Indian truck sizes and capacity chart
Indian road freight runs on 13 standard body sizes, from the 7 ft Mini Truck at 0.75 t and 142 CFT, up to the 32 ft multi-axle container truck at 16 t and 2,553 CFT. Body length is quoted in feet, capacity in CFT and payload in tons — and because payload does not rise with length, the largest body is not always the most weight you can carry.
Truck size and capacity chart
| Truck | Body | Interior L × W × H | CFT | Payload | kg / CFT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mini Truck (Tata Ace class, India)Chhota Hathi · Tata Ace | 7 ftMini truck | 2.13 m × 1.37 m × 1.37 m | 142 | 0.75 t750 kg | 5.3 |
| 10ft Truck | 10 ftSingle-axle (SXL) | 3.05 m × 1.83 m × 1.83 m | 360 | 1.5 t1,500 kg | 4.2 |
| 12ft Truck | 12 ftSingle-axle (SXL) | 3.66 m × 1.83 m × 1.83 m | 432 | 2.5 t2,500 kg | 5.8 |
| 14ft Truck | 14 ftSingle-axle (SXL) | 4.27 m × 1.83 m × 1.83 m | 504 | 4 t4,000 kg | 7.9 |
| 17ft Truck | 17 ftSingle-axle (SXL) | 5.18 m × 1.83 m × 2.13 m | 714 | 5 t5,000 kg | 7 |
| 19ft Truck | 19 ftSingle-axle (SXL) | 5.79 m × 2.29 m × 2.29 m | 1,069 | 7 t7,000 kg | 6.5 |
| 20ft Truck — SXL20ft SXL | 20 ftSingle-axle (SXL) | 6.10 m × 2.13 m × 2.13 m | 980 | 7.5 t7,500 kg | 7.7 |
| 22ft Truck | 22 ftSingle-axle (SXL) | 6.71 m × 2.29 m × 2.13 m | 1,155 | 10 t10,000 kg | 8.7 |
| 24ft Truck | 24 ftSingle-axle (SXL) | 7.32 m × 2.29 m × 2.29 m | 1,350 | 7.5 t7,500 kg | 5.6 |
| 32ft Container — SXL32ft SXL | 32 ftSingle-axle (SXL) | 9.75 m × 2.44 m × 2.44 m | 2,050 | 9 t9,000 kg | 4.4 |
| 32ft Container — MXL32ft MXL | 32 ftMulti-axle (MXL) | 9.75 m × 2.44 m × 2.44 m | 2,050 | 16 t16,000 kg | 7.8 |
| 32ft Container — MXL Wide Body32ft MXL wide body | 32 ftMulti-axle (MXL) | 9.75 m × 2.56 m × 2.44 m | 2,151 | 16 t16,000 kg | 7.4 |
| 32ft Container — MXL High-Cube32ft MXL HQ · 32ft high cube | 32 ftMulti-axle (MXL) | 9.75 m × 2.56 m × 2.90 m | 2,553 | 16 t16,000 kg | 6.3 |
CFT (cubic feet) is the unit Indian part-load and LTL freight is quoted in — 1 CBM = 35.31 CFT. The CFT column is the geometric interior of the body; a real load fills less, because pallets, dunnage and irregular shapes leave void space.
Payload is what the vehicle is rated for. What you may legally carry on a given route can be lower once gross and per-axle limits apply — see container weight limits and max payload.
Which truck do you actually need?
Load density is what decides the hire. Divide your consignment's weight in kg by its volume in CFT: if that number is above a truck's kg/CFT, you hit its weight limit before you fill the body (you weigh out); if it is below, you run out of space first (you cube out). Freight is wasted either way, but only one of them is legal to push.
Across this fleet that ranges from 4.2 kg/CFT on the 10 ft 10ft Truck — the one to hire for light, bulky freight — up to 8.7 kg/CFT on the 22 ft 22ft Truck, which takes the most weight per foot of body.
Bigger is not always heavier. The 24 ft body holds more cube than the 22 ft but is rated for less weight, because the common 24 ft build is single-axle. If your consignment is dense, the shorter truck is the one that carries it — a chart sorted only by length hides that.
SXL and MXL: what the codes mean
SXL and MXL describe the chassis, not the body. A 32ft SXL and a 32ft MXL carry the same 32 × 8 × 8 ft container body and the same cubic capacity — the single-axle SXL is rated near 9 t, while the multi-axle MXL is rated near 16 t. If you are choosing between them, you are choosing payload, not space.
FTL and PTL
FTL (full truck load) hires the whole vehicle at one rate regardless of how much of it you fill. PTL (part truck load), also sold as LTL, charges per CFT or per kg — whichever bills higher — so a light, bulky consignment is priced on its volume and a dense one on its weight.
Work out your own CFT
The chart is the body. What decides the hire is how your consignment sits in it — its CFT, its weight, and which of the two runs out first. Enter your cargo and get the answer, free and without signing up.
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