9 September 2026
Tare, payload, gross, VGM: the four weights that decide whether your container can move
Short answer
Tare is the empty container, payload is the cargo including pallets and packaging, and gross weight is the two added together. VGM is that gross weight formally certified, which export containers must have under SOLAS. Whether the container can legally travel by road is decided by the limit on the whole truck combination, not by the container's own rating.
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Weight causes more problems in container transport than any other single factor, and most of those problems come from four numbers being used interchangeably when they mean different things.
Tare
The weight of the empty container. It is stencilled on the door and varies by manufacturer, age and repair history — sometimes by a few hundred kilograms between two containers that look identical. Use the stencil, not a table.
Payload
Your cargo, including pallets, dunnage, strapping and packaging. Everything that goes inside the box counts, which is where estimates usually drift low.
Gross weight
Tare plus payload. This is the number the terminal, the shipping line and the road authority all care about, and it is the number we need from you.
Verified Gross Mass
On exports, SOLAS regulations require a certified VGM before the container can be loaded to a vessel. It is the same gross weight, formally verified — either by weighing the packed container, or by adding certified cargo weights to the stencilled tare. The shipper carries that obligation.
The number that is not on this list
A container also carries a maximum payload rating: the most the box can structurally hold. It is almost always higher than the road will allow. A 20-foot container rated to 28 tonnes of payload will exceed the legal limit of the combination carrying it long before it reaches its own rating.
The binding constraint is the vehicle, not the box — total mass across the prime mover, trailer, container and cargo, and how that mass distributes across the axle groups. Two containers of identical gross weight can produce different answers depending on how the load sits inside them.
Why we ask before we book
Chain of Responsibility law places duties on everyone in the chain, including the party who packed the container and the party who consigned it. An over-mass container is not only the carrier’s problem. That is why we ask for the weight up front, and why we would rather decline a job than run it heavy.
Need a container moved?
Send the details and you will have a quote the same day. If it is urgent, call — we run to terminal windows, not office hours.