Intermodal Container (Edited from Wikipedia)
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Intermodal Container (Edited from Wikipedia) SUMMARY An intermodal container is a large standardized shipping container, designed and built for intermodal freight transport. That means these containers can be used across different modes of transport – from ship to rail to truck – without unloading and reloading their cargo. Intermodal containers are primarily used to store and transport materials and products efficiently and securely in the global containerized intermodal freight transport system, but smaller numbers are in regional use as well. These containers are known under a number of names, such as simply container, cargo or freight container, ISO container, shipping, sea or ocean container, container van or (Conex) box, sea or c can. Intermodal containers exist in many types and a number of standardized sizes. Ninety percent of the global container fleet are so-called "dry freight" or "general purpose" containers, durable closed steel boxes, mostly of either twenty- or forty-foot standard length. The common heights are 8 feet 6 inches and 9 feet 6 inches. Just like cardboard boxes and pallets, these containers are a means to bundle cargo and goods into larger loads, that can be easily handled, moved, and stacked, and that will pack tightly in a ship or yard. Intermodal containers share a number of key construction features to withstand the stresses of intermodal shipping (like harsh weather and violent ocean waves), to make it easier to handle them and stack them. In 2012, there were about 20.5 million intermodal containers in the world of varying types to suit different cargoes. Containers have largely replaced the traditional break bulk cargo – in 2010 containers accounted for 60% of the world's seaborne trade. HISTORY Before containerization, goods were usually handled manually as break bulk cargo. Typically, goods would be loaded onto a vehicle from the factory and taken to a port warehouse where they would be offloaded and stored until the next vessel arrived. 1 When the vessel arrived, they would be moved to the side of the ship along with other cargo to be lowered or carried into the hold and packed by dock workers. The ship might call at several other ports before off-loading a given consignment of cargo. Each port visit would delay the delivery of other cargo. Delivered cargo might then have been offloaded into another warehouse before being picked up and delivered to its destination. Multiple handling and delays made transport costly, time consuming and unreliable. Containerization has its origins in early coal mining regions in England beginning in the late 18th century. In 1766 James Brindley designed a boat with 10 wooden containers to transport coal by canal. In 1795, Benjamin Outram opened the Little Eaton Gangway, upon which coal was carried in wagons built at his Butterley Ironwork. The horse-drawn wheeled wagons took the form of containers, which, loaded with coal, could be shipped by canal barges. By the 1830s, railroads on several continents were carrying containers that could be transferred to other modes of transport. The Liverpool and Manchester Railway in the United Kingdom was one of these. "Simple rectangular timber boxes, four to a wagon, they were used to convey coal from the Lancashire collieries to Liverpool, where they were transferred to horse-drawn carts by crane." Originally used for moving coal on and off barges, "loose boxes" were used to containerize coal from the late 1780s, at places like the Bridgewater Canal. By the 1840s, iron boxes were in use as well as wooden ones. The early 1900s saw the adoption of closed container boxes designed for movement between road and rail. The development of containerization was created in Europe and the US as a way to revitalize rail companies after the Wall Street Crash of 1929, which had caused economic collapse and reduction in use of all modes of transport. During World War 2, the United States Army started to combine items of uniform size, lashing them onto a pallet, unitizing cargo to speed the loading and unloading of transport ships. In 1947 the Transportation Corps developed the Transporter, a rigid, corrugated steel container with a 9,000-pound carrying capacity, for shipping household goods of officers in the field. It was 8 feet, 6 inches long, about six feet wide, and almost seven feet high. It had double doors on one end, mounted on skids, and had lifting rings on the top four corners (for cranes to hook on to). During the Korean War the Transporter was evaluated for handling sensitive military equipment and, proving effective, was 2 approved for broader use. Theft of material and damage to wooden crates convinced the army that steel containers were needed. In 1952 the US army developed the Transporter into the CONtainer EXpress or CONEX box system. The size and capacity of the Conex were about the same as the Transporter, but the system was made modular. This meant you could expand their size and capacity by adding smaller units to it. CONEXes could be stacked three high, and protected their contents from the weather. The first major shipment of CONEXes, containing engineering supplies and spare parts, was made by rail from the Columbus General Depot in Georgia to the Port of San Francisco, then by ship to Yokohama, Japan, and then to Korea, in late 1952; shipment times were almost halved. By the time of the Vietnam War the majority of supplies and materials were shipped by CONEX. By 1965 the US military used some 100,000 Conex boxes, and more than 200,000 in 1967. making this the first worldwide application of intermodal containers. In 1955, former trucking company owner Malcom McLean worked with engineer Keith Tantlinger to develop the modern intermodal container. The challenge was to design a shipping container that could efficiently be loaded onto ships and would hold securely on long sea voyages. The result was a box that was 8 feet tall and 8 feet wide, constructed of steel. The design incorporated a twistlock mechanism atop each of the four corners, allowing the container to be easily secured and lifted using cranes. After helping McLean create the successful design, Tantlinger convinced him to give the patented designs to industry; this began international standardization of shipping containers. 3.