What Is A Container Transport?

Businesses rely on the transportation of goods from the point of production to the point of consumption. But this function of transportation needs a secure, strong, and fast mechanism that ensures the quality and integrity of the goods at the time of delivery. The goods can be fragile, perishable, or tiny in size, for which packaging and shipping needs special equipment to carry them safely. Probably these are the concept motivated engineers and pioneers of transportation to develop the concept of ‘container Transport’.

Containers are big metal boxes and frames and often tanks designed to accommodate goods for the purpose of transporting from point A to point B, but in a secure environment where the goods do not get damaged, crushed, perished, or spilled over.

Container Transport

The concept of containers was 1^st conceptualized in 1766 England, where wooden boxes were designed in boats to carry coals, then in 1830 again in Liverpool England metal containers were made to carry by train and other modes of transportation. But in 1917 Benjamin Franklin inaugurated probably the first design of modern container transports which were demountable and stackable in ships and used corrugated sheets for a sturdy frame.

With the evolution of business, the Container itself also has evolved too. Now they are stronger and smarter and come in several variations for different products and needs.

Types of containers:

• Dry storage container: This is the most used container and they come in various models standardized by the International organization of standard. These are mostly used for shipping dry materials. They come in 10ft, 20ft, and 40ft models.
• Open top container:  These containers come with a convertible soft top which can be completely removed to accommodate goods of any size for shipping. They also come in various models standardized by ISO.
• Open side storage container: This container is designed to open the sides to slide in bigger goods with conveniences like machinery and equipment. It gives a wider room for loading.
• Double door container: These containers are made with doors both insides and in the ends to have a wider room for loading. Construction materials like steel and iron are the best suited for this container. This container comes with a standardized 20ft and 40ft model.
• Flat rack container: This type of container comes with only a metal base and a collapsible side for folding purposes. This container is designed to carry wider body goods that do not fit into normal containers.
•  Tunnel containers: These containers are simple metal box designs like dry storage containers with doors opening at both ends for the convenience of loading big-bodied goods.
•  Refrigerated ISO containers: These are temperature regulated shipping containers. They are designed to keep the temperature low. These containers are mostly used for perishable items like meat, fruits, vegetable, or seafood, they are also used to ship volatile chemicals that need to be kept under low temperatures.
• Insulated or thermal containers: These containers come with insulated walls for thermal protection. They are designed to protect the goods from extreme temperature variation of the outer environment in a long period of the journey.
• Tanks: These are container storage units to store and transport liquid goods. They are made of high quality anti-corrosive thick sheets of steel to protect the good regardless of the nature of it. The Tank structure is fitted inside a cuboid steel frame standardized for stacking in ships and trains.
• Half-height containers: These containers are half in height to pack goods like bigger machinery or stone artifacts etc. which might not fit in the confinement of regular containers.
• Car carriers: These are like dry containers with a door at one end but specially designed to transport two to six cars in upper-lower berth design.

The containers transport system is a boon to the industry as they not only guarantee the safety and integrity of the goods, they offer much more. They can be tracked and monitor 24x7 with GPS, they can be temperature regulated, customized according to needs, etc. Containers have come a long way from mere wooden boxes to now thermally insulated units. Nobody knows what is waiting in the future in this niche.