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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).

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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.
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"The flat pack containers we purchased from yourselves, we were highly impressed with how easy they were to assemble and the quality of the materials and end product. I'd like to thank you for all your help in delivering that scheme, including the visit to your site in Kirkby." Knowsley Council
9th January 2026
order - two Flat Pack Office Containers
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"Service was very good." Lubet Engineering Ltd
15th December 2025
order - two Used 30ft Containers and a Used 4ft Container
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"Whole process extremely good, Hannah was very helpful and gave rapid responses. Dave the lorry delivery man was really excellent, extremely helpful." Mark Nixon
10th December 2025
order - a 4m Flat Pack Store
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"Really good process from start to finish." Soldado Limited
1st December 2025
order - a 4x Used 20ft Containers
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"Our delivery was great and a big thank you to the wonderful delivery driver who was excellent at getting the lorry onto site and delivering the container quickly, efficiently and with a sense of humour! We will be needing another smaller container shortly and will be back in touch with you." West Byfleet Infant School
28th November 2025
order - a New 'Once-Used' 40ft Container
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"The purchase of the flat pack container was very easy from start to delivery." Tom Passmore
27th Novemeber 2025
order - a 3m Flat Pack Store Container
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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-QMS-001
MakeUK Member – Supporting British Manufacturing
Container Self Storage and Traders Association Member
JOSCAR Registered Member
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