What does container stuffing mean?

It's the operation of loading cargo into a container, including blocking and lashing. Its opposite — unloading — is stripping (devanning). Proper stuffing starts with a load plan: positions, sequence and weight distribution decided before the box arrives.

How long does it take to stuff a container?

It depends on freight and preparation: a palletised 20ft loads in under an hour by forklift; hand-loading loose cartons into a 40ft can take half a day. The number-one factor is preparation — goods staged in plan sequence, voids and bracing anticipated.

Who is responsible for the VGM?

The shipper, since the July 2016 SOLAS amendment. Without a verified gross mass submitted, the container is not loaded aboard and waiting costs fall on the shipper. Method 2 — summing packages, pallets, dunnage and tare — follows directly from a load plan with correct data.

Should a container be filled to 100%?

No — it should be filled without DANGEROUS voids. A box at 85% with stable stacks and braced gaps beats one at 95% in unstable equilibrium. The professional rule: residual gaps of roughly 15 cm maximum in every horizontal direction — otherwise, brace.

Container stuffing: the six-step method

Updated 12 August 2026

Container stuffing is an exercise with no second chance: once the doors are sealed, the box will face weeks at sea and 0.8 g of forward deceleration on the road — and nobody reopens it to re-brace. Cargo damage in containers has one dominant cause: stuffing that wasn't planned.

Here is the six-step method professional shippers follow — the one a load plan automates.

Step 1 — Prepare clean data

Every failed stuffing starts with a wrong number. For each SKU you need: outer dimensions (not inner — double-wall corrugated adds about 14 mm per dimension), actual weight (not the catalogue's theoretical one), quantity, and the constraints: stackable or not, maximum supported weight, fixed orientation, fragile.

Then check the box itself: interior dimensions vary ±10–30 mm between manufacturers for the same ISO type, and the door is lower than the ceiling (2,274 mm opening versus 2,393 mm ceiling on a 20ft Dry). Cargo that “fits” by volume can still hit the door header. Choosing the box — 20ft, 40ft, HC, reefer — is covered in our container types guide.

Step 2 — Check the weight / volume equation

Before placing a single case: does the total weight fit? A 20ft Dry carries 28,200 kg; a 40ft Dry only 28,800 kg — not double. Above roughly 850 kg/m³ of average density, weight sizes the shipment, not CBM.

This is also the moment to think VGM: since SOLAS 2016, no container boards a vessel without a verified gross mass, under the shipper's responsibility. “Method 2” (sum of all packages, pallets and dunnage, plus the container tare) computes itself naturally — provided your step-1 data is right.

Step 3 — Distribute the weight

Three distribution rules, in order of importance:

Heavy low, light high — for stability and to avoid crushing.
Balance left / right: lateral imbalance costs you in port handling and in the chassis' road behaviour.
Balance front / rear: the longitudinal centre of gravity must stay near the middle of the box. A nose-heavy container can push the road tractor over its axle limits at destination — axle rules apply to the truck carrying the box, not to the container itself.

Step 4 — Stack correctly

Stacking is the art of letting cargo carry cargo without crushing anything. Three operational principles:

Every item must rest on at least 75% of its base area (100% for fragile goods) — an overhanging case hits the floor at the first swell.
Respect supported weight transitively: a bottom carton carries everything above it, not just the next layer. Carton compression strength drops sharply with humidity — tropical stuffing is not dry-warehouse stuffing.
Interlock layers where packaging allows (like brickwork): the stack becomes self-supporting and demands less of the lashing.

Step 5 — Load in the right order

A container loads through a single door: the sequence is not a detail, it's what makes a plan executable. Back to front, without ever walling yourself in: each item must be placeable without lifting it over another. With split deliveries, LIFO logic applies on top: the first drop's goods go in last, against the door.

This is where the pretty 3D render and the real load plan part ways: the real plan is a numbered list — case 12 on case 7, fragile side up — that the forklift driver follows one case at a time.

Step 6 — Block, brace and lash

The European reference is EN 12195-1: securing is dimensioned to restrain cargo at 0.8 g forward (braking) and 0.5 g rearward and sideways — put simply, under emergency braking your cargo “weighs” 80% of its weight towards the front.

In practice two families of measures combine. Blocking: fill the gaps so nothing can build momentum — professional practice keeps residual gaps under about fifteen centimetres in every horizontal direction, filled with timber, dunnage bags or cardboard blocks. Lashing: straps and anchor points for whatever blocking can't hold. Anti-slip mats change the equation: certified friction reaches 0.6 on clean surfaces versus 0.3 for wood on wood — the same cargo needs half the restraint.

A plan that leaves 40 cm of void at the back of the box isn't “suboptimal” — it's non-compliant until the void is filled. Voids are dealt with at planning time, not when the doors are closing.

The classic mistakes

Quoting a reefer with dry-box dimensions — the cooling unit eats about 45 cm of length and 15 cm of height on a 20ft.
Forgetting the door: 2,274 mm of opening, not 2,393. The tallest case must clear it upright — or be safe to lay down.
Counting CBM on non-stackable cargo — its real footprint is its floor area times the full height of the box.
Piling the heavy freight by the door to finish fast: guaranteed axle overload on the road leg.
Leaving voids “for later”: after sealing, nobody braces anything.
Discovering leftovers at the end: what doesn't fit must be known before the first forklift move, not when the doors close.

Frequently asked questions

What does container stuffing mean?: It's the operation of loading cargo into a container, including blocking and lashing. Its opposite — unloading — is stripping (devanning). Proper stuffing starts with a load plan: positions, sequence and weight distribution decided before the box arrives.
How long does it take to stuff a container?: It depends on freight and preparation: a palletised 20ft loads in under an hour by forklift; hand-loading loose cartons into a 40ft can take half a day. The number-one factor is preparation — goods staged in plan sequence, voids and bracing anticipated.
Who is responsible for the VGM?: The shipper, since the July 2016 SOLAS amendment. Without a verified gross mass submitted, the container is not loaded aboard and waiting costs fall on the shipper. Method 2 — summing packages, pallets, dunnage and tare — follows directly from a load plan with correct data.
Should a container be filled to 100%?: No — it should be filled without DANGEROUS voids. A box at 85% with stable stacks and braced gaps beats one at 95% in unstable equilibrium. The professional rule: residual gaps of roughly 15 cm maximum in every horizontal direction — otherwise, brace.