Sam Bullman writes about Shipping-Container please visit www.bullmans.co.uk for more details.
Let us introduce shipping containers first. Shipping containers are standard sized boxes in which you ship merchandise. These are not small boxes for packing a pair of shoes. Standard shipping containers typically come in 8 feet by 8.5 (or 9.5) feet cross-sections, 20 or 40 or 45 feet long. So they compare best with log cabins than shoeboxes. (In fact, a popular use for empty shipping containers is to convert them into houses.)
Shipping containers transformed the logistics scenario and led to a huge expansion in world trade. You pack your merchandise into shipping containers at the factory, load it into a standard container truck that goes to the nearest railroad station or sea port where the containers are transferred by specialized container handling equipment into a railcar or ocean going ship.
The railcar then travels thousands of miles to a distant city or the nearest seaport. The custom built container ships are designed to accept containers on their open deck, and accommodate a large number of shipping containers without wasting storage space. (Containers stored thus can occasionally tumble down into the sea during a storm while the ship is at sea.)
Merchandise Shipped in Containers
You pack your merchandise packages, say, cartons with shoe boxes inside, into these containers. The merchandise packages are designed to occupy the space inside the shipping containers without wasting any space. You seal the container door securely.
The container typically travels unopened till it reaches its destination. It might get transferred to trucks, railcars, ships or even aircraft during this travel. At the destination seaport or airport, it gets transferred again into railcars or trucks for transport to the destination city.
So what do you transport in containers? Almost everything is the short answer. Most consumer goods are transported in containers from manufacturing factories to the distributor warehouses. Heavy machinery is transported in containers up to the customer site. There are custom built containers to accommodate different kinds of merchandise. A look at these customizations will give some idea of the variety of merchandise that travel in containers.
- DRY VAN containers are designed to accommodate such items cartons, jute bags, bales, pallets and drums
- REEFER containers are temperature controlled in the range of minus 25 degrees centigrade to plus 25 degrees centigrade
- OPEN TOP special bulk containers are for bulk materials and heavy machinery
- OPEN SIDE containers can accommodate large sized pallets
- VENTILATED containers carry organic produce that need to be ventilated during transit
- TANK containers carry bulk liquids
- ROLLING FLOOR containers allow difficult-to-handle cargo to be rolled in and out
- HANGAR BEAM FITTED containers accommodate garments on hangars without further packing
Shipping Container Legalities
Containers need Convention for Safe Containers (CSC) certification (authorized by International Maritime Organization) to prove their "continued safe handling and transportability in the commercial intermodal transport environment". The inspections need to be carried out periodically.
Merchandise in export trade also needs customs inspection and certification before shipment.
- Related Videos
- Related Articles
- Ask / Related Q&A
- Second Hand Storage Shipping Containers - Good Quality, Great Price!
- Hire Self Storage shipping Containers
- Shipping Container Sales & Hire Australia Wide Service
- How to Decide Whether You Should Buy or Hire a Shipping Container
- Several Uses of ‘Used’ Shipping Containers
- Business Storage
- Self Storage in Essex
- Self Storage in London
The Explanation and Development of Printed Circuit Board
By: Steven S Wood | 15/11/2009Modern printed circuit board technology has led to a considerable reduction in conductor crossovers on different planes, resulting in a reduction in space requirements and increased packaging density of electronic components. However, the modern VLSI and other multi-pin configuration devices have tremendously increased the packaging density and consequently the concentration of inter-connecting lines.
Radio Frequency Identification - RFID - Advantages
By: Steven S Wood | 15/11/2009RFID instantly offers several benefits just by being contact-less. In addition, this is clearly a current advantage of the technology.
Radio Frequency Identification - RFID - Applications
By: Steven S Wood | 15/11/2009There are popular beliefs that RFID is best suited to supply-chain management or consumer packaged goods industries, the range of current RFID applications goes far beyond these areas. In fact, a variety of established RFID applications have already been deployed successfully in real-world environments.
