Forty-Foot Equivalent Unit

A Forty-foot Equivalent Unit (FEU) is a shipping container with internal dimensions of about 40 feet long, 8 feet wide, and 8 feet tall. One FEU can hold between 20 and 24 pallets, depending on whether the pallets are standard or EUR pallets. While the FEU is a standard in the United States, the Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit (TEU) is more common elsewhere.

In supply chain terms, “FEU” is also a standard unit of measurement. Shippers, importers, and exporters often measure their business volume in FEUs. For example, a company representative might say, “Our business moves 600 FEUs from China to East Coast ports each year.” The FEU is also used to measure the space on a vessel available for containers, to calculate port fees, or to standardize container sizes.

Different Types of FEUs 

Beyond the standard FEU, there are different types of FEUs, including:

• High-cube FEUs are 9.5 feet tall, making them slightly taller than a standard FEU.
• Reefer FEUs transport perishable goods and are equipped with built-in refrigeration units.
• Fractional FEUs include a “quarter FEU” or a “half FEU,” which is equivalent to a TEU.