Containers & Cargo Equipment
Dry Van Container
Also known as: Standard Container, Dry Container
A dry van is the ordinary enclosed steel shipping container used for the vast majority of general cargo — boxed, palletized, or bagged goods that need protection from weather and handling but no special climate control. Available most commonly in twenty-foot and forty-foot lengths, with high-cube variants offering extra height, dry vans are weatherproof, stackable, and interchangeable across ships, trains, and trucks, which is precisely what makes containerized trade so efficient. The dry van is the default equipment against which specialized containers like reefers, flat racks, and open tops are the exceptions.
The box every quote silently assumes. Two things catch people out: the forty-foot high cube is the default in most trades and a standard forty is not, so a plan built on the wrong one loses a foot of height — and with anything dense you hit the road weight limit long before you fill a twenty.
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Reviewed by a licensed customs broker. Definitions are general information, not legal or customs advice for a particular shipment. Duty rates, tariff programs and agency requirements change frequently.