Get a rough idea of shipping containers measurement norms as prevalent in the industry
Shipping containers are broadly made in two standard lengths –20ft and 40ft. The width of shipping containers is generally maintained at 8ft (external measurement) whereas their height is about 8ft 6in (giving an internal height of roughly 8ft). Exceptionally, you may go for (buy or lease purpose) a ‘high cube’ container that is extra 1ft high, thus giving an internal height of about 9ft.
For the 20ft container, the metric measurements are usually 6.1m long x 2.4m wide x 2.59m high. This gives a capacity of roughly 39 cubic metres. For site storage these (containers) are often halved; the size being about roughly 10ft long or often even smaller units (lengths of 5ft or 6ft). The smaller containers are more convenient to store as well as transport.
Most specifications, you would notice, are in imperial measures. This is so since the world shipping industry specifications were set before metrification became a norm and remained so. References to TEU indicate ‘20ft equivalent units’ so that any 40ft container equates 2 TEU etc. This term is often used to denote the actual capacity of a port or a container ship.
