How many 55-gallon drums fit in a 20ft container?

Palletized at 4 drums per pallet: 32 drums in one layer, or 48–64 in two pallet layers depending on product density and weight limits. Floor-loaded without pallets: about 80 drums in two upright layers (roughly 40 per layer). For water-like liquids the weight works out; for denser products the payload ceiling of about 28 tonnes decides first.

How many 55-gallon drums fit in a 40ft container?

Palletized: about 44 drums in one layer or 64–88 in two layers. Floor-loaded: up to about 160 drums in two layers by volume, but a 40ft container has nearly the same payload ceiling as a 20ft (about 28 tonnes), so full drums of water-density liquid are weight-limited to roughly 120–125 drums. The 40ft only pays off for lighter liquids or partial fills.

How many IBC totes fit in a container?

A 1,000 L IBC (about 1,200 × 1,000 × 1,160 mm) fits 8 per layer and 2 layers in a 20GP — 16 in total. A 40GP holds 20 per layer, but 40 water-filled IBCs would weigh about 42 tonnes, far over the ~28-tonne payload, so the practical 40ft figure is around 26 IBCs of water-like product, or 40 only for much lighter contents.

Should drums be shipped upright or on their side?

Upright, almost always. Drums are designed to carry stacking loads through their side walls and roll rings, and bungs are tested upright. Liquids must ship upright to keep the closures above the liquid level; some empty or solid-filled drums may travel on their side if the manufacturer allows it, with dunnage between rows.

Drum Loading in Containers — How Many 55-Gallon Drums Fit?

The standard export unit for liquids is the 55-gallon (208 L) steel drum, about Ø 585 × 880 mm. The count that fits in a container depends on three choices: palletized or floor-loaded, one layer or two, and — the one people forget — what the liquid weighs. This page gives the numbers for all three, plus IBC totes, with worked weight checks you can redo for your own product.

1. The units: drum and IBC dimensions

Unit	Dimensions	Volume	Tare weight	Full of water (1.0 kg/L)
55-gal steel drum	Ø 585 × 880 mm	208 L (55 gal)	≈ 18 – 22 kg	≈ 226 – 230 kg
30-gal drum	Ø 480 × 720 mm	114 L (30 gal)	≈ 12 – 15 kg	≈ 126 – 129 kg
IBC tote	1200 × 1000 × 1160 mm	1,000 L	≈ 55 – 65 kg	≈ 1,060 kg
5-gal pail	Ø 290 × 380 mm	19 L (5 gal)	≈ 1 kg	≈ 20 kg

2. How many drums fit: the capacity chart

Palletized (4 drums per pallet)

Container	One pallet layer	Two pallet layers	What limits it
20GP	8 pallets = 32 drums	48 – 64 drums	Space first; density decides if the second layer is 16 or 32 drums
40GP / 40HQ	≈ 11 pallets = 44 drums	64 – 88 drums	Often weight before space

Floor-loaded (no pallets, upright, two layers)

Container	Drums per layer	Two layers	Weight check (water)
20GP	≈ 40 (10 rows × 4)	≈ 80 drums	80 × 226 ≈ 18.1 t ✅ under 28 t
40GP	≈ 80 (20 rows × 4)	≈ 160 by volume	160 × 226 ≈ 36.2 t ❌ capped at ≈ 124 drums

Floor math: drum Ø 585 mm; a 20GP floor (5,898 × 2,352 mm) takes 10 rows of 4; two upright layers reach 1,760 mm — under the 2,393 mm internal height. Figures assume tight stowage with dunnage; add 2–5 cm of clearance per row for lashing and the count drops by a row or two.

The key insight: floor-loading fits 80 drums in a 20GP — 2.5× the palletized count — because you reclaim the pallet footprints, pallet weight and the gaps between pallets. The price is labour: 80 drums loaded and unloaded by hand or drum grab instead of 8–16 forklift moves. For a 40ft the volume advantage evaporates because weight caps the load long before the space runs out.

