Twenty-foot equivalent unit or TEU

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. 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. 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. 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). Also, it is common to designate 45 foot (14 m) containers as 2 TEU, rather than 2.25 TEU.