Shipping & logistics
Estimate how many cartons fit in a container by simple volume.
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Container capacity calculator guide
This container capacity calculator estimates how many cartons fit in any container or truck body from three numbers: the internal volume in cubic metres, the volume of one carton, and a practical utilisation percentage. It divides the container volume by the carton volume, applies the utilisation factor, and rounds down to a whole carton. The default 33 m³ is a standard 20ft dry container; change it to 67 m³ for a 40ft, 76 m³ for a 40ft high-cube, or the stated capacity of a 45ft or a road trailer. Sellers moving from LCL to their first full container use it to see whether an order justifies FCL, and to sanity-check a supplier’s loading plan. Because it works on volume alone, it does not know about carton orientation, door height, or weight, so treat 85% as a typical result for uniform cartons and lower it for mixed sizes or fragile goods.
Cartons = floor(container volume (m³) ÷ carton volume (m³) × utilisation ÷ 100). Usable volume (m³) = container volume × utilisation ÷ 100.
Worked example: a 20ft container with 33 m³ of internal volume, cartons of 0.03 m³ each, and 85% practical utilisation. The theoretical count is 33 ÷ 0.03 = 1,100 cartons. Applying 85% leaves 1,100 × 0.85 = 935 cartons, and the usable volume is 33 × 0.85 = 28.05 m³. If the same cartons weigh 25 kg each, 935 cartons are 23,375 kg, under a 20ft payload of roughly 28 t. The calculator displays 935 cartons.
Container volume and carton volume are both cubic metres; utilisation is a percentage. For a carton in centimetres, multiply length × width × height and divide by 1,000,000, or use the CBM calculator. For US figures, 1 ft³ = 0.0283 m³, so a 1,172 ft³ 20ft container is 33.2 m³ and a 2,390 ft³ 40ft is 67.7 m³. The carton volume row is shown to three decimals.
Carriers bill on whichever is greater, actual weight or volumetric weight, so treat this result as the number to compare against your carrier's own quote. Divisors, rounding rules, and surcharges differ between carriers and between domestic and international services, and they change with contract terms. Confirm the current rules for your account before you price a shipment. On this page the figure rests entirely on container volume, carton volume, practical utilization, market / jurisdiction, effective date, data source, update owner and review date, so start there if the container capacity calculator returns something you did not expect.
Good to know: quoting the nominal 33 m³ and 100% utilisation overstates what can be loaded; hand-stacked uniform cartons reach 85–90%, palletised cargo often 60–70% because pallets leave voids. Do not forget the weight limit: dense goods such as tiles or canned food hit the payload cap of about 28 t long before the container is full. Check the door opening too, which is roughly 2.34 m wide × 2.28 m high on a 20ft; a carton stack taller than that will not go in.
Shipping results depend on carrier, service, route, divisor, rounding, surcharges, and contract terms. Confirm the current carrier rule before buying a label or quoting a customer.
Sources
How it works
Estimate how many cartons fit in a container by simple volume. This tool explains the calculation so you can adjust the assumptions to match your situation.
Worked example
With Container volume = 33 m³ · Carton volume = 0.03 m³ · Practical utilization = 85 % → 935 cartons (practical volume estimate). Change an input above and this example updates with your numbers.
Common questions
Divide 33 m³ by the carton volume and apply a realistic utilisation. Cartons of 0.03 m³ (40 × 30 × 25 cm) give 33 ÷ 0.03 × 0.85 = 935 cartons at 85% utilisation. Bigger cartons or pallets reduce the count.
A standard 40ft dry container has about 67 m³ of internal volume; a 40ft high-cube has about 76 m³ thanks to its 2.7 m internal height. Both are rated for the same maximum gross mass as a 20ft, so they suit lighter goods.
Uniform cartons hand-loaded floor to ceiling typically reach 85–90%. Mixed carton sizes drop to about 75–80%. Palletised cargo is usually 60–70% because pallets, gaps, and the space above the top layer are wasted.
LCL is charged per cubic metre with minimums and handling fees, while FCL is a flat rate per box. The break-even is often around 13–15 m³, so a shipment near 15 m³ or more is worth quoting as a 20ft FCL.
ISO 668 rates most 20ft and 40ft dry containers at a maximum gross mass of 30,480 kg. After the container’s own tare of about 2.3 t for a 20ft, payload is roughly 28 t, but road weight limits in many countries cap the usable payload lower.