Kubova.

Container loading guides

How much fits, which container to book, how to plan the load — answered with numbers measured on a real packing engine, not rules of thumb.

Kubova calculator container step listing 20' DC, 40' DC, 40' HC and 45' HC with inner sizes and payloads
Container capacity

20ft vs 40ft Container: Which to Choose (It’s Not About Volume)

A 40ft holds twice the volume of a 20ft but about the same weight. Use cargo density to pick the right container, with the crossover numbers and examples.

11 min read
Kubova capacity tool showing cartons per container for a 20' DC, 40' DC and 40' HC with volume used
Shipping cost decisions

How to Calculate CBM (and Why It Isn’t Your Container Capacity)

How to calculate CBM: length × width × height in metres × quantity. Worked examples from centimetres, container volumes, and why loads never reach full CBM.

9 min read
Kubova 3D view of the second 40' HC in a spill-over load, holding one low layer of cartons
Shipping cost decisions

When You Can Avoid a Second Container — and When You Genuinely Can’t

When a load spills past one container, the second box is mostly air. How to avoid a second container with rotation, pallets or container type, and when you can't.

10 min read
Kubova per-container figures for a mixed load: volume, weight, floor area and length used in a 40' HC
Container capacity

Container Fill-Rate Benchmarks: What Good Utilization Looks Like by Cargo Type

What good container utilization looks like: engine-measured fill rates for mixed loads, common cartons and cubes in a 40 HC, and why 100% is a red flag.

10 min read
Kubova saved pack loading list with each carton's container, x/y/z position, dimensions, orientation and weight
Load planning

A Container Load Plan Your Freight Forwarder Will Accept (With a Template)

The seven things a container load plan needs before a forwarder or loading crew can use it, with a ready template and the door view crews actually load from.

10 min read
Kubova cargo step listing three carton SKUs with quantities, weights and the order total in cubic metres
Shipping cost decisions

CBM, FCL and LCL: The Exact Volume Where FCL Beats LCL

FCL beats LCL above the breakeven volume: FCL flat rate ÷ LCL rate per CBM. Work it out for your lane, with an example and the costs the simple rule leaves out.

9 min read
Kubova 3D plan of 1,150 cartons of 50×40×30 cm in a 40' HC, 90.4% of the volume used
Container capacity

How Many Boxes Actually Fit in a 40ft Container? A Reality Check

The volume formula overstates it by about 13%. Real, engine-measured carton counts for a 40ft container, why the math breaks down, and how to estimate closer.

10 min read
Kubova 3D plan of 24 EUR pallets of 40×30×25 cm cartons loaded into a 40' HC
Pallets & palletizing

How Many Boxes Fit on a Pallet — and How the Wrong Pallet Costs a Container

The same carton fits 51 to 80 per pallet depending on the base. Engine-measured counts for EUR, US 48×40 and other pallets, and how pallet choice moves cost.

10 min read
Kubova 3D plan of flat-pack tables, lounge chairs and 2-seat sofas in one 40' HC, 180 of 180 placed
Load planning

Loading Furniture into Containers: The Export Packing Problems Nobody Warns You About

Knock-down versus assembled is the biggest lever when loading furniture into containers. Measure real cartons, set stacking rules and plan mixed sizes together.

9 min read
Kubova 3D plan of a three-SKU order, 700 of 700 cartons in one 40' HC at 57.0% by volume
Load planning

Mixed-SKU Container Loading: The Problem Single-SKU Calculators Can’t Solve

A three-SKU order packed together fit one 40 HC; loaded one SKU per container it needed three. Why mixed-SKU loading wins and when you should not mix products.

8 min read
Kubova MCP documentation showing how to connect Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor by URL
AI & automation

Plan a Container Load from ChatGPT or Claude: Load Planning for AI Agents

An AI assistant can plan a real container load if it can call a packing tool. How ChatGPT or Claude hands cargo to an engine via MCP or API, and what comes back.

13 min read
Kubova result table: a dense load uses 99.9% of the 40' HC payload and only 64.3% of the volume
Container capacity

Volume vs Weight: Which Container Limit Hits First (and Why CBM Tools Mislead)

Volume or weight first? Compare cargo density with the container crossover: about 375 kg/m³ for a 40 HC, 425 for a 40 DC and 850 for a 20 DC.

10 min read