International shipments, especially in the maritime sector, rely mainly on the transport of containers. These container services are manufactured in standard sizes and might be transported with efficiency over long distances and transferred from a carrier while not being opened.
Standardised containers have transformed the shipping and transportation industry, making it possible to transport goods by rail, road, and ship quickly, as containers can easily adapt to different modes of transport.
Standardisation of container services helps to increase efficiency and economies of scale when transporting. But how did this transport system happen, and what container shipments were made? You will read all this in the below description.
Container Services: History
Modern container shipping: The use of this mode of freight transport has grown steadily, and in just a few decades, container ships would carry around 60-70% of the value of goods shipped by sea. However, the idea of using some shipping containers was not entirely new. Boxes which are very similar to modern containers, were used for combined rail and equid transport in England within the early years. The U.S. government used small, standard-size containers during war II, which proved to be a method of unloading and unloading fast and efficient distribution.
However, in 1955, Malcolm P. McLean, a trucking businessperson from North Carolina, USA, bought a boat business with the concept of hauling entire truck trailers with their cargo still in the interior. He realised that it might be much easier and faster to have a container lifted from a vehicle directly onto a ship while not unloading its contents initially.
His concepts were based on the idea that one can considerably improve potency through an “intermodalism” system. Therefore, transporting the same container with the same cargo with minimal disruption via different modes of transport.
Containers can move seamlessly between trucks, ships, and trains. This would simplify the entire logistics process, and ultimately the implementation of this idea led to a revolution in freight transportation and international trade over the next 50 years.
This developed mode of transport brings enormous benefits to international trade-in, reducing transport costs, damage to property, and theft. The distribution chain is simplified since the product remains within the container from the beginning. Then from the manufacturer to the end customer. Each container services movement is automat thanks to specific means.
Four types of containers
Flat rack containers:
These contain collapsible sides that fold up, ideal for equipment, shipping boats, and cars.
Side Containers Open:
In this, the doors of the container can be fully opened to the side, allowing ideal solutions for shipping vegetables and comprehensive loading of materials and container. Hence, these types of container services are mostly used by common distributors.
Open Top Containers:
As the name suggests, these containers do not have a roof, making it possible to ship goods of any height, such as machinery or logs.
Refrigerated containers:
If you want to transport food stocks or pharmaceuticals, ask container services to send these types of containers.
Types of container shipments
Shipments per container are classified according to the number of final recipients:
FCL (Full Container Load): When a single recipient receives the goods, whether the maximum weight or volume is reach. This type of shipment is generally us by those who have many goods to send for a single recipient.
LCL (Less than Container Load): When the recipient replaces the non-exclusive use of the container. The rental can organis to provide for several recipients; if the goods to shipp are insufficient to fill a standard container. The load is group with other lots for the same destination in a station.
Conclusion
In conclusion, there’s a very good range of containers used according to the particularity of the goods: tank containers, refrigerated containers, open tops, flat racks, or open sides. This mode of transport developed after the Second World War is the most used globally and can be crucial in good logistics or container services.
