--- license: cc-by-4.0 language: - en pretty_name: Industrial Storage Container Dimensions size_categories: - n<1K tags: - logistics - supply-chain - warehousing - packaging - reference - tabular configs: - config_name: default data_files: containers.csv dataset_info: config_name: default features: - name: id dtype: string - name: type dtype: string - name: type_label dtype: string - name: common_names dtype: string - name: external_length_cm dtype: float64 - name: external_width_cm dtype: float64 - name: external_height_cm dtype: float64 - name: external_volume_l dtype: float64 - name: internal_length_cm dtype: float64 - name: internal_width_cm dtype: float64 - name: internal_height_cm dtype: float64 - name: typical_capacity_l dtype: float64 - name: usable_ratio dtype: float64 - name: capacity_basis dtype: string - name: lidded dtype: bool - name: lid_available_separately dtype: bool - name: nestable_when_empty dtype: bool - name: typical_nesting_ratio dtype: float64 - name: standard_conformant dtype: bool - name: standard dtype: string - name: vda_4500_height dtype: bool - name: eur1_pallet_per_layer dtype: int64 - name: notes dtype: string splits: - name: train num_examples: 35 --- # Industrial Storage Container Dimensions Planning-grade volumetric reference for the plastic containers that European and North American warehouses actually run on: **Euroboxes** (Euro stacking containers), **attached-lid containers (ALCs)**, and **VDA 4500 KLTs**. 35 rows. External dimensions, typical internal dimensions, typical usable capacity, lid and nesting behaviour, and which standard — if any — each size conforms to. ## The point of it If you are costing out a purchase or sizing a shipment, you need to know that a 60 × 40 × 23 cm Eurobox gives you about **42 litres**, not the 55.2 litres that 60 × 40 × 23 implies. Multiply external dimensions and you will overstate what you are buying by roughly a quarter — and you will overstate a tapered ALC by more than a straight-walled Eurobox, which quietly corrupts any comparison between the two. That gap is the whole reason this dataset exists. ## Read this before using the numbers **The standards fix external dimensions. They do not fix internal ones.** ISO 3394 defines the 600 × 400 mm packaging module. EN 13199 caps a small load carrier at that footprint. VDA 4500 additionally fixes three external heights (147.5, 213, 280 mm). None of them specifies wall thickness, draft angle, rib design or base construction — those are the manufacturer's choice, and they are what determine internal volume. So every internal dimension and capacity here is a **typical figure averaged across vendor catalogues**, not a specification. Ten vendors will give you ten slightly different numbers for the same nominal size. Expect roughly ±1 L of variation on a 60 × 40 box, more on the larger footprints. That is a limitation of the product category, not of this dataset. Chasing manufacturer-exact figures is not achievable in a general reference, and would be obsolete the moment a mould changed. **Use these for calculation, comparison and planning. Check the specific supplier's own internal dimensions before committing to a large order.** ## Fields | Field | Notes | |---|---| | `id` | Stable slug, e.g. `euro-600x400x230`, `alc-600x400x310`, `vda-rklt-6429` | | `type` | `euro_stacking_container` · `attached_lid_container` · `vda_klt_container` | | `type_label` | Human-readable form of `type` | | `common_names` | Semicolon-separated synonyms; regional naming varies a lot | | `external_length_cm` / `external_width_cm` / `external_height_cm` | External, in cm | | `external_volume_l` | L × W × H. **Not** what the box holds | | `internal_length_cm` / `internal_width_cm` / `internal_height_cm` | Typical internal, in cm. Empty for ALC and KLT rows — see below | | `typical_capacity_l` | **The usable number.** Always populated | | `usable_ratio` | `typical_capacity_l / external_volume_l` | | `capacity_basis` | How the capacity was arrived at — see below | | `lidded` | True where a lid is integral to the product (ALCs) | | `lid_available_separately` | True where a lid exists but is a separate purchase | | `nestable_when_empty` | True for ALCs; straight-walled boxes stack but do not nest | | `typical_nesting_ratio` | Fraction of its own height a nested empty box saves. 