US domestic

48 ft Container Dimensions

Yuri Kan Checked against one published sheet (Sea Box) 19 October 2026

A 48 ft container measures 14.630 × 2.591 × 2.896 m outside (48′ × 8′6″ × 9′6″) and 14.472 × 2.502 × 2.694 m inside (47′6″ × 8′2½″ × 8′10″) — from one sheet (Sea Box), since no ISO standard covers this size. That is 97.6 m³ (3,447 ft³) on 36.2 m² (390 ft²) of floor. It is a US domestic size — 102″ wide against the ISO 96″ — so US pallets load two abreast, about 28 per tier by our layout of the inside floor. Tare is around 4,950 kg; it moves on North American rail and road, not deep-sea vessels, and holds about 28% more than a 40 ft high cube.

Measured drawing of a 48 ft container: 14.630 × 2.591 × 2.896 m outside, 14.472 × 2.502 × 2.694 m inside. — 48 ft container dimensions drawing: outside, inside, door and floorMeasured drawing of a 48 ft container: 14.630 × 2.591 × 2.896 m outside, 14.472 × 2.502 × 2.694 m inside, door 2.491 × 2.585 m, 36 EUR pallets on the floor, 97.6 m³, 4,950 kg empty.14.630 × 2.591 × 2.896 mOpen image: 48 ft container dimensions drawing: outside, inside, door and floor

48 ft container dimensions drawing: outside, inside, door and floor
Measure	Metric	Imperial
Length outside	14,630 mm	48′
Width outside	2,591 mm	8′6″
Height outside	2,896 mm	9′6″
Length inside	14,472 mm	47′6″
Width inside	2,502 mm	8′2½″
Height inside	2,694 mm	8′10″
Door width	2,491 mm	8′2″
Door height	2,585 mm	8′6″
Floor area	36.2 m²	390 ft²
Volume	97.6 m³	3,447 ft³
Tare (empty)	4,950 kg	10,913 lb
Payload	25,530 kg	56,284 lb
Max gross	30,480 kg	67,197 lb
EUR pallets, one tier (counted)	36	—
US pallets, one tier (counted)	28	—

48 ft container: dimensions and weight

48 ft container
External dimensions
	Metric	Imperial
Length	14.630 m 48 ft container · Outside length 14,630 mm One sheet Every reading and where it is printed	48′
Width	2.591 m 48 ft container · Outside width 2,591 mm One sheet Every reading and where it is printed	8′6″
Height	2.896 m 48 ft container · Outside height 2,896 mm One sheet Every reading and where it is printed	9′6″
Internal dimensions
Length	14.472 m 48 ft container · Inside length 14,472 mm One sheet Every reading and where it is printed	47′6″
Width	2.502 m 48 ft container · Inside width 2,502 mm One sheet Every reading and where it is printed	8′2½″
Height	2.694 m 48 ft container · Inside height 2,694 mm One sheet Every reading and where it is printed	8′10″
Door opening
Width	2.491 m 48 ft container · Door width 2,491 mm One sheet Every reading and where it is printed	8′2″
Height	2.585 m 48 ft container · Door height 2,585 mm One sheet Every reading and where it is printed	8′6″
Specification
Tare weight	4,950 kg 48 ft container · Tare 4,950 kg One sheet Every reading and where it is printed	10,913 lb
Max gross weight	30,480 kg 48 ft container · Max gross 30,480 kg One sheet Every reading and where it is printed	67,197 lb
Max payload	25,530 kg 48 ft container · Payload 25,530 kg One sheet Every reading and where it is printed	56,284 lb
Capacity (volume)	97.6 m³ 48 ft container · Volume 97.6 m³ One sheet Every reading and where it is printed	3,447 ft³
Pallets (one tier, counted on the floor)	36 EUR · 28 US

Beside each figure, its evidence: ISO set by the standard · ✓ 16 sheets that agree, counted · range the sheets disagree · 1 sheet one source. A mark opens the sheets behind the figure.

