TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit)
TEU is the standard measure of container shipping capacity: one TEU equals a single 20-foot ISO container. A 40-foot container is two TEU; vessel and port capacity are reported in TEU.
The 20-foot ISO container is the unit because it was the original standard size in the early days of containerisation. 40-foot containers (and the variant 40-foot high-cube) dominate trans-Pacific and trans-Atlantic trade today, but the TEU unit persists as the lingua franca of capacity.
Conversion: a 40-foot container is 2 TEU. A 45-foot container is roughly 2.25 TEU. Mixed fleets are reported in TEU to make comparisons possible.
Vessel capacity is measured in TEU. Ultra-large container ships now exceed 24,000 TEU. Port throughput is reported the same way — a port that handles 10 million TEU per year is a major node in global trade.
Related terms
- FCL vs. LCL (full container load vs. less than container load)FCL means the shipper has booked a full container exclusive to their cargo. LCL means the cargo shares a container with other shippers' cargo, consolidated by a freight forwarder and deconsolidated at destination.
- Stuffing (container)Stuffing is the act of loading cargo into a shipping container. The operation includes placing cargo, bracing with dunnage, sealing the container, and producing the stuffing report that documents what went in.
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