The intermodal container may be called by other names like a box, high-cube container, ISO container, sea can, freight container, container and conex box. These units are manufactured from standardized reusable steel. They offer safe and secure and efficient storage for transporting materials all around the globe via a global containerized intermodal freight system.
"Intermodal" is a word that means the container that could be moved between one type of transport to another. Intermodal may mean from a ship to truck or ship to rail, without having to unload and reload the container's contents. A few of the container lengths that have a unique ISO 6346 reporting mark on them range from 2.438 m or 8-feet to 56 feet or 17.07m. These units are as high as 2.438 m or 8feet to 2.9 m or 9 feet, 6 inches. It is estimated that there are around 17 million intermodal containers in the globe of various types to suit a range of cargoes.
These containers can be transported by freight train, semi-truck trailer and container ship. They can also travel many distances without having to be unpacked. At container terminals, they are transferred between modes using container cranes. Usually a reach-stacker is utilized to transfer from a flat-bed truck to a rail car. These models are secured during transportation by a variety of "twistlock" points situated at each corner on the container.
To be able to manage to containers identification and tracking, each container is equipped with a BIC code or bin identification code painted directly on the outside of the box. These models are capable of carrying things ranging roughly 20 to 25 tonnes.
When utilizing rail transport, the containers can be carried on flatcars or on well cars. Well cars are specifically designed for transport by containers. They can safely and efficiently accommodate double-stacked containers. The loading gauge of a rail system could actually restrict the types of container shipment and the specific modes of the shipment. Like for example, the smaller loading gauges which are usually found in European railroads will only handle single-stacked containers. In certain countries like for example the UK, there are certain sections of the rail network which cannot accommodate high-cube containers, unless they can use well cars only.
These containers are made strong enough to last through the numerous travels across extreme distances. These containers are reused by businesses and are able to transport large amounts of cargo. These containers are responsible for transporting numerous of the stuff we depend on everyday all over the world.