The three boxes, and what each one actually holds
Nominal container volume is a theoretical figure measured wall to wall with nothing inside. Real loading loses 10–15% to carton shape, roof curvature, door frames and the gap you leave for ventilation and bracing. Plan against the usable column, not the nominal one.
| Box | Internal L×W×H | Nominal | Usable | Max payload | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20GP (20 ft standard) | 5.90 × 2.35 × 2.39 m | 33 CBM | 27–30 CBM | ~28,000 kg | Dense cargo, or a trial order that genuinely fills it |
| 40GP (40 ft standard) | 12.03 × 2.35 × 2.39 m | 67 CBM | 56–60 CBM | ~26,500 kg | Mid-volume orders when no high cube is available |
| 40HQ (40 ft high cube) | 12.03 × 2.35 × 2.70 m | 76 CBM | 64–70 CBM | ~26,500 kg | Hotel bedding — the default box, and usually the cheapest per set |
Internal dimensions follow the ISO 668 series and vary by a few centimetres between makers. Payload is the box’s own rating; the figure that binds in practice is usually the carrier’s route limit or the road limit at destination, which can be as low as 22 tonnes on some US inland lanes.
For bedding the choice is simpler than the table suggests. A 20GP carries almost the same weight as a 40HQ but less than half the volume, so it is the wrong tool for a light cargo. A 40HQ costs roughly 10–15% more in ocean freight than a 40GP and gives you about 13% more cubic metres — which is why it wins on cost per set almost every time.
Why bedding never hits the weight ceiling
Packed hotel bedding runs at roughly 100–200 kg per cubic metre. A 40HQ filled to 68 CBM therefore weighs somewhere around 7–13 tonnes against a 26-tonne payload allowance. You would need to more than double the density before weight became the constraint.
This matters because it changes which number you optimise. Buyers who come from hardware or ceramics instinctively ask “how many tonnes can it take”. The question that actually governs your cost is “how many cubic metres does my packaging occupy, and can I reduce it”. A 20% reduction in carton volume is a 20% reduction in ocean freight per set — no negotiation with the carrier required.
Send us one carton measurement
Send us your target specs and quantity — we quote factory-direct FOB prices from the producing member's own lines within 24 hours, and you can audit the factory before you commit. Free samples available.
How to calculate what your order loads
The arithmetic is three lines and you should do it yourself rather than accept a rounded figure:
- Measure one packed carton in metres — not the flat-packed size, the size it will actually be when it leaves the factory.
- Multiply L × W × H to get CBM per carton. A 50 × 40 × 30 cm carton is 0.5 × 0.4 × 0.3 = 0.06 CBM.
- Divide usable volume by carton volume. For a 40HQ, 66 CBM ÷ 0.06 = 1,100 cartons. Multiply by sets per carton to get the set count.
The variable that trips people up is sets per carton, because it swings by a factor of five depending on how the goods are packed. These are the ranges we see on hotel orders:
| Packing format | CBM per set | Sets in 40HQ (66 CBM) | Sets in 20GP (28 CBM) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4-piece set, poly bag, tight fold | 0.012–0.015 | 4,400–5,500 | 1,900–2,300 |
| 4-piece set, individual retail carton | 0.018–0.025 | 2,600–3,700 | 1,100–1,550 |
| Duvet set with filling, vacuum-packed | 0.025–0.035 | 1,900–2,600 | 800–1,100 |
| Duvet set with filling, not compressed | 0.045–0.060 | 1,100–1,450 | 470–620 |
| Towels, baled and strapped | 0.004–0.008 | 8,000–16,000 | 3,500–7,000 |
Ranges reflect the spread across cotton and poly-cotton constructions, size mixes and fold styles. Treat them as a planning band, then replace them with your own measured carton.
