The intermodal container may be referred to by other names such as a box, ISO Container, high-cube container, sea can, freight container, conex box, and container. These units are made from standardized reusable steel. They offer efficient and safe and secure storage for transporting materials all over the globe via a global containerized intermodal freight system.
"Intermodal" is a term which refer to the container that can be moved between one kind of transport to another. Intermodal can refer from a ship to truck or ship to rail, without having to unload and reload the contents of the container. Several of the container lengths which have a unique ISO 6346 reporting mark on them vary from 8-feet or 2.438 m to 17.07m or 56 feet. 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 world of different types to suit a range of cargoes.
These containers could be transported by freight train, semi-truck trailer and container ship. They can also travel numerous distances without having to be unpacked. At container terminals, they are transferred between modes by container cranes. Usually a reach-stacker is utilized to transfer from a flat-bed truck to a rail car. These units are secured during transportation by a range of "twistlock" points located at each corner on the container.
In order to manage to containers identification and tracking, each and every container is outfitted with a BIC code or bin identification code painted directly on the outside of the box. These models are capable of lifting things ranging around 20 to 25 tonnes.
For transport on rails, the container may be carried on flatcars or on well cars. Well cars have been designed particularly for use by intermodal containers. They can accommodate double-stacked containers safely and efficiently. The loading gauge of a rail system may actually limit the particular modes of the shipment and the types of container shipment. For example, the smaller loading gauges that are usually found in European railroads will just handle single-stacked containers. In certain nations such as the UK, there are certain sections of the rail network which cannot accommodate high-cube containers, unless they can utilize well cars only.
These containers are made sturdy enough to last through the many travels across extreme distances. These containers are reused by businesses and are able to transport large amounts of cargo. These containers are responsible for moving numerous of the objects we rely on everyday around the globe.