Standard-height container

The decision that actually matters here

The term standard-height only exists in contrast to something else, and the real question behind it is not what does standard-height mean, it is do I need the extra foot a high-cube gives up top, or is the ordinary height plenty. Most buyers never think about container height at all until a listing mentions high-cube and they wonder what they might be missing by not paying attention to it.

For most storage jobs, the answer is straightforward, and it comes down to one thing.

The deciding factor: what has to clear the doorway

If everything going into the container is boxes, tools, furniture, feed, shelving or a vehicle that clears a normal garage door, a standard-height box already has room to spare. Standard height is 8 ft 6 in on the outside, which leaves a genuine ceiling to work with once you account for the roof structure and, if you insulate later, a finished lining. It is the height every farm, jobsite and home-storage container we deliver ships at unless somebody specifically orders otherwise.

The moment that answer flips is when something tall has to move through the doorway routinely, a forklift mast, stacked pallets two high, or a build-out where you want real standing headroom under a finished ceiling without feeling it. That is the specific situation a high-cube is built to solve, and it is worth reading about before you assume you need it.

What stays identical either way

Length, width and the steel itself do not move with height. A standard 20-ft is still 20 ft long and 8 ft wide with about 160 square feet of floor, and a standard 40-ft is still 40 ft long and 8 ft wide with about 320 square feet of floor, the exact footprint the high-cube versions of those same lengths carry. Height is the only variable in play.

• Standard 20-ft: 20 ft long, 8 ft wide, 8 ft 6 in tall, about 1,170 cubic feet
• Standard 40-ft: 40 ft long, 8 ft wide, 8 ft 6 in tall, about 2,390 cubic feet
• Same 14-gauge Corten steel and marine-plywood floor at either height

Standard height is the base stock at our yard, no special order and no wait attached to it. See both sizes compared in full at 20-ft versus 40-ft, or browse everything we carry.