WHAT IS TARE, NET, MAX. GROSS, CU. CAP AND THE PREFIX?

Are you on the road often? Then the chances of having seen the terms tare, net, max. gross and CU. CAP on the container of the truck in front of you are quite high. Did you ever wonder what these codes on the back of a shipping container mean? These terms indicate how much kg/lbs of cargo can be transported in it and where the shipping container comes from.

TARE

Tare is the weight of an empty container. The tare weight of a 20ft shipping container is already 2.180kg while the biggest container, the 40ft High Cube, has a tare weight of 3.820kg.

NET

Net is applicable to the weight of the cargo. It indicates the maximum freight weight for that container. For a 20ft shipping container the “net” is approximately 28.480kg.

As we know that a crate of Dutch beer weighs 14,5kg each, a 20ft shipping container offers capacity for 21.000 crates of beer! The weight of pallets and other (packaging) materials is not yet accounted for.

MAX. GROSS.

The max. gross of a container indicates the maximum weight of the container including its cargo. This weight of cargo also includes cardboards, plastics and pallets. Max. gross is also referred to as M.G.W, max. gr. or max. gross weight. The maximum weight of 20ft, 40ft and 40ft High Cube shipping containers is 30.480kg. As containers increase in size, the maximum weight remains the same.

CU. CAP

CU. CAP. is short for cubic capacity, the volume of the container in cubic meters. On the shipping container this is indicated as a number followed by CU.M. A 20ft shipping container has a CU. CAP OF 33,2 CU.M. and a 40ft container has a CU. CAP of 66,7 CU.M.

A crate of beer is sized 0,4×0,3×0,25m. This means that 1.106 crates fit into a 40ft container. Herin the space needed for the pallets is not taken into account.

PREFIX

Every shipping container has a code existing from 4 letters, always ending on a U. This is the prefix and it indicates what company supplied to container. This means that every prefix is unique. Alconet Containers has the prefix ALLU. All prefixes are registered in a database and can also be found online.