Sizing a real order
Once you have CBM per set, order size stops being a guess. This is how the common order sizes land:
| Order | Volume | What it should ship in |
|---|---|---|
| 100 sets | 1.2–2.5 CBM | LCL — nowhere near a container |
| 1,000 sets | 12–25 CBM | LCL at the low end, 20GP once past ~15 CBM |
| 2,500 sets | 30–62 CBM | 20GP if packing is tight, otherwise 40GP |
| 4,000 sets | 48–100 CBM | 40HQ, or two 40HQs at the light end of packing |
Small orders: where LCL wins and where it quietly loses
A hundred 4-piece sets is roughly 1.2–2.5 CBM. That is a few percent of a 20GP, so booking a container is straightforwardly wasteful. LCL is the right answer — with two caveats that catch first-time importers:
- The minimum charge. Most consolidators bill a minimum of 1 CBM, some 2 CBM on certain lanes. A 0.6 CBM shipment is charged as 1 CBM, so the effective rate per CBM rises sharply below that threshold.
- Destination charges. The ocean freight for LCL often looks cheap because the expensive part is billed at the other end — CFS handling, documentation, unstuffing. These are normally payable by the consignee. Agree in writing who pays before you quote your customer a delivered price, or you will be the one absorbing the argument.
The break-even between LCL and a 20GP generally sits somewhere between 12 and 18 CBM, depending on the lane and how heavy the destination charges are. Below 12 CBM, LCL. Above 18 CBM, the container usually wins on total landed cost even if the ocean freight line looks higher.
Three things that damage a bedding container
Bedding is not fragile, but it is vulnerable in three specific ways. All three are cheap to prevent and expensive to discover on arrival.
- Container rain. Warm, moist air inside the box condenses on the steel roof as the ship passes through cold nights, then drips onto the top layer of cartons. Over a three-week voyage that is enough to produce mould on the outer wrap and, in bad cases, into the goods. Counter it with container desiccant bags rated for the voyage length, a moisture barrier on the floor, and cartons that are confirmed dry at loading. Do not load cartons straight off a humid warehouse floor, and do not load in the rain.
- Carton compression.Bedding cartons are strong vertically and weak when the stack gets tall. If the bottom layer crushes, the stack leans, and the goods arrive creased. Check the carton’s compression rating against the stack height you plan, and specify interlocking stacks rather than straight columns for tall loads.
- Weight, in the one case where it does bind.Fabric sold by the metre or heavy terry can push a 40HQ toward its limit. If your order is dense rather than bulky, get the gross weight from the factory and confirm the carrier’s route limit before booking — overweight boxes are refused at the gate and the rework is entirely yours.
What to send the factory before they load
A loading instruction prevents most of the above. It is five lines, and it costs nothing:
- Total cartons, total CBM and total gross weight — calculated by you, not estimated by them.
- Stack height limit in cartons, and whether stacks must interlock.
- Desiccant quantity and placement — bags on the floor line and hung along the side walls.
- Floor-loaded or palletised, and if palletised, the pallet footprint and height.
- Loading photos of the finished container, inside, before the doors close.
That last line is the one buyers forget. A photo of a loaded container tells you more about how your goods will arrive than any promise in an email.
Mixed loads: the way to fill a box without over-ordering
The awkward middle — an order too big for LCL, too small to fill a 40HQ — is where a multi-category load earns its keep. Towels bale tightly and fill the floor gap under bedding cartons; bathrobes and table linen top off a part-loaded box. On a hotel opening order, combining bedding, towelling and dining linen into one container usually converts a half-empty 40HQ into a full one at the same ocean freight.
This is the practical reason a manufacturer alliance is useful rather than a marketing construct: each member factory makes its own category on its own line, and the consolidated order still ships under one contract · one spec sheet · one inspection standard · one set of shipping documents. You are not coordinating four suppliers and four loading dates — you are filling one box.
Summary — measure one carton before you accept a volume estimate
Ask for a packed carton, measure it, and do the three lines of arithmetic yourself. Everything else — which box, how many sets, what you pay per set in freight, whether a 100-set trial should even be a container — falls out of that one number. Anyone quoting you a container plan without asking for your carton size is guessing, and the guess is almost always optimistic.