The intermodal container can be called by other names such as a box, high-cube container, ISO container, sea can, freight container, conex box, and container. These units are made from standardized reusable steel. They offer effective and safe and secure storage for moving materials all around the globe via a global containerized intermodal freight system.
"Intermodal" is a term which 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 reload and unload the contents of the container. Some 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 8 feet or 2.438 m to 9 feet, 6 inches or 2.9 m. It is estimated that there are about 17 million intermodal containers in the world of various types to suit a range of cargoes.
Containers are capable of being transported by container ship, freight train and semi-truck trailer. They can travel the distance of a single journey without being unpacked. At container terminals, they are transferred between modes by container cranes. A reach-stacker is normally employed to transfer from a flat-bed truck to a rail car. These models are secured during transportation by a variety of "twistlock" points located at every corner on the container.
Each container is outfitted with a specific BIC code or bin identification code that is painted on the outside in order to take care of tracking and identification. These units could carry things ranging roughly 20 to 25 tonnes.
For transport on rails, the container can be carried on well cars or on flatcars. Well cars have been designed specifically for use by intermodal containers. They could accommodate double-stacked containers safely and efficiently. The loading gauge of a rail system can actually limit the kinds of container shipment and the specific modes of the shipment. For instance, the smaller loading gauges that are normally found in European railroads will just handle single-stacked containers. In certain countries like the United Kingdom, there are certain sections of the rail network that cannot accommodate high-cube containers, unless they could use well cars only.
These containers are made to last and are utilized to travel extreme distances. They are re-used with businesses and could lift an enormous amount of cargo. These containers are responsible for moving numerous of the items we depend on everyday all over the globe.