An intermodal container or freight container (commonly shipping container) is a reusable In computer science and software engineering, reusability is the likelihood a segment of source code that can be used again to add new functionalities with slight or no modification. Reusable modules and classes reduce implementation time, increase the likelihood that prior testing and use has eliminated bugs and localizes code modifications when transport and storage unit for moving products and raw materials between locations or countries; the terms container or box may be used on their own within the context of shipping. Containers manufactured to ISO The International Organization for Standardization , widely known as ISO, is an international-standard-setting body composed of representatives from various national standards organizations. Founded on 23 February 1947, the organization promulgates worldwide proprietary industrial and commercial standards. It has its headquarters in Geneva, specifications may be referred to as ISO containers and the term high-cube container is used for units that are taller than normal. There are approximately seventeen million intermodal containers in the world[1] and a large proportion of the world's long distance freight generated by international trade International trade is exchange of capital, goods, and services across international borders or territories.. In most countries, it represents a significant share of gross domestic product . While international trade has been present throughout much of history (see Silk Road, Amber Road), its economic, social, and political importance has been on is transported inside shipping containers (as opposed to break bulk cargo In shipping, break bulk cargo or general cargo is a term that covers a great variety of goods that must be loaded individually, and not in intermodal containers nor in bulk as with oil or grain. Ships that carry this sort of cargo are often called general cargo ships. The term break bulk derives from the phrase breaking bulk — the extraction of).[citation needed]

The containerization Containerization is a system of intermodal freight transport using standard intermodal containers as prescribed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). These can be loaded and sealed intact onto container ships, railroad cars, planes, and trucks system developed from a design of an 8-foot (2.438 m) cube units used by the United States' military and later standardised by extension to 10-foot (3.05 m), 20-foot (6.10 m), and 40-foot (12.19 m) lengths. Longer, higher and wider variants are now in general use in various places.[1]

Container variants are available for many different cargo types. Non-container methods of transport include bulk cargo Bulk cargo is commodity cargo that is transported unpackaged in large quantities. These cargos are usually dropped or poured, with a spout or shovel bucket, as a liquid or as a mass of relatively small solids , into a bulk carrier ship's hold, railroad car, or tanker truck/trailer/semi-trailer body. Bulk cargos are classified as liquid or dry, break bulk cargo In shipping, break bulk cargo or general cargo is a term that covers a great variety of goods that must be loaded individually, and not in intermodal containers nor in bulk as with oil or grain. Ships that carry this sort of cargo are often called general cargo ships. The term break bulk derives from the phrase breaking bulk — the extraction of and tankers A tank car is a type of railroad (UIC: railway) rolling stock designed to transport liquid and gaseous commodities/oil tankers An oil tanker, also known as a petroleum tanker, is a ship designed for the bulk transport of oil. There are two basic types of oil tankers: the crude tanker and the product tanker. Crude tankers move large quantities of unrefined crude oil from its point of extraction to refineries. Product tankers, generally much smaller, are designed to move used for liquids. For air freight Cargo airlines are airlines dedicated to the transport of cargo. Some cargo airlines are divisions or subsidiaries of larger passenger airlines the alternative and lighter IATA The International Air Transport Association is an international industry trade group of airlines headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, where the International Civil Aviation Organization is also headquartered. IATA's mission is to represent, lead, and serve the airline industry. IATA represents some 230 airlines comprising 93% of scheduled defined Unit Load Device A unit load device, or ULD, is a pallet or container used to load luggage, freight, and mail on wide-body aircraft and specific narrow-body aircraft. It allows a large quantity of cargo to be bundled into a single unit. Since this leads to fewer units to load, it saves ground crews time and effort and helps prevent delayed flights. Each ULD has is used.

Contents

Description

Stacking shipping containers each with a standard ISO 6346 ISO 6346 is an international standard managed by the International Container Bureau for coding, identification and marking of intermodal containers (shipping containers) used within intermodal freight transport as part of containerization. It establishes: reporting mark A reporting mark is a two-to-four-letter alphabetic code used to identify owners or lessees of rolling stock and other equipment used on the North American railroad network. The marks are stenciled on each piece of equipment, along with a one-to-six-digit number, which together uniquely identify every such rail car. This allows the cars to be

A typical container has doors fitted at one end, and is constructed of corrugated weathering steel Weathering steel, best-known under the trademark COR-TEN steel and sometimes written without the hyphen as "Corten steel", is a group of steel alloys which were developed to obviate the need for painting, and form a stable rust-like appearance if exposed to the weather for several years.[2] Containers were originally 8 feet (2.44 m) wide by 8 feet (2.44 m) high, and either a nominal 20 feet (6.10 m) or 40 feet (12.19 m) long. They could be stacked up to seven units high.

Taller units have been introduced, including 'hi-cube' or 'high-cube' units at 9 feet 6 inches (2.90 m)[3] and 10 feet 6 inches (3.20 m) high.[citation needed]

The United States ^ b. English is the de facto language of American government and the sole language spoken at home by 80% of Americans age five and older. Spanish is the second most commonly spoken language often uses longer units at 48 ft (14.63 m) and 53 ft (16.15 m). Some rare European Europe is one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus region (Specification of borders) and the Black Sea to the southeast. Europe is bordered by the Arctic Ocean and containers are often about 2 inches wider at 2.5 m (8 ft 2.4 in) to accommodate Euro-pallets A pallet (sometimes called a skid) is a flat transport structure that supports goods in a stable fashion while being lifted by a forklift, pallet jack, front loader or other jacking device. A pallet is the structural foundation of a unit load which allows handling and storage efficiencies. Goods or shipping containers are often placed on a pallet.[4] Australian For at least 40,000 years before European settlement in the late 18th century, Australia was inhabited by indigenous Australians, who belonged to one or more of the roughly 250 language groups. After sporadic visits by fishermen from the immediate north and discovery by Dutch explorers in 1606, Australia's eastern half was claimed by Britain in 177 RACE Railways of Australia Container Express or RACE was a slightly wider version of the standard ISO shipping container able to take 2 Australia Standard Pallets side by side. It was operated by the Railways of Australia, an association of the Government-owned railways which comprised Australian National, The State Rail Authority of New South Wales, containers are also slightly wider to accommodate Australia Standard Pallets.

Lighter swap body units use the same mounting fixings as Intermodal containers, but have folding legs under their frame so that they can be moved between trucks without using a crane.[citation needed]

Each container is allocated a standardized ISO 6346 ISO 6346 is an international standard managed by the International Container Bureau for coding, identification and marking of intermodal containers (shipping containers) used within intermodal freight transport as part of containerization. It establishes: reporting mark A reporting mark is a two-to-four-letter alphabetic code used to identify owners or lessees of rolling stock and other equipment used on the North American railroad network. The marks are stenciled on each piece of equipment, along with a one-to-six-digit number, which together uniquely identify every such rail car. This allows the cars to be (ownership code), four characters long ending in either U, J or Z, followed by six numbers and a check digit.

Container capacity is often expressed in twenty-foot equivalent units The twenty-foot equivalent unit is an inexact unit of cargo capacity often used to describe the capacity of container ships and container terminals. It is based on the volume of a 20-foot long intermodal container, a standard-sized metal box which can be easily transferred between different modes of transportation, such as ships, trains and trucks (TEU, or sometimes teu). An equivalent unit is a measure of containerized cargo capacity equal to one standard 20 ft (length) × 8 ft (width) container. As this is an approximate measure, the height of the box is not considered; for example, the 9 ft 6 in (2.90 m) high cube and the 4-foot-3-inch (1.30 m) half height 20-foot (6.10 m) containers are also called one TEU. Similarly, the 45 ft (13.72 m) containers are also commonly designated as two TEU, although they are 45 and not 40 feet (12.19 m) long. Two TEU are equivalent to one forty-foot equivalent unit (FEU).

Types

A Spine car with a 20 ft tank container and a conventional 20 ft container

Variations on the standard container exist for use with different cargoes including Refrigerated container A refrigerated container or reefer is an intermodal container used in intermodal freight transport that is refrigerated for the transportation of temperature sensitive cargo units for perishable goods, tanks in a frame for bulk liquids, open top units for top loading and collapsable versions. Containerised coal carriers, and 'bin-liners' (containers designed for the efficient road/rail transportation of rubbish from cities to recycling and dump sites) are used in Europe.

