How the stuffing calculator works

Enter your carton or pallet dimensions, weight and quantity, and the calculator works out how many fit into a 20ft, 40ft or 40ft High Cube container, along with the resulting CBM utilisation percentage. Use it before you book a container to confirm whether your cargo needs an FCL booking, fits comfortably with room to spare, or is better suited to LCL.

Container types and capacities

The three container types importers and exporters use most often: a 20ft container (around 33 CBM, roughly 28–28.2 tonnes maximum payload), a 40ft container (around 67 CBM, a similar weight limit to the 20ft despite double the volume), and a 40ft High Cube (around 76 CBM, for lighter, bulkier cargo that runs out of space before it runs out of weight allowance). Exact figures vary slightly by container owner and condition — treat these as planning estimates, not a substitute for your carrier's booking confirmation.

Carton vs. pallet vs. mixed loading

Loose cartons stacked directly against each other use container volume most efficiently, but take longer to load/unload and carry more handling risk. Palletised cargo loads and unloads faster and protects the goods better, at the cost of some usable volume to the pallet's own footprint and height. Mixed loads — palletised near the door for fast access, loose-stacked cartons filling the rest — are common when a shipment has both fragile and sturdy items.

Common stuffing mistakes

The two most common planning errors: assuming a container's full rated CBM is usable (stacking losses typically take 10–15% off that), and planning purely by volume without checking the weight limit — dense cargo like machinery or metal parts often hits the container's weight cap well before its volume is full. Also worth checking before booking: whether palletizing changes your count enough to shift between FCL and LCL, since that changes the cost comparison.

How many CBM is a 20ft, 40ft or 40ft HC container?

As standard dry containers: a 20ft holds around 33 CBM, a 40ft around 67 CBM, and a 40ft High Cube (HC) around 76 CBM. These are the commonly published internal capacities — actual usable volume is always a little less once stacking and pallet footprint are accounted for.

What is the maximum weight a 40ft container can carry?

A 40ft container's maximum payload is commonly cited at around 28–28.6 tonnes — similar to a 20ft container, not double it, because road and rail weight limits (not the container's volume) usually cap the load first. This is why heavy cargo often runs out of weight allowance long before it runs out of space.

How do I calculate how many cartons fit in a container?

Multiply one carton's volume by how many you plan to load and compare that against the container's usable volume — not its full rated CBM, since irregular stacking, pallet footprint and the weight limit typically leave 10–15% of the rated volume unusable. The calculator above does this for your exact carton dimensions and weight.

What is the difference between CBM and loadable capacity?

CBM is the container's raw internal volume. Loadable capacity is what you can actually fit once you account for carton/pallet shape, stacking stability and the container's weight limit — it's always lower than the raw CBM figure.

When should I choose FCL over LCL?

As a rule of thumb, once your cargo fills roughly half a 20ft container or more, FCL (full container load) usually works out cheaper than paying an LCL (less than container load) rate for the same volume — plus FCL avoids the extra handling and consolidation time LCL involves. Smaller shipments are typically better suited to LCL.

Does palletizing reduce usable space?

Yes — pallets add their own footprint and height overhead, so palletized cargo uses somewhat less of a container's rated volume than loose cartons stacked directly. The trade-off is faster loading/unloading and less handling damage, which is often worth the lower volume efficiency.