Checked 19 October 2026: one published sheet gives these figures (Sea Box); no second was found. Every figure and its sources

Machine-readable: /data/containers.json · closest published sheet: Sea Box, 12 of 12 figures

Data: Sea Box

Compare every size in one chart

Scale plan view of a 48 ft container: 36 Euro pallets (1200 × 800 mm) in a single tier on a 14.472 × 2.502 m floor. — 36 EUR pallets in one tier, counted on the floor — 48 ft container, top viewScale plan view of a 48 ft container: 36 Euro pallets (1200 × 800 mm) in a single tier on a 14.472 × 2.502 m floor, numbered in stuffing order.EUR 1200 × 800Drawn to scaleOpen image: 36 EUR pallets in one tier, counted on the floor — 48 ft container, top view

Bar chart placing the 48 ft container (97.6 m³, 25,530 kg payload) among the seven container lengths from 10 to 53 ft. — 48 ft container: volume and payload against every other sizeOpen image: 48 ft container: volume and payload against every other size

48 ft container: volume and payload against every other size
Size	Volume	Max payload
10 ft container	15.9 m³ · 562 ft³	8,860 kg · 19,533 lb
20 ft container	33.2 m³ · 1,172 ft³	28,250 kg · 62,281 lb
40 ft container	67.7 m³ · 2,391 ft³	28,800 kg · 63,493 lb
40 ft high cube container	76.4 m³ · 2,698 ft³	28,670 kg · 63,207 lb
45 ft high cube container	86.0 m³ · 3,037 ft³	27,850 kg · 61,399 lb
48 ft container	97.6 m³ · 3,447 ft³	25,530 kg · 56,284 lb
53 ft container	111.8 m³ · 3,948 ft³	25,250 kg · 55,667 lb

What a 48 ft container is used for

The 48 ft container is a US domestic size, not an ISO deep-sea unit: no ISO standard sets its dimensions. It is both longer and wider than international boxes: 14.630 m long and 2.591 m (102″) wide against the ISO standard 2.438 m (96″). The extra width lets two US pallets sit side by side with room to spare.

These units move on rail (double-stacked) and road within North America. You will not see them on deep-sea vessels — cell guides are built for ISO widths. The figures on this page are those of the one maker’s sheet we have found for the size (Sea Box); other fleets’ boxes may differ by a few centimetres.

Doors open to about 2.491 × 2.585 m — as wide as a 53 ft’s and about 15 cm wider than an ISO door — which is why 48s converted to storage take vehicles, wide machinery and full-width racking that ISO doors cannot pass.

48 vs 53 — which one? In practice the market has already answered: the 53-footer has become the domestic default, and railroads and truckers built their networks around it. The 48 ft fleet is mostly legacy equipment being run down rather than replaced — few new 48s are built. For shippers that means 53 ft capacity is easier to book; for buyers it means 48s appear on the secondary market at attractive prices as fleets retire them, with the same outside width and height as the 53.

The 48 ft container on one page, plus the whole pack

Every dimension in millimetres, metres and feet, the door opening, tare, payload and volume, and the floor drawn to scale with EUR and US pallets on it. In the same email, the container pack: all 17 containers by the job, 17 sheets like this one, the 85 owner prefixes, an A3 wall chart and an Excel workbook.

17 containers, by the job
17 container sheets
85 owner prefixes

See every page

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What fits in a 48 ft container

About 97.6 m³ of capacity — 28% more than a 40 ft high cube. The 2.502 m internal width fits US pallets two abreast without wasted inches, giving roughly 28 pallet positions per tier by our layout of the inside floor.

Payload is limited by road weight law rather than the box: US federal law caps the whole rig at 80,000 lb (36,287 kg), per 23 CFR 658.17, and the tractor, the chassis and the box itself count against that limit before the cargo does.

The two-abreast fit is the size’s whole argument. In an ISO forty, 48″ × 40″ US pallets load in a turned pattern that wastes inches on every row; in the 102″-wide 48, two pallets sit side by side with about 6 cm to spare, so the same floor plan loads faster and cubes out cleaner. EUR pallets fare even better, at roughly 36 positions by the same layout.

Off the rails, the 48 makes a generous static building block: 36.2 m² of floor with 2.694 m ceilings, roughly a one-bedroom apartment’s footprint in a single steel shell. Availability outside North America is close to zero, so plan on sourcing one domestically.

