Intermodal Containers

Intermodal containers are reusable steel boxes used for the storage or movement of products and materials. The term “intermodal” means the containers can be moved through different modes of transportation without unloading or reloading their contents. Intermodal freight transportation uses rail, ship and truck.

Intermodal containers are known by many different names. Containers, freight containers, hi-cube containers, ISO containers and shipