Container vessels that can accommodate respective thousand TEU on board, help move large quantities of cargo from one bespeak to another .
The largest of such vessels can accommodate about 23000 TEU ! Statistics of the World Bank show that close to 800 million TEU containers were shipped globally in 2019 .
The COVID-19 pandemic had a minus impact on worldly concern trade and the movement of goods. however, the discovery of vaccines in 2021 to combat the pandemic is seen as the silver line and the universe ’ south economy is expected to bounce back.
Origin of the Modern Intermodal Container
Before the shipping container came into the setting, the cargo was normally loaded inside boxes of different sizes for handloading onto trucks and ships .
Malcolm Maclean, an american transport entrepreneur developed the first container made of corrugate steel in 1955 that could be easily transported on a hand truck or ship. He belated sold the idea of his invention to the United States military which used these boxes to transport military equipment .
The two decades following the invention saw containers of unlike sizes and locking mechanisms that posed problems when it came to loading on unlike trucks and ships. In the trace years, these problems were gradually sorted out .
The first standard container vessel launched in 1968 was Hakone Maru, a japanese registered ship. This transport sailed between Japan and the west slide of the US. It catered to the tape drive of TEU containers and it could transport 752 twenty-foot equivalent unit of measurement containers .
Along with the different modes of ecstasy that provide to the diligence, the equipment used for transporting goods, and the engineering used have besides evolved. modern cranes and cargo treat equipment are just two examples .
Related reading: What is an Intermodal Container ?
Types of Containers
Different types of cargo are transported over land, ocean, and atmosphere. It is by and large categorized as dry, chill, or freeze. Cargo could be temperature-sensitive, for example, food products, kernel, pharmaceutical drugs, etc .
such temperature-sensitive cargos have to be transported in containers that can maintain the temperature or humidity requirements of the cargo .
There could be other special transportation requirements excessively. Containers of different types and sizes are used to transport the different types of cargo based on the customer ’ second requirements. It is estimated that presently there are between 20 to 23 million TEU in circulation globally !
Containers are by and large of two categories – dry containers and refrigerated containers .
normally, dry containers are unsheathed containers with lockable doors at one end though, containers with doors on either end are besides found .
Refrigerated containers besides known as reefers are used to transport goods that require special temperature settings so that they do not deteriorate or get damaged during transit and storage. The internal temperature of a joint is controlled according to specifications .
flat racks and open-top containers are used for the transport of Out of Gauge cargo ( OOG ). These are cargo that comes in abnormal sizes and shapes that do not fit inside a conventional transport container such as a twenty-foot or a forty-foot container .
Examples for OOG cargo are wreathe turbine blades, very large industrial boilers, bulldozers, etc. flat racks and open-top containers are besides available in sizes of twenty-foot and forty-foot .
Container Size
Shipping containers come in two criterion sizes, namely, twenty-foot and forty-foot containers. In shipping terms, these two are referred to as a TEU ( Twenty-foot Equivalent Units ) and an FEU ( Forty-foot Equivalent Units ) respectively. A standard TEU or FEU besides goes by the list of a general-purpose container ( 20 ’ or 40 ’ GP container ) .
Though containers of varying sizes are used globally for the transportation system of goods, the TEU and FEU are the most common. Some other sizes that shipping containers come in are forty-foot High Cube ( 40 ’ HC ), forty-five-foot High Cube ( 45 ’ HC ), etc .
The gamey cube containers have a acme of one animal foot more than the normal GP containers. It is interesting to note here that in the world container market, there are more general-purpose containers than high cube ones, precisely as there are more of FEUs in circulation than TEUs !
typically, a TEU is made of baffling, heavy-duty, weather and corrosion-resistant steel, known as Corten sword. The components of such a container are the front-end wall panels, a roof, two sidewall panels, the floor, and a door frame of reference with the door assembly and locking mechanism. One of the sidewall panels normally has a little open for ventilation .
Containers are locked using lock-rods that run vertically on the two doors. Each door normally has two lock-rods on it. Port authorities around the world ask that loaded containers for tape drive are secured using at least one container seal that is affixed on the lock-rod mechanism in its official slot .
The lock and seal are for the safety and security of the cargo inside the container. Container seals are covered by the standards set by the International Standards Organization ( ISO ) under ISO 17712:2013 .
Let us take a expect at the dimensions of a TEU here .
The external distance of a twenty-foot equivalent GP whole is 20 feet. It has a width of 8 feet and a altitude of 8 feet 6 inches. Its inner dimensions for loading are a length of 19 feet 4 inches, a width of 7 feet 8 inches, and a height of 7 feet 10 inches .
There might be minor differences in measurements between containers made by different manufacturers but remember that they all have to fit correctly on the trucks they are loaded, meet the specifications of the rise and handling equipment that are used in seaports, angstrom well as in the container repositing area of a transport .
Related Reading: A Guide to Shipping Container Dimensions
Pallets
typically, a general-purpose TEU can hold about 11 wooden pallets arranged in a single push-down list. The number of pallets can go up to 22 when pallets are doubly stacked. Again, a set of these numbers depend on whether standard pallets or euro-pallets are used. It besides depends on the acme of each jammed palette.
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While the International Standards Organization ( ISO ) has set the standards for consistent palette size and choice through its ISO standard 18333 : 2014, the standard pallets and the euro-pallets vary in size. Dimensions of the former are 48 inches X 40 inches while the latter has dimensions of 47.24 inches X 31.50 inches .