48 ft vs 53 ft container

48 ft vs 53 ft container
	48 ft container	53 ft container
ISO type code	—	—
External dimensions — Length	14.630 m48′	16.154 m 53 ft container · Outside length 16,154 mm Confirmed Every reading and where it is printed 53′
External dimensions — Width	2.591 m8′6″	2.591 m 53 ft container · Outside width 2,591 mm Confirmed Every reading and where it is printed 8′6″
External dimensions — Height	2.896 m9′6″	2.896 m 53 ft container · Outside height 2,896 mm Sheets disagree Every reading and where it is printed 9′6″
Internal dimensions — Length	14.472 m47′6″	16.017 m 53 ft container · Inside length 16,017 mm Sheets disagree Every reading and where it is printed 52′6½″
Internal dimensions — Width	2.502 m8′2½″	2.515 m 53 ft container · Inside width 2,515 mm Sheets disagree Every reading and where it is printed 8′3″
Internal dimensions — Height	2.694 m8′10″	2.781 m 53 ft container · Inside height 2,781 mm Sheets disagree Every reading and where it is printed 9′1½″
Tare weight	4,950 kg10,913 lb	5,230 kg 53 ft container · Tare 5,230 kg Sheets disagree Every reading and where it is printed 11,530 lb
Max gross weight	30,480 kg67,197 lb	30,480 kg 53 ft container · Max gross 30,480 kg Confirmed Every reading and where it is printed 67,197 lb
Max payload	25,530 kg56,284 lb	25,250 kg 53 ft container · Payload 25,250 kg Confirmed Every reading and where it is printed 55,667 lb
Capacity (volume)	97.6 m³3,447 ft³	111.8 m³ 53 ft container · Volume 111.8 m³ Confirmed Every reading and where it is printed 3,948 ft³
EUR pallets	36	40
TEU	—	—

Checked 19 October 2026: no ISO standard covers this size; every figure against 9 published sheets of 8 lines, makers and rail and road operators. A sheet agrees within ±5 mm, or ±2 % for a mass and ±1 % for a volume; a maximum gross is a rating and must be the same. Every figure and its sources

Data: CN, Crowley, J.B. Hunt, Sea Box, STG, TOTE, Trailer Bridge, Union Pacific

Frequently asked questions

What are the dimensions of a 48 ft container?

A 48 ft container is 14.630 × 2.591 × 2.896 m outside (48′ × 8′6″ × 9′6″) and 14.472 × 2.502 × 2.694 m inside (47′6″ × 8′2½″ × 8′10″), with 97.6 m³ of capacity — from one sheet (Sea Box). As a domestic size it is not covered by ISO 668, so other fleets’ boxes may differ slightly.

How much does a 48 ft container weigh?

An empty 48 ft container weighs about 4,950 kg (10,913 lb) — from one sheet (Sea Box); no standard fixes it, so other builders’ boxes may differ. The same sheet rates it 30,480 kg gross, but on the road US federal law caps the whole rig — tractor, chassis, box and cargo — at 80,000 lb, per 23 CFR 658.17, so the road, not the box, sets the practical payload.

How many pallets fit in a 48 ft container?

About 28 standard US pallets (48″ × 40″) in a single floor tier by our layout of the inside floor, loaded two abreast in the 2.502 m (8′2½″) internal width — the extra width over ISO boxes is exactly what makes the two-abreast pattern work.

How much does a 48 ft container cost?

No two named US sellers publish a price for a used 48 ft container (read 18 October 2026), so we quote none: it is sold by quote. It is rarer than the ISO sizes and essentially a North American regional market, so prices vary sharply by location — ask depots near rail hubs, where fleets retire legacy 48s.

How many square meters (square feet) is a 48 ft container?

A 48 ft container has about 36.2 m² (390 ft²) of internal floor — 14.472 m long by 2.502 m wide (47′6″ × 8′2½″), from one sheet (Sea Box). That is roughly 28% more floor area than a 40 ft container.

Can a 48 ft container be shipped internationally?

Not in normal service. Deep-sea vessels and terminals are built around ISO 8 ft (2.438 m) widths; 48 ft domestic boxes are 102″ (2.591 m) wide and stay within North American rail and road networks.