Usable volumes, stacking rules and the loading report — how a mixed order of heavy, fragile and long goods leaves the factory without paying for it twice.
2026-09-10 · 6 min read · Reference guide
A mixed lighting shipment packs worse than any single-product load: high bays are dense, downlights are stackable, battens are long, chandelier cartons are fragile, and all of it shares one box for thirty days at sea. The losses are predictable — crushed cartons at the bottom of a stack, water staining from a humid void, a container rejected at the port for axle weight — and every one of them is decided in the loading plan, not at the destination. This guide collects the container capacities, the stacking logic by product type, and the paperwork that makes a claim collectable when something still goes wrong.
| Container | Internal (m, approx.) | Usable volume at ~90% | Typical payload limit | Lighting note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20GP | 5.9 x 2.35 x 2.39 | 25-26 cbm | 21-25 t | Dense cargo: drivers, street light heads, aluminium profiles |
| 40GP | 12.0 x 2.35 x 2.39 | 52-54 cbm | 26-28 t | Standard mixed commercial loads |
| 40HQ | 12.0 x 2.35 x 2.69 | 61-64 cbm | 26-28 t | The default for lighting: volume-limited, not weight-limited |
| 45HQ | 13.5 x 2.35 x 2.69 | 69-72 cbm | 26-29 t | Route-dependent; check destination legality first |
Illustrative planning figures; actual payload limits follow the container's CSC plate and road limits at both ends. Lighting mixes almost always cube out before they weigh out — the exception is dense metalware, which fills a 20GP by weight first.
| Product line | Position in the container | Stacking rule |
|---|---|---|
| Heavy dense cargo (drivers, transformers, cast poles) | Floor level, over the axles, front half | Never above fragile goods; spread weight across the floor line |
| Downlights, panels, troffers | Middle tiers | Master cartons flat, aligned columns, 4-5 tiers max, slip sheets between |
| Battens, tri-proofs, linear systems | Along the container length | On their strongest edge, fully supported, no spanning gaps |
| Chandelier and decorative KD cartons | Top layers, after the structure is built | "This way up" honoured; nothing stacked above; void-fill locked |
| Street light heads, solar panels | Upright or A-framed against walls | Padded frames, strap-tested; glass faces never inboard-pressed |
| Spare parts and documents | Door end, marked cartons | First out at devanning; packing list matches labels |
Illustrative practice for boxed factory loads. Palletised loads follow the same logic at pallet level, trading 10-15% of usable volume for faster, safer devanning.
Consolidation is a planning exercise: SKU families arrive from different factories on staggered dates, so the loading plan sequences them — dense metalware first as the floor structure, stackable commercial cartons as the mass, fragile decorative top-most, long goods last in along the walls. Run across the cluster's commercial and industrial ranges plus decorative lines, a single 40HQ routinely carries ten to twenty SKUs from five or more factories — which is also where the economics come from, since each factory's partial load shares one freight line instead of shipping three LCL consignments at higher per-cbm rates and higher handling risk.
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From site survey to container loading, with the evidence for each step.
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How professional buyers work the lighting capital — districts, audits and export routes.
Loading plan, stacking scheme and photo-documented loading on every consolidated shipment — quotations within 24 hours.