How many cubic metres fit in a 40-foot high cube container?

A 40-foot high cube container has an internal volume of about 76.3 cubic metres, according to iContainers.

In practice, no shipment uses all of that space. Carton sizes rarely tile the container perfectly, pallets leave gaps, and some goods cannot be stacked to the ceiling. That is why most importers plan to a working target below the theoretical volume, based on how their own cartons actually load.

The right target is best set from experience: compare the planned volume of past orders with what the forwarder actually loaded, and adjust. Planning to the theoretical figure is a common cause of last-minute line cuts at the port.