The intermodal container can be referred to by other names such as a box, high-cube container, ISO container, sea can, freight container, container and conex box. 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 international containerized intermodal freight system.
The term "Intermodal" means that the container is capable of being moved from one type of transport to another. Like for instance, intermodal means from ship to rail or ship to truck, without having to unload and relaod the container's contents. A few of the container lengths which have a unique ISO 6346 reporting mark on them vary from 8-feet or 2.438 m to 17.07m or 56 feet. 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 different kinds to suit a variety of cargoes.
Containers are capable of being transported by semi-truck trailer, container ship and freight trains. They can travel the distance of a single journey without being unpacked. At container terminals, they are transferred between modes utilizing container cranes. Usually a reach-stacker is employed to transfer from a flat-bed truck to a rail car. These models are secured during transportation by a range of "twistlock" points located at every corner on the container.
To be able to manage to containers tracking and identification, each container is equipped with a BIC code or bin identification code painted directly on the outside of the box. These models are capable of lifting items ranging approximately 20 to 25 tonnes.
For transport on rails, the container can be carried on well cars or on flatcars. Well cars have been designed particularly for use by intermodal containers. They could efficiently and safely accommodate double-stacked containers. The loading gauge of a rail system can actually restrict the specific modes of the shipment and the kinds of container shipment. For instance, the smaller loading gauges that are normally found in European railroads would only handle single-stacked containers. In certain countries like the UK, 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 strong enough to last through the many travels across extreme distances. These containers are reused by businesses and are able to transport large amounts of cargo. These containers are responsible for transporting numerous of the things we depend on everyday all around the world.