Container types:[5]

Specifications

The following table shows the weights and dimensions of the most common types of containers. The weights and dimensions quoted below are averages. Containers of the same type of produced by different manufacturers may vary slightly in actual size and weight.[citation needed]

20′ container 40′ container 40′ high-cube container 45′ high-cube container
imperial Imperial units or the imperial system is a system of units, first defined in the British Weights and Measures Act of 1824, later refined and reduced. The system came into official use across the British Empire. By the late 20th century most nations of the former empire had officially adopted the metric system as their main system of measurement metric The metric system is an international decimalised system of measurement, first adopted by France in 1791, that is the common system of measuring units used by most of the world. It exists in several variations, with different choices of fundamental units, though the choice of base units does not affect its day-to-day use. Over the last two imperial metric imperial metric imperial metric
external dimensions length 20′ 0″ 6.096 m 40′ 0″ 12.192 m 40′ 0″ 12.190 m 45′ 0″ 13.716 m
width 8′ 0″ 2.438 m 8′ 0″ 2.438 m 8′ 0″ 2.438 m 8′ 0″ 2.438 m
height 8′ 6″ 2.591 m 8′ 6″ 2.591 m 9′ 6″ 2.896 m 9′ 6″ 2.896 m
interior dimensions length 18′ 10 5⁄16″ 5.758 m 39′ 5 45⁄64″ 12.032 m 39′ 4″ 12.000 m 44′ 4″ 13.556 m
width 7′ 8 19⁄32″ 2.352 m 7′ 8 19⁄32″ 2.352 m 7′ 7″ 2.311 m 7′ 8 19⁄32″ 2.352 m
height 7′ 9 57⁄64″ 2.385 m 7′ 9 57⁄64″ 2.385 m 8′ 9″ 2.650 m 8′ 9 15⁄16″ 2.698 m
door aperture width 7′ 8 ⅛″ 2.343 m 7′ 8 ⅛″ 2.343 m 7′ 6" 2.280 m 7′ 8 ⅛″ 2.343 m
height 7′ 5 ¾″ 2.280 m 7′ 5 ¾″ 2.280 m 8′ 5″ 2.560 m 8′ 5 49⁄64″ 2.585 m
volume 1,169 ft³ 33.1 m³ 2,385 ft³ 67.5 m³ 2,660 ft³ 75.3 m³ 3,040 ft³ 86.1 m³
maximum gross mass 66,139 lb 30,400 kg 66,139 lb 30,400 kg 68,008 lb 30,848 kg 66,139 lb 30,400 kg
empty weight 4,850 lb 2,200 kg 8,380 lb 3,800 kg 8,598 lb 3,900 kg 10,580 lb 4,800 kg
net load 61,289 lb 28,200 kg 57,759 lb 26,600 kg 58,598 lb 26,580 kg 55,559 lb 25,600 kg

Handling and transport

Main article: Intermodal freight transport Intermodal freight transport involves the transportation of freight in an intermodal container or vehicle, using multiple modes of transportation , without any handling of the freight itself when changing modes. The method reduces cargo handling, and so improves security, reduces damages and losses, and allows freight to be transported faster

Containers can be transported by container ship Container ships are cargo ships that carry all of their load in truck-size intermodal containers, in a technique called containerization. They form a common means of commercial intermodal freight transport, semi-trailer truck A semi-trailer truck, also known as a semi, tractor-trailer, or articulated truck or articulated lorry, often abbreviated to artic, is an articulated vehicle consisting of a towing engine (tractor in the United States, prime mover in Australia, lorry in Ireland and truck in the UK, Canada and New Zealand), and a semi-trailer (plus possible and freight trains A freight train or goods train is a group of freight cars or goods wagons (UIC) hauled by a locomotive on a railway, ultimately transporting cargo between two points as part of the logistics chain. Trains may haul bulk, intermodal containers or specialized cars as part of a single journey without unpacking and they are transferred between modes by container cranes A container crane is a design of large dockside gantry cranes found at container terminals for loading and unloading intermodal containers from container ships at container terminals A container terminal is a facility where cargo containers are transshipped between different transport vehicles, for onward transportation. The transshipment may be between ships and land vehicles, for example trains or trucks, in which case the terminal is described as a maritime container terminal. Alternatively the transshipment may be between. Units can be secured during handling and in transit using "twistlock A twistlock and corner casting together form a standardised rotating connector for securing shipping containers. The primary uses are for locking a container into place on container ship, semi-trailer truck or railway container train; and for lifting of the containers by container cranes and sidelifters" points located at each corner of the container. Every container has a unique BIC code ISO 6346 is an international standard managed by the International Container Bureau for coding, identification and marking of intermodal containers (shipping containers) used within intermodal freight transport as part of containerization. It establishes: painted on the outside for identification and tracking, and is capable of carrying up to 20–25 tonnes. Costs for transport are calculated in twenty-foot equivalent units The twenty-foot equivalent unit is an inexact unit of cargo capacity often used to describe the capacity of container ships and container terminals. It is based on the volume of a 20-foot long intermodal container, a standard-sized metal box which can be easily transferred between different modes of transportation, such as ships, trains and trucks (TEU).

