A Twenty-Foot Equivalent Unit (TEU) is a standard measurement unit for containerized cargo capacity. The standard dimensions of a TEU generally measure about 20 feet in length, 8 feet in width, and between 8-8.6 feet in height, as there may be slight variations in the dimensions depending on the specific design of the container. A high cube container, for example, may usually be 9.6 feet high instead.
While the difference in pallet types (regular or EUR-pallets) affects the number of pallets that can fit within a TEU, it generally has a capacity of approximately 9 to 11 pallets. It is widely used in the shipping industry to determine the cost of shipping containers.
Rates are provided based on TEU measurement and by multiplying the rate per TEU by the number of TEUs in a shipment, one can calculate the total cost. A 40-foot container is considered equivalent to “2 TEU” (1 FEU = 2 TEU).
