A shipping container is used for temporary storage or the transportation of goods from one place to another. To accommodate different types of goods, these containers are designed specially using different materials. Shipping containers are available in various weights and sizes.

Shipping containers are available in widths of 8 feet, different lengths such as 10 feet, 20 feet, 30 feet and 40 feet and heights of either 8.5 feet or 9.5 feet.

It is important to be aware of the following terms when discussing shipping containers.

•    Shipping container rating: The rating is the maximum weight of the contents which is permissible including the weight of the shipping container.

•    Tare weight or tare mass: this the mass of the unfilled container under normal operating conditions.

•    Payload:  This refers to the total load that a shipping container can carry.

The shipping container has stickers that demonstrate its tare weight, rating and payload. The sticker demonstrating the identification code is also placed inside and outside the container wall. The identification code helps to identify the owner of the shipping container and the number of containers. This data is used in tracing and controlling the container, bill of lading and to better monitor cargo.

Generally shipping containers are divided into two sets:

•    Dry cargo or general purpose containers: these are commonly used in the shipping industry because of the strong and waterproof nature.

•    Special cargo container: a tank container for transporting chemicals and a thermal container for transporting goods like fruits, meat, etc are used as cargo containers.

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 20th, 2008 at 11:07 am and is filed under Shipping containers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.