TEU (Twenty-Foot Equivalent Unit)
Definition
A TEU is the standard unit of container capacity, equal to one twenty-foot shipping container. A forty-foot container (FEU) counts as two TEU, and the measure is used to size vessels, ports, and trade volumes.
In Practice
The TEU standardizes how the industry counts container capacity. A 20-foot dry container offers roughly 33 cubic meters of space and around 21,000 to 28,000 kilograms of payload depending on the container and route limits; a 40-foot box, two TEU, offers about 67 cubic meters, and the taller 40-foot high cube about 76 cubic meters.
For planners, TEU thinking shows up when converting purchase volumes into shipping plans. Knowing that your annual imports are, say, 400 TEU frames carrier negotiations and contract commitments, while per-shipment decisions hinge on whether cargo cubes out a 20-foot, a 40-foot, or a high cube most economically. Freight rates for a 40-foot container are usually far less than double the 20-foot rate, so cargo that fills a forty is cheaper per unit.
For example, an importer with 55 cubic meters of cartons books one 40-foot high cube rather than two 20-foot containers.
Related Calculators
Related Terms
Container utilization measures how much of a container's available volume or weight capacity a shipment actually uses, usually expressed as a percentage. Higher utilization means lower freight cost per unit shipped.
Ocean FreightOcean freight is the transport of goods by sea, typically in standardized containers aboard container ships. It is the dominant mode for international trade, offering the lowest cost per unit at the price of long transit times.
DrayageDrayage is the short-distance trucking of containers, typically between a port or rail ramp and a nearby warehouse, yard, or terminal. It is the connecting link at each end of an intermodal or ocean move.
Intermodal TransportationIntermodal transportation moves freight using two or more modes, most commonly truck and rail, with the cargo staying in the same container or trailer throughout. Goods are transferred between modes without being unloaded and rehandled.