An intermodal container or freight container (commonly shipping container) is a reusable transport and storage unit for moving products and raw materials between locations or countries; the terms container or box may be used on their own within the context of shipping. Containers manufactured to ISO specifications may be referred to as ISO containers and the term high-cube container is used for units that are taller than normal. There are approximately seventeen million intermodal containers in the world and a large proportion of the world's long distance freight generated by international trade is transported inside shipping containers.
The containerization system developed from a design of an 8-foot (2.438 m) cube (2.44 m×2.44 m×2.44 m) units used by the United States' military and later standardised by extension to 10-foot (3.05 m), 20-foot (6.10 m), and 40-foot (12.19 m) lengths. Longer, higher and wider variants are now in general use around in various places.
Container variants are available for many different cargo types. Non-container methods of transport include bulk cargo, break bulk cargo and tankers/oil tankers used for liquids. Bulk cargo is commodity cargo that is transported unpackaged in large quantities. These cargos are usually dropped or poured, with a spout or shovel bucket, as a liquid or as a mass of relatively small solids (e.g. grain, coal), into a bulk carrier ship's hold, railroad car, or tanker truck/trailer/semi-trailer body. Bulk cargos are classified as liquid or dry. In shipping, break bulk cargo or general cargo is a term that covers a great variety of goods that must be loaded individually, and not in intermodal containers nor in bulk as with oil or grain. Ships that carry this sort of cargo are often called general cargo ships. The term break bulk derives from the phrase breaking bulk — the extraction of a portion of the cargo of a ship or the beginning of the unloading process from the ship's holds. These goods may be in bags, cases, crates, drums, barrels, or they may be kept together by baling or loaded onto pallets.
|
20′ container |
40′ container |
40′ high-cube container |
45′ high-cube container |
| imperial |
metric |
imperial |
metric |
imperial |
metric |
imperial |
metric |
external
dimensions |
length |
20′ 0″ |
6.096 m |
40′ 0″ |
12.192 m |
40′ 0″ |
12.190 m |
45′ 0″ |
13.716 m |
| width |
8′ 0″ |
2.438 m |
8′ 0″ |
2.438 m |
8′ 0″ |
2.438 m |
8′ 0″ |
2.438 m |
| height |
8′ 6″ |
2.591 m |
8′ 6″ |
2.591 m |
9′ 6″ |
2.896 m |
9′ 6″ |
2.896 m |
interior
dimensions |
length |
18′ 10 5⁄16″ |
5.758 m |
39′ 5 45⁄64″ |
12.032 m |
39′ 4″ |
12.000 m |
44′ 4″ |
13.556 m |
| width |
7′ 8 19⁄32″ |
2.352 m |
7′ 8 19⁄32″ |
2.352 m |
7′ 7″ |
2.440 m |
7′ 8 19⁄32″ |
2.352 m |
| height |
7′ 9 57⁄64″ |
2.385 m |
7′ 9 57⁄64″ |
2.385 m |
8′ 9″ |
2.650 m |
8′ 9 15⁄16″ |
2.698 m |
| door aperture |
width |
7′ 8 ⅛″ |
2.343 m |
7′ 8 ⅛″ |
2.343 m |
7′ 6" |
2.280 m |
7′ 8 ⅛″ |
2.343 m |
| height |
7′ 5 ¾″ |
2.280 m |
7′ 5 ¾″ |
2.280 m |
8′ 5″ |
2.560 m |
8′ 5 49⁄64″ |
2.585 m |
| volume |
1,169 ft³ |
33.1 m³ |
2,385 ft³ |
67.5 m³ |
2,660 ft³ |
75.3 m³ |
3,040 ft³ |
86.1 m³ |
maximum
gross mass |
66,139 lb |
30,400 kg |
66,139 lb |
30,400 kg |
68,008 lb |
30,848 kg |
66,139 lb |
30,400 kg |
| empty weight |
4,850 lb |
2,200 kg |
8,380 lb |
3,800 kg |
8,598 lb |
3,900 kg |
10,580 lb |
4,800 kg |
| net load |
61,289 lb |
28,200 kg |
57,759 lb |
26,600 kg |
58,598 lb |
26,580 kg |
55,559 lb |
25,600 kg |
For air freight the alternative and lighter IATA defined Unit Load Device is used. Cargo airlines (or airfreight carriers, and derivatives of these names) are airlines dedicated to the transport of cargo. Some cargo airlines are divisions or subsidiaries of larger passenger airlines.
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