Container Load
What is the slant that can be loaded inside a twenty-foot container ? Logistics and shipping companies normally load up to 24000 kilograms ( 24 metric unit tons ) of cargo in a TEU .
An empty container of this size weighs 2280 kilogram ( 2.24 metric unit tons ). Hence the full weight of a amply ladle twenty-foot container will be 26280 kilograms ( 26.28 metric unit tons ) .
The actual weight-bearing capacitance of a twenty-foot container is 28200 kilograms ( 28.2 metric tons ) and its in full load total slant is 30480 kilograms ( 30.48 measured tons ) .
cubic meter ( CBM ) is the standard unit to measure freight volume. If we look at the overall volume that a twenty-foot GP container can take, it is about 33 CBM ( cubic meters ). however, the actual functional cargo bulk will lone be in the stove of 25 to 28 CBM .
immediately, that brings us to the question of what is the basis of charging freight by the transport company ? When a business leases a container for transporting cargo, the charge will be for the full container regardless of whether it in full or partially filled .
however, for Less-than Container Load ( LCL ) shipments, according to the convention, if the weight of cargo exceeds 1000 kilograms ( 1 short ton ) then the weight is used for the calculation of freight charges .
only when the weight is below 1 long ton is the volume in CBM considered for the calculation of freight .
TEU Reefer and Dimensions
Reefer containers are sturdy, big, mobile refrigerators that are used to carry goods with special temperature requirements. They can maintain a temperature normally ranging between -30° C and +30° C .
Reefers are cooled using Gensets ( generator sets ) that shape on both electricity and fuel since they are transported over estate a well as by sea on cargo carriers .
Refrigerated containers use temperature logging equipment called Data Loggers to indicate and log temperature inside a joint unit during transmit .
This data can frequently be downloaded onto a personal calculator for evaluation. Most of the joint containers in circulation around the world are of TEU size .
Because of the plan and insulating material materials used in the structure of reefers their internal dimensions are much less than normal dry vans or TEU .
While loading and stacking cargo, enough opening has to be left for the circulation of cool air within the container. This eats into distance far. Gratings on the container floor and the walls along with the extra space at the base of a pallet help in breeze circulation .
Another prerequisite while loading the container is to leave a minimum space of 12 centimetres between the cargo and the inner roof of the TEU joint .
The internal length of a TEU joint is 17 feet 10 inches. Its width is 7 feet 6 inches and the stature is 7 feet 1 inch. These containers have a tare weight ( system of weights of the container when vacate ) of 2990 kilograms and they can take a maximal warhead of 21450 kilograms or a volume of 24 to 26 CBM ( 848 to 918 cubic feet ) each .
What is a CSC Plate?
Containers that are used to transport cargo have something called a CSC plate fixed on them and a TEU is no exception. The CSC home plate is a safety blessing plate that lists the container details such as its design, inspection date, the gross weight ( total system of weights of the container and its warhead ) of the container, etc. These details are required as a minimal .
According to the CSC 1972 ( Convention for Safe Containers ), every container that is used for department of transportation of cargo has to be inspected by an authorize examiner once in 30 months to certify its sea or roadworthiness. A CSC plate is fixed on the container after each such successful inspection .
Convention for Safe Containers 1972
conventionality for Safe Containers 1972 abbreviated to CSC 1972 is a set of uniform base hit regulations that applies to all transport containers above a certain official size .
The convention was jointly held by the United Nations ( UN ) and the International Maritime Organization ( IMO ) to promote homo base hit while handling conveyance containers .
The CSC 1972 mandates containers that are covered under this conventionality to fit guard approval plates showing the necessitate details on it .
Comparison – TEU and FEU
The mesa given below provides a quick comparison between the TEU and FEU .
| Equipment | Size ( L X W X H ) |
Internal Dimensions ( L X W X H ) |
Weight of Container (TARE) | Weight of Cargo (NET WEIGHT) | Volume |
| TEU | 20’ X 8’ X 8’6” | 19’4” X 7’8” X 7’10” | 2280 KG | 28200 KG | 33 CBM |
| FEU | 40’ X 8’ X 8’6” | 39’5” X 7’8” X 7’10” | 3700 KG | 28800 KG | 67 CBM |
| TEU REEFER | 20’ X 8’ X 8’6” | 17’10” X 7’6” X 7’1” | 2990 KG | 27490 KG | 27 CBM |
| FEU REEFER HC | 40’ X 8’ X 9’6” | 37’11” X 7’11” X 7’11” | 4520 KG | 29480 KG | 67.5 CBM |
| TEU OPEN TOP | 20’ X 8’ X 8’6” | 19’5” X 7’8” X 7’6” | 2280 KG | 28000 KG | – |
| Note: There may be minor variations in dimensions between containers of different series or make. | |||||
What Goes Inside a TEU?
yet another unmanageable interrogate is, what can go inside a TEU ? It would depend on several factors such as the throng, weight, and volume of the cargo .
For comparison sake, let us say about 282 bags of flour each weighing 100 kilograms, 2820 packets of corn weighing 10 kilograms each, 1 large car with enough padding around it to prevent scratches and damage, or about 100 washing machines double-stacked is what a GP TEU can hold. however, remember that these numbers depend a set on the individual packing material of cargo and other such factors.
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