Twenty-foot equivalent unit
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The twenty-foot equivalent unit (often TEU or teu) is an inexact unit of cargo capacity often used to describe the capacity of container ships and container terminals.[1] It is based on the volume of a 20-foot long intermodal container, a standard-sized metal box which can be easily transferred between different modes of transportation, such as ships, trains and trucks.[1] A related unit, the forty-foot equivalent unit (often FEU or feu) is defined as two TEU.
One TEU represents the cargo capacity of a standard intermodal container, 20 feet (6.1 m) long and 8 feet (2.4 m) wide.[1] There is a lack of standardisation in regards to height, ranging between 4.25 and 9.5 feet (1.30 and 2.90 m), with the most common height being 8.5 feet (2.6 m).[2] Also, it is common to designate 45-foot (14 m) containers as 2 TEU, rather than 2.25 TEU.[3]
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[edit] Equivalence
| Length | Width | Height | Volume | TEU |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 ft (6.1 m) | 8 ft (2.4 m) | 8.5 ft (2.6 m) | 1,360 cu ft (39 m3) | 1 |
| 40 ft (12 m) | 8 ft (2.4 m) | 8.5 ft (2.6 m) | 2,720 cu ft (77 m3) | 2 |
| 45 ft (14 m) | 8 ft (2.4 m) | 8.5 ft (2.6 m) | 3,060 cu ft (87 m3) | 2[3] or 2.25 |
| 48 ft (15 m) | 8 ft (2.4 m) | 8.5 ft (2.6 m) | 3,264 cu ft (92.4 m3) | 2.4 |
| 53 ft (16 m) | 8 ft (2.4 m) | 8.5 ft (2.6 m) | 3,604 cu ft (102.1 m3) | 2.65 |
| High cube | ||||
| 20 ft (6.1 m) | 8 ft (2.4 m) | 9.5 ft (2.9 m) | 1,520 cu ft (43 m3) | 1[2] |
| Half height | ||||
| 20 ft (6.1 m) | 8 ft (2.4 m) | 4.25 ft (1.30 m) | 680 cu ft (19 m3) | 1[2] |
As noted above, the TEU is an inexact unit, and hence cannot be converted precisely into other units. The most common dimensions for a 20-foot (6.1 m) container are 20 feet (6.1 m) long, 8 feet (2.4 m) wide, and 8.5 feet (2.6 m) high, for a volume of 1,360 cubic feet (39 m3). However, both 9.5 feet (2.9 m) tall High cube and 4.25 feet (1.30 m) half height containers are also reckoned as 1 TEU.[2][3] This gives a volume range of 680 cubic feet (19 m3) to 1,520 cubic feet (43 m3) for one TEU.
While the TEU is not itself a measure of mass, some conclusions can be drawn about the maximum mass that a TEU can represent. The maximum gross mass for a 20-foot (6.1 m) dry cargo container is 24,000 kilograms (53,000 lb).[4] Subtracting the tare mass of the container itself, the maximum amount of cargo per TEU is reduced to approximately 21,600 kilograms (48,000 lb).[4]
Similarly, the maximum gross mass for a 40-foot (12 m) dry cargo container (including the 9.5 feet (2.9 m) high cube container) is 30,480 kilograms (67,200 lb).[4] After correcting for tare weight, this gives a cargo capacity of 26,500 kilograms (58,000 lb).[4]
Twenty-foot, "heavy tested" containers are available for heavy goods such as heavy machinery. These containers allow a maximum weight of 67,200 pounds (30,500 kg), an empty weight of 5,290 pounds (2,400 kg), and a net load of 61,910 pounds (28,080 kg).
[edit] See also
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ a b c Rowlett, 2004.
- ^ a b c d "Container Shipping". damovers.com. damovers.com. http://www.damovers.com/container-shipping/. Retrieved 2008-03-22.
- ^ a b c businesspeek.com (2006). "Shipping Container Basics". businesspeek.com. businesspeek.com. http://businesspeek.com/manufacturing/shipping-containers.html. Retrieved 2008-03-22.
- ^ a b c d "Shipping containers". Emase. http://www.emase.co.uk/data/cont.html. Retrieved 2007-02-10.
- ^ Odense Steel Shipyard (2006-12-08). "Namegiving of newbuilding L 203". Press release. http://media.maersk.com/en/PressReleases/2006/namegiving+L203.htm.
- ^ Koepf, Pam (2006), "Overachievers We Love", Popular Science 269 (6): 24
[edit] References
- CIRCA (2008). "Glossary: TEU (Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit)". The European Commission. http://circa.europa.eu/irc/dsis/bmethods/info/data/new/coded/en/gl000976.htm. Retrieved 2008-03-20.
- Rowlett, Russ; University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (2000). "How Many? A Dictionary of Units of Measurement". University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/units/dictT.html. Retrieved 2008-03-20.
- BusinessDictionary.com (2008). "twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU)". BusinessDictionary.com. http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/twenty-foot-equivalent-unit-TEU.html. Retrieved 2008-03-20.
- Bohlman, Michael (September 2001). "ISO's container standards are nothing but good news" (PDF). ISO Bulletin (International Organisation for Standardisation): 15. http://www.iso.org/iso/container0109.pdf. Retrieved 2008-03-20.
- Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (2002-06-19). "Twenty Foot Equivalent Unit (TEU)". Glossary of Statistical Terms. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. http://stats.oecd.org/glossary/detail.asp?ID=4313. Retrieved 2008-03-20.
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