density rule for the LTL leg after the container is unloaded.
Import duty calculator: the duty and landed cost on the goods inside.
Gross vs volumetric weight per carton line and the rate slab your shipment sits in.
Duty, fees and landed cost.
Total cubic meters, revenue tons and container fit from your carton list.
Density in lbs per cubic foot and the estimated NMFC class from your pallet list.
The calculator tells you how many containers the order needs and which size; the quote tells you what they cost to move. Send the carton list, origin and destination and you get back an FCL quote with the container type, count and every charge line named.
