The design of the class four container transport featured a tetrahedron shape, positioned with its longest edge serving as its base. The bridge module was situated at the front of the ship, specifically at the narrowest point of the tetrahedron when it was lying on its side. Its design bore a resemblance to the bridge found on the Arquitens-class command cruiser. A standard load for this class of transport typically consisted of 230 large containers. These containers were affixed to the rear triangular face of the vessel, nestled between the sublight engines located at each of the three corners. However, the configuration allowed for the removal of containers to create space for a hangar bay at the cargo section's rear. Access to the cargo from within the ship was facilitated by at least one entry and exit point connecting the cargo area with the rest of the vessel.

Beyond its sublight propulsion, the Imperial class 4 cargo ship incorporated a hyperdrive, enabling travel through hyperspace. The ship also possessed offensive capabilities, featuring a top-mounted, dual-barreled turbolaser battery and a pair of side-mounted laser turrets. Being designated as a Class four freighter, these Imperial cargo ships were mandated to have sublight re-entry thrusters installed on all cargo containers. These were intended for emergency jettison scenarios, designed for use exclusively within a planetary atmosphere as a last-resort measure. Further safety mechanisms included six escape pods, housed in a section along the sides of the ship's bow. These pods could be remotely deployed to trap intruders aboard the ship in the event of an enemy boarding action.

Each Imperial cargo ship necessitated the presence of an inventory droid. The responsibilities of these droids included the arrangement of cargo and the monitoring of all goods, ensuring that everything was organized and arrived at its destination safely and on schedule. Furthermore, inventory droids were tasked with logging every item and crew member on board the transport, and they also had access to the Imperial data network. Imperial cargo ships were commonly used to transport large volumes of containers and crates between various spaceport facilities. For security, these ships were staffed with stormtroopers and a security contingent composed of at least five DT-series sentry droids.

The deployment of Class four container transports began shortly after the formation of the Galactic Empire. During a mission to Corellia, the renegade clones of the Bad Batch circumvented the planet's detection sensors by attaching their shuttle, the Marauder, to the underside of a transport's freight assembly as it approached the planet, detaching only when the ship was sufficiently close to the planetary surface.

Around 18 BBY, the Bad Batch encountered Imperial cargo ships once more at Count Dooku's former palace on Serenno. They had been commissioned by Cid to pilfer a portion of the Count's war chest before the Empire could seize it. Three Class four transports, including Transport Three, were integral to a large-scale transport operation centered at the palace, overseen by Clone Captain Wilco and a contingent of clone stormtroopers. Wrecker, Tech, Echo, and Omega successfully infiltrated Transport Three while Hunter provided covering fire. However, the team became trapped inside when Captain Wilco, having spotted Hunter, ordered the ship to take off and detach its pods. Echo, in a desperate maneuver, decided to jettison a cargo container, hoping to use its emergency re-entry thrusters as an escape mechanism. Due to a malfunction in the container's thrusters, the team was left stranded as it plummeted towards the planet. Eventually, the thrusters activated, allowing them to survive the fall.

Later in 18 BBY, numerous class four transports journeyed from the planet Erebus. Subsequently, during the Empire's liberation of the planet Chorin, several class four container transports arrived as part of the Imperial fleet.

In 3 BBY, the rebel astromech Chopper secretly boarded an Imperial cargo ship stationed at Horizon Base. He then collaborated with the ship's inventory droid, an RA-7 protocol droid named AP-5, to commandeer the vessel from the Empire. Chopper managed to confine the stormtroopers on board within the freight assembly, before ejecting them along with the containers. AP-5, despite the objections of the Imperial captain, then transmitted the coordinates for the planet Atollon to Chopper's Spectres and the Phoenix Cell. Chopper then guided the stolen cargo transport to rendezvous with the rebels above Atollon.

In 2 BBY, the Weequay pirate Hondo Ohnaka and the Jablogian crime lord Azmorigan obtained the flight plan for a cargo transport. They proceeded to disable the transport using ion mines. However, the crippled ship drifted into the upper atmosphere of the planet Wynkahthu, where it became ensnared in a storm. Most of Hondo's Ugnaught crew, with the exception of Melch, perished while attempting to board the ship. Hondo and Azmorigan, aided by the Spectres and AP-5, who was familiar with the ship class, managed to reach the vessel. They successfully restarted the ship and stole a cargo consisting of proton bombs and various treasures. However, the recovery team was forced to retreat when they inadvertently activated the sentry droids. The team fled back to their starship, the Ghost, just before the cargo ship plunged into the vortex and exploded.

Later, during the Spectres' campaign to liberate the planet Lothal from Imperial rule, Hera Syndulla, acting on Ohnaka's suggestion, attached the Ghost to the hull of a container transport in order to bypass the Imperial blockade of Lothal. After a period of waiting, they latched onto the ship as it emerged from hyperspace, successfully navigating through the Imperial blockade.

The Imperial cargo ship is featured in the Star Wars Rebels animated series, making its debut in the second-season episode titled "The Forgotten Droid." Dave Filoni, who served as the supervising director for the show's first two seasons, constructed a model of the cargo ship using a manila folder during the storyboarding phase of "The Forgotten Droid."