Rail

When carried by rail, containers may be carried on flatcars A flatcar (also flat car (US) or flat wagon (non-US)) is a piece of railroad (US) or railway (non-US) rolling stock that consists of an open, flat deck on four or six wheels or a pair of trucks (US) or bogies (UK). The deck of the car can be wood or steel, and the sides of the deck can include pockets for stakes or tie-down points to secure loads or well cars A well car, also known as a double-stack car or stack car for short, is a type of railroad car specially designed to carry intermodal containers used in intermodal freight transport. The "well", a depressed section which sits between the wheel trucks of the car, close to the rails, allowing a container to be carried lower than on a. The latter are specially designed for container transport, and can accommodate double-stacked containers. However the loading gauge A loading gauge defines the maximum height and width for railway vehicles and their loads to ensure safe passage through bridges, tunnels and other structures. Classifications systems vary between different countries and gauges may vary across a network, even if the track gauge remains constant of a rail system may restrict the modes and types of container shipment. The smaller loading gauges often found in European Europe is one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus region (Specification of borders) and the Black Sea to the southeast. Europe is bordered by the Arctic Ocean and railroads will only accommodate single-stacked containers. In some countries, such as the United Kingdom, there are sections of the rail network which high-cube containers cannot pass through, or can pass through only on well cars. On the other hand, Indian Railways Indian Railways , abbreviated as IR (Hindi: भा.रे.), is the state-owned railway company of India, which owns and operates most of the country's rail transport. It is overseen by the Ministry of Railways of the Government of India runs double-stacked containers on flatcars A flatcar (also flat car (US) or flat wagon (non-US)) is a piece of railroad (US) or railway (non-US) rolling stock that consists of an open, flat deck on four or six wheels or a pair of trucks (US) or bogies (UK). The deck of the car can be wood or steel, and the sides of the deck can include pockets for stakes or tie-down points to secure loads under 25 kV overhead electrical wires Overhead lines or overhead wires are used to transmit electrical energy to trams, trolleybuses or trains at a distance from the energy supply point. These overhead lines are known variously as. In order to do this, the wire must be at least 7.45 metres (24 ft 5 in) above the track Rail tracks (more commonly: railway tracks , railroad tracks or train tracks (US)) are the surface structures that support and guide trains or other rail-guided transportation vehicles, but IR is able to do so because of its large loading gauge and use of 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in) broad gauge track. China Railways China Railways or Sinorail as it is often called in English[citation needed] is the national railway operator of the People's Republic of China, under the Chinese Ministry of Railways also runs double-stacked containers under overhead wires, but must use well cars A well car, also known as a double-stack car or stack car for short, is a type of railroad car specially designed to carry intermodal containers used in intermodal freight transport. The "well", a depressed section which sits between the wheel trucks of the car, close to the rails, allowing a container to be carried lower than on a to do so since China uses 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) (standard gauge The standard gauge is a widely-used rail gauge. Approximately 60% of the world's existing railway lines are built to this gauge (see the list of countries that use the standard gauge). The distance between the inside edges of the rails of standard gauge track is 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in)) and the wires are only 6.6 metres (21 ft 8 in) above the track.[6]

Securing loads in intermodal containers

Main article: Load securing

Application in container

Polyester Strapping and Dunnage Bag application

Polyester Lashing Application

There are many established methods and materials available to stabilize and secure cargo in intermodal containers. Conventional restraint methods and materials such as steel strapping and wood blocking & bracing have been around for decades and are still widely used. Polyester strapping and lashing, synthetic webbings are also common today. Dunnage Bags, also known as "air bags" are used to help keep unit loads in place.

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