0.75 for ALCs, **0 for everything else** — that is a fact about a straight-walled box, not missing data | | `standard_conformant` | Whether the footprint conforms to a recognised module | | `standard` | Which one, stated precisely | | `vda_4500_height` | Whether the external height is on the VDA KLT grid | | `eur1_pallet_per_layer` | Boxes per layer on a 1200 × 800 Euro pallet, no overhang | | `notes` | Per-row caveats. Read these | ### `capacity_basis` values - **`derived_from_internal_dims`** — computed from the typical internal footprint for that module (600 × 400 boxes are internally ~550 × 355 mm, 400 × 300 are ~350 × 250 mm, 300 × 200 are ~260 × 160 mm, 800 × 600 are ~750 × 550 mm, with internal height 10–20 mm under external). Cross-checked against published SKU internals from Israeli and UK retail; agreement is within about 1 L. - **`vendor_nominal`** — the manufacturer's published capacity. Used for all ALCs. - **`published`** — a directly published internal figure (VDA R-KLT 6429). - **`derived_from_klt_ratio`** — scaled from the 6429 anchor at its 71.4 % usable ratio. VDA KLTs are thicker-walled than consumer euroboxes, so the euro rule does not apply to them. ### Why ALC and KLT rows have no internal dimensions **ALCs taper.** The walls slope inward towards the base so the containers nest when empty. A single internal L × W × H would be wrong wherever you chose to measure it — right at the top opening, badly overstated at the base. Rather than invent a number, those rows carry the vendor's nominal capacity, which already accounts for the taper and is the figure you should actually plan against. **KLTs** are left empty for the plainer reason that verified internal dimensions were not available for the range; only the 6429 capacity is published. ## Quick start ```python from datasets import load_dataset ds = load_dataset("danielrosehill/storage-container-dimensions", split="train") # What does a 60x40x23 Eurobox actually hold? box = next(r for r in ds if r["id"] == "euro-600x400x230") print(box["typical_capacity_l"], "L usable vs", box["external_volume_l"], "L external") # 42.0 L usable vs 55.2 L external # Straight-walled vs tapered, same footprint for r in ds: if r["external_length_cm"] == 60 and r["external_width_cm"] == 40: print(f'{r["id"]:22} {r["usable_ratio"]:.0%} usable') ``` Or just `pandas.read_csv` the file — it is 35 rows. ## Sources Assembled from vendor catalogues and standards documentation, verified **27 July 2026**: - **plasticboxshop.co.uk** (UK retail) — Euro and ALC ranges with published internal dimensions and nominal capacities. Their Shopify storefront exposes the full catalogue at `/collections/{handle}/products.json`. - **yosibox.com** (Israeli retail) — G- and T-series industrial boxes with published internal dimensions; the primary cross-check on the 600 × 400 internal rule. - **IPL Schoeller** (`iplschoeller.com`) — the Kaiman ALC height grid. Their product pages publish external dimensions only. - **VDA 4500 v3.1** (December 2025) — KLT footprints, the three system heights, the 15 mm insertion depth, and the R-KLT 6429 figures. - **ISO 3394 / EN 13199** — the packaging module and the small-load-carrier cap, via secondary summaries; both are paid publications. ## Related - [`eurobox-calculator`](https://github.com/danielrosehill/eurobox-calculator) — the calculator this data was built for: usable capacity, pallet and 20 ft container loads, and cost per usable litre across both families. - [`storage-box-3d-models`](https://github.com/danielrosehill/storage-box-3d-models) — true-scale GLB models of several of these units, CC BY 4.0. - [`eurobox-standard`](https://github.com/danielrosehill/eurobox-standard) — VDA 4500 itself plus a human-readable digest. ## Regenerating `containers.csv`, `containers.jsonl` **and this card's YAML frontmatter** are all produced by `build.py`, which holds the internal-dimension rules in one place so a rule change cannot leave them disagreeing. Edit the rules there, not the CSV. ```bash python3 build.py ``` The frontmatter declares the column schema explicitly. Left to infer types from the CSV, the Hub reads a mostly-blank column such as `notes` as all-null, which breaks `load_dataset` for anyone reading that field — so the schema is written by the same run that writes the data. ## Licence CC BY 4.0. Dimensional facts are not themselves copyrightable; the licence covers the compilation, the derived figures and the documentation.