What Are Multi-Layers?
By: Steven S Wood | 15/11/2009Multi-layer PCBs are circuit boards made up of more than two electrical layers (copper layers) superimposed on each other. The copper layers are bonded together by resin layers(prepreg). Multi-layer boards represent the most complex type of printed circuit boards.
Implementing Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Solution
By: Steven S Wood | 15/11/2009Do you know how challenging can it be to design and implement a nontrivial RFID solution? Someone who has not implemented such an RFID system might think, "Not much at all! After all, what else do you need besides a few readers, antennas, cables, and some tags to build any RFID system?" The short answer is this: plenty. Suffice to say that designing and implementing a real-world, nontrivial RFID solution is not easy.
Radio Frequency Identification Technology
By: Steven S Wood | 15/11/2009What is Radio frequency identification (RFID) technology? RFID is a wireless communication technology that enables users to uniquely identify tagged objects or people.
Creating Business Justification For RFID
By: Steven S Wood | 15/11/2009A strong business justification is recommended before rolling out RFID in an enterprise because it enables you to accomplish fundamental goals below: - Maximize return on investment (ROI). Through a careful analysis of business cases, you can quantify the benefits and the resources needed to implement an RFID solutio
Flexible Printed Circuit Board - Flex PCB
By: Steven S Wood | 15/11/2009A flexible printed circuit actually is making use of flexible laminate. The raw materials and properties of the laminate are crucial not only to its manufacturing process but also to the performance of the finished circuit. The flexible laminate consists of a conducting foil and also the dielectric substrates.
Storage Containers Store Bigger Stuff Than Salt and Sugar
By: Sam Bullman | 18/03/2008 | International BusinessWhen we hear the term storage containers, we might think of those everyday containers that store kitchen stuff (unless we happen to be in the transportation industry). While we all know what the everyday containers do, we might not be clearly aware of storage container roles in other areas. Let us take a look.
What Do You Ship in Shipping Containers?
By: Sam Bullman | 18/03/2008 | International BusinessLet us introduce shipping containers first. Shipping containers are standard sized boxes in which you ship merchandise. These are not small boxes for packing a pair of shoes. Standard shipping containers typically come in 8 feet by 8.5 (or 9.5) feet cross-sections, 20 or 40 or 45 feet long.
Self Storage in London
By: Sam Bullman | 17/03/2008 | International BusinessBefore we look at the facilities for self storage in London, let us be clear about the nature and advantages of self storage.
Self Storage in Essex
By: Sam Bullman | 17/03/2008 | International BusinessSelf storage is one of the solutions when you have stuff cluttering up your home or business space and you want to clear up the clutter by moving part of the stuff to a separate storage location. In such a case, you can either entrust the stuff to a storage services company or hire self storage space and move the stuff there yourself.
Freight Containers Transformed Logistics
By: Sam Bullman | 17/03/2008 | International BusinessFreight containers are standardized shipping containers. Shipping containers have standard dimensions, typically 20'x8'x8.5' or 40'x8'x8.5' or 45'x8'x9.5'. They have to be constructed to certain minimum standards of sturdiness to withstand the rigors of long ocean voyages and transfer from one mode of transport to another.
A Surprising Variety of Custom Containers
By: Sam Bullman | 17/03/2008 | International BusinessCustom containers include not only containers of non-standard dimensions but also containers rebuilt into houses, shops, garbage bins, and so on. By containers, we mean those large 20'x8'x8' and larger boxes used to transport everything from heavy machinery to thousands cartons of trinkets (in each box).
Container Sales Involves More Than Container Sales
By: Sam Bullman | 17/03/2008 | International BusinessWhat comes to your mind when you hear the term container sales? Probably you think of a shop stacked with all kinds of containers like pet bottles, paper cartons, tin cans, and all the other containers you store stuff in. In this article, however, we discuss another type of container, the shipping container carried by large trailers that you see on the road and at dockyards.