Container Vanning Basics: Weight, Lashing and Space
A poorly loaded container doesn’t just risk cargo damage — it can fail axle weight limits on the truck before it even reaches the port. Here are the fundamentals that keep a load safe and compliant.
01Weight Distribution Comes First
Containers are engineered on the assumption that weight is spread evenly across the whole floor — that’s the baseline the IMO/ILO/UNECE Code of Practice for Packing of Cargo Transport Units (CTU Code) works from. Load it unevenly and you’re not only risking damage in transit — you can also put the trucking chassis over its axle weight limit once the container is on the road.
Three things to get right.
Side-to-side balance — don’t push heavy cargo to one side. A large left-right weight difference raises the risk of the container tipping in transit.
Front-to-back balance — don’t concentrate weight at the door end or the far end. This directly affects axle loading on the chassis during trucking.
Heavy items low — when stacking, put heavier cargo on the bottom tier, lighter cargo above it.
02Lashing and Securing
Any gap between cargo and the container wall gives the load room to move once the vessel is underway, and movement is how shifted or collapsed cargo happens. The first fix is simply not leaving a gap; where one can’t be avoided, secure it with lashing material instead.
| Lashing belts | Attached to lashing rings and tensioned. Reusable across shipments |
|---|---|
| Airbags (dunnage bags) | Inflated to fill voids — effective between stacked tiers or against side walls |
| Timber bracing / shoring | Wedged in place to physically block movement |
| Stretch film | Bundles cargo on a pallet together; on its own, it does not count as securing |
A vessel at sea moves in ways a truck on a road never does. Lash for that motion, not for the gentler forces of inland transport.
03Making Efficient Use of Space
A 40HC container has roughly 76 cubic meters of internal volume on paper, but real-world usable capacity is closer to 80% of that figure once you account for pallet height, whether stacking is possible, and the clearance needed for lashing. Planning around the on-paper number will leave you short.
How many pallets fit on the floor depends on orientation — loaded lengthwise versus crosswise can change the count meaningfully for the same pallet footprint. If your cargo dimensions are fixed, share them with your forwarder ahead of time and ask for a loading plan before the container arrives, not after.
Full dimensions for the most commonly used container are in our guide to 40HC container size and capacity.
FAQFrequently Asked Questions
Do we have to do the vanning ourselves?
For FCL, the shipper handles loading by default, but it’s common practice to hand this off to a warehouse or packing contractor instead. Because loading quality directly determines whether cargo arrives intact, using an experienced contractor is usually the safer choice over doing it in-house without the right equipment.
Is a loading plan (stow plan) required?
It’s not mandatory, but it’s worth producing for heavy or irregularly shaped cargo. It also helps the consignee plan their own unloading sequence at the other end.
Should we photograph the inside of the container?
Strongly recommended. If a cargo claim comes up later, photos are often the only evidence of how the load was actually packed. Take them in stages, right up to the point the door is sealed.
About this guide
This guide is written and edited by the OCEAN FREIGHT JAPAN (SK.inc) editorial team, based on hands-on freight-forwarding experience and primary official sources. Content reflects information current as of the publication date — for the latest regulations, please check official sources directly.
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