The container for a machine is chosen weeks before it arrives at the port, and it is chosen on numbers that importers often do not have yet. Get it wrong in one direction and you pay for equipment you did not need. Get it wrong in the other and the container is refused at the terminal, with the machine already on a truck.
The good news is that the decision comes down to three questions about the machine, and they can all be answered from the packing list — if you ask for the right figures.
Why a Standard Container Often Doesn’t Fit
A standard dry container is more restrictive than its internal height suggests, because cargo does not enter through the roof. It enters through the door.
| Internal height | Door opening height | |
|---|---|---|
| 20 ft dry | roughly 2.39 m | roughly 2.28 m |
| 40 ft dry | roughly 2.39 m | roughly 2.28 m |
| 40 ft high cube | roughly 2.70 m | roughly 2.58 m |
That gap between internal height and door opening is roughly 11 cm, and it is where a surprising number of machines fail. A machine on a skid that measures 2.35 m tall fits inside a standard container with centimetres to spare — but it cannot be pushed through a 2.28 m door. The internal height is irrelevant if the cargo cannot get in.
Width has the same trap. Internal width on a standard dry container is roughly 2.35 m, and the door opening is narrower still. A machine with a wide base, or one mounted on a skid with lifting pockets, can be inside the internal dimension and still not pass the door.
The Four Options
| Option | Use it when | The trade-off |
|---|---|---|
| Standard dry (FCL) | The crated machine passes the door and floor limits | Lowest cost and the most sailings — but loading is only from the door end |
| Open top | The cargo is overheight and can be lifted in from above | No fixed roof, so it is covered by a tarp. Requires a crane at both origin and destination |
| Flat rack | Overwidth, overheight, or beyond the weight a dry container floor is rated for | No walls at all. Cargo is lashed to the platform and may be stowed on deck, exposed to weather |
| LCL | Smaller machines that share a container with other cargo | Lower cost for small volumes, but more handling and more chances of damage |
For heavy industrial equipment the choice is usually between the first three. LCL becomes impractical once a machine needs its own crane lift, because a consolidated container cannot be loaded that way.
The Numbers You Need Before Choosing
The specification sheet for the machine is not the document that decides this. You need the crated figures.
| Figure | Why it decides the answer |
|---|---|
| Packed height | Compare against the door opening, not the internal height |
| Packed width | Same trap: door width, not internal width |
| Packed length | Determines whether anything else fits in the container with it |
| Gross weight | Floor rating and, for concentrated loads, weight distribution |
| Base dimensions and weight distribution | A heavy machine on a small footprint is a different problem from the same weight spread out |
| Lifting points and centre of gravity | Needed for open top and flat rack loading |
| Crane capacity at origin and destination | Decides whether open top is even possible |
The difference between machine dimensions and crated dimensions is where most of these mistakes start. A crate adds height for the skid, width for bracing, and weight for the timber. Ask the supplier for packed figures measured after packing — not the catalogue dimensions.
What Gets Missed Most Often
The destination cannot unload it. A machine that loads fine in China can still be a problem in the US if the receiving site has no dock leveller, no forklift rated for the weight, or a driveway that a flatbed cannot enter. For an open top or flat rack shipment, unloading needs a crane at the destination as well. This is the most expensive surprise on the list because it is discovered after the cargo has arrived. Equipment shipped on a flat rack in particular may need to be collected from the terminal rather than delivered, depending on the site.
Flat rack cargo may travel on deck. Flat racks are frequently stowed on deck, which means weather exposure. If the machine has surfaces that cannot tolerate rain or salt air, that changes the packing requirement — and it is a reason to consider whether an open top with a tarp is the better answer.
Overweight is not the same as concentrated. A container can be under its gross weight limit and still be refused or restricted because the weight sits on too small an area. Machines with a small base and high mass, which is common with plastic machinery, are the usual case.
A crane is needed at both ends, not one. Open top and flat rack loading both require lifting the cargo in or onto the container. If the factory does not have a crane, the machine has to be moved to somewhere that does — which is a cost and a delay that should be planned rather than discovered.
Choosing Between Open Top and Flat Rack
These two are often treated as interchangeable, and they are not.
Use an open top when the machine is overheight but fits within the container’s width and floor. The container gives you walls for lashing and a tarp for weather protection.
Use a flat rack when the machine is overwidth, or so heavy that the container floor is the limiting factor. You gain the width and the load capacity, and you give up the walls — everything depends on the lashing and blocking, and on whether the carrier will accept the stow.
Once the equipment is chosen, the next question is how the machine itself will be packed — covered in how to prepare machinery for export shipping.
The Bottom Line
Three questions decide the container: does the crated machine pass the door opening, does it fit the floor and weight limits, and can it be lifted at both the origin and the destination.
Ask your supplier for crated height, width, gross weight, lifting points and base dimensions — then compare the height against the door opening rather than the internal height. Getting those numbers early is what turns this from a gamble into a decision. For equipment-specific considerations, the industrial machinery shipping pages cover how this plays out for different machine types, including CNC machines.