The essence in maximizing the use of a container capacity is to stuff the most cubes (i.e., largest cubic measurement) into a container that would give the lowest freight cost. If the capacity of a container is 1,170 cu. ft., it does not mean that the exporter must (or can) fully stuff it up to 1,170 cu. ft.. This can seldom be done due to the restrictions imposed by the kind of cargo and the type and size of the export pack.
The freight cost per cubic unit generally is lower when more cubes are stuffed into a container. However, when the total cube is too close to the container capacity, unloading and reloading of container may happen. The cost of extra time and labor spent on unloading and reloading usually is much more than the unit cost of freight saved for stuffing in more cubes. It would be fortunate if there is no cargo overflow---a situation where some export packs cannot fit into the container because the remaining space does not accommodate the size of the packs. The recommended load volume provides a guide in calculating a full container load (FCL), which helps in avoiding cargo overflow.