3. The weight check that decides the real number

Payload ceilings are nearly identical for 20ft and 40ft boxes (≈ 28,000 kg). So the denser your liquid, the less container you can fill:

Liquid (example)	Density	Per drum (gross)	20GP floor-loaded limit
Water-like (juice, latex)	1.0 kg/L	≈ 228 kg	80 drums ≈ 18.2 t ✅ volume-limited
Lubricating oil	0.88 kg/L	≈ 205 kg	80 drums ≈ 16.4 t ✅ volume-limited
Glycerine	1.26 kg/L	≈ 284 kg	28,000 ÷ 284 ≈ 98 → the 80 that fit are fine ✅
Caustic soda solution 50%	1.53 kg/L	≈ 340 kg	28,000 ÷ 340 ≈ 82 drums — right at the edge ⚠️
Concentrated sulphuric acid	1.84 kg/L	≈ 405 kg	28,000 ÷ 405 ≈ 69 drums — weight decides ⚠️

⚠️ Always run the weight check before the space check. Work out gross weight per drum (litres × density + tare), divide the carrier-confirmed payload by it, and compare with the space count — the smaller number is your answer. And remember carriers often apply lane-specific limits below the theoretical 28 t.

4. IBC totes per container

Container	Per layer	Stacked (2 layers)	Weight check (water, 1,060 kg each)
20GP	8 (4 × 2)	16 IBC	16 × 1,060 ≈ 17 t ✅
40GP	20 (10 × 2)	40 by volume	40 × 1,060 ≈ 42.4 t ❌ capped at ≈ 26 IBC

Two stacking caveats: the IBCs must be rated for stacking (check the plate — most are rated for a 2-high stack at a stated density), and the lower layer's cage carries the full dynamic load at sea. For products denser than about 1.3 kg/L, most IBC stacking ratings no longer allow a second layer.

5. Securing and compliance basics

Upright, chocked, braced

Liquids ship upright — bungs above the liquid line, stacking loads carried by the drum walls and roll rings as designed. Floor-loaded rows get dunnage boards between layers, chocking at the roll rings, and a braced bulkhead or airbags at the door end so the first row can't slam the doors on a braking ship or truck.

Dangerous goods change the rules

UN-rated drums (1A1, 1A2, 1H1…) carry the packing-group rating your product needs; IMDG segregation can forbid certain combinations in the same box; and many lines demand a declared gross weight per drum on the DG declaration. None of the counts above override DG rules — when in doubt, the DG declaration wins.

6. Frequently asked questions

How many 55-gallon drums fit on one pallet?: 4 drums on a 48 × 48 in or 1,200 × 1,200 mm pallet is the standard export pattern; 3 on a 48 × 40 in GMA pallet if you want zero overhang. Stack drums one high per pallet — pallets are then stacked as units if the product density allows.
Is floor-loading drums worth the extra labour?: In a 20GP, yes when origin labour is cheap and the consignee can hand-unload: 80 drums vs 32–64 palletized on the same box. In a 40ft, usually no — the payload ceiling erases most of the gain, and you're left with the handling cost.
Can I mix drums and cartons in one container?: Yes — drums go in first (heavy, floor level, against the front wall), cartons fill the space above and behind. Keep the centre of gravity low and slightly forward of mid-length, and never stack cartons so high over drums that they can topple into the voids between drum tops.
What's the maximum stack height for drums?: In transit, drums are normally loaded one high per pallet, pallets two layers high; floor-loaded drums go two upright layers with dunnage between. Static warehouse storage can go higher, but ocean vibration cuts safe stacking roughly in half compared with a warehouse floor.
How do I plan this in the calculator, given it packs boxes rather than cylinders?: The tool arranges box-shaped cargo, so enter drums the way you would book them: either the whole loaded pallet as one line (pallet footprint × total height, gross weight, quantity) or a single drum as its bounding box — diameter × diameter × height, e.g. 585 × 585 × 880 mm for a 55-gallon drum. Because a bounding box wastes the crescent-shaped gaps between round bodies, the count it returns is a conservative floor, never a figure you cannot physically load. The trade-off: it does not exploit those gaps either, so a hand-loaded floor stack can beat it in practice. Check the Container Loading Calculator result against the tables above and take the lower number when weight is tight.

About cylindrical cargoes: the calculator currently packs box-shaped units, so drums are entered either as a loaded pallet line or as a single drum's bounding box (see the FAQ above) — that gives a safe, conservative count. Native cylinder geometry, including the nested-and-offset patterns that recover the gaps between round bodies, is coming.

Enter your loaded drum pallet as a cargo line and see the exact container count and layout

Open the Container Loading Calculator →