Quick Quote
Containers Direct logoQuality you can see, experience you can trust.
Quality you can see, experience you can trust.

Standard Shipping Container Sizes

Two Industry Standard Sizes

Shipping Containers are all built to ISO regulations. For shipping purposes, containers must conform to the same width of 8ft in order to be locked together on board a cargo vessel for safety reasons. There are two different lengths and heights, but the width of all shipping containers is the same.

What are standard shipping container sizes?

Your usual standard shipping container sizes are either 20ft long or 40ft long, 8ft wide, and either 8ft6 or 9ft6 high. However, at Containers Direct, we offer much more than standard shipping container sizes. Our in-house depot and manufacturing facility means we are able to either cut down to size from one of the above ISO controlled boxes, or manufacture a new container from scratch to your exact measurements.

If you are seeking exact dimensions for all sizes of containers, visit our Shipping and Storage Container Dimension Charts page.
Used 20ft container
Used 40ft container

Available lengths at Containers Direct

Although 20ft and 40ft are common in the industry, we keep in stock a variety of different shipping container sizes as standard in both used condition and once-used. These containers range from 5ft to 39ft in length, and include every size in between. These cut down containers are all still 8ft wide, and either 8ft6 or 9ft6 high, and are typically held in stock with either S1 or S2 style doors.



Used 10ft container
Used 15ft container
Used 30ft container

Popular Optional Extras

New builds

In answer to the growing demand for secure storage, we not only cut down containers to size, but build bespoke sized units for customers who need more, or less, space. We know that the standard shipping container sizes in terms of height and width aren't for everyone. Some customers have items which need more in terms of width, whilst others only have a small space to play with. That's why we decided to expand our depot in order to meet our customers' requirements. All new builds are made with corrugated steel and an 18mm marine ply floor, keeping the security of a regular shipping container and the durability.

We have designed two standard new build products:

The CarTainer® is 10ft wide, and comes in three different lengths: 15ft, 17ft and 20ft. This unique product is specifically designed to allow you to park your car inside, and still be able to open the doors and exit the car. We can offer a variety of customisations to this, including lining and insulating, roller shutter doors etc., however as standard the unit comes with an S1 style door with inbuilt mortice lock for security.


The Slimline® product range is a narrow container for customers who need their storage in a restricted space. They come in widths from 5ft-7ft, and a variety of lengths. The 5ft wide comes with a single door as standard, but 6ft and 7ft wide comes with two doors. We can also offer to build with doors in the side if required, and can build to a variety of heights.



Joined up containers

If a new build or standard shipping container doesn't provide adequate internal space, many of our customers have started asking us for joined up units to provide extra width or extra length. We take two normal shipping containers (or new builds), remove the long or short side of both in matching apertures, and reinforce so the units are suitable to be joined together on site. This increases the internal space considerably, meaning you can have containers which far exceed the standard proportions!

Flat pack containers

Containers Direct are also the UKs biggest retailer of genuine ExpandaStore Flat pack containers . These containers are specifically manufactured to be man portable and built on site, offering our customers a way to have secure storage even on sites where access is too restricted for a lorry.

Our flat pack stores come as standard 2.1m wide, 2.1m high and either 2m, 3m or 4m in length. One of the benefits of the flatpack range is that they are modular and able to be joined together to form much larger spaces if required.

We also offer a range of flat pack offices suitable as a garden office (2.3m wide and high, and 2.3m, 3.3m or 4.3m long) or our 20ft Site Office which provides a man portable option for a construction site (6m long by 2.3m wide and 2.3m high).

Request a Quick Quote!

Contact our sales team for your no-obligation quote, including delivery!

Testimonials

As a long established and reputable shipping container company, we want to instil confidence in our customers that we can deliver on our promises, and provide high quality products and service.

But don't just take our word for it, see for yourself what our past and present clients have to say about Containers Direct.
quote icon
"You have proved to be excellent. You are pretty competitive and always provide a container of good quality exactly to our spec. Cory and the team have proved to be good sounding boards for ideas and able to provide lots of practical advice too." City of Edinburgh Council
24th October 2025
order - a Used 15ft Container
quote icon
"Very pleased with service, right through the process including making arrangements for an earlier delivery day." Mark Yemm - Westons Cider
24th October 2025
order - a Used 30ft Container
quote icon
"The delivery driver was excellent - really helpful with a 'can do' attitude." Jon Fowler - Drayton Parish Council
15th October 2025
order - a 'Once-Used' 20ft Container
quote icon
"I would recommend this service across the channel island to all." Island Waste Ltd
8th October 2025
order - a Used 20ft ModiBox Container
quote icon
"You've done a great job, thank you very much." Tristan Dodd - PEC Tyres
7th October 2025
order - two Used 30ft Containers
quote icon
"Excellent service and delivery was great." MSL Property Care Services Ltd
1st October 2025
order - a Used 16ft Container
<
>

Committed to Quality

We are ISOQAR Approved and certified to ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management Systems, demonstrating our commitment to excellence. We are also members of MakeUK, who champion British manufacturing, and the Container Self Storage and Traders Association (CSTA), representing global operators and innovators. In addition, we are registered members of JOSCAR, the Joint Supply Chain Accreditation Register.

ISOQAR Approved – ISO 9001:2015 Certificate No. 13586-QNS-001

ISO Cert No. 13586-QNS-001
ISO 9001:2015

MakeUK Member – Supporting British Manufacturing
Container Self Storage and Traders Association Member
JOSCAR Registered Member
We have placed cookies on your browsing device to enable this website to function correctly.
Further usage of this website indicates you are happy for us to do this..
Find out about the cookies we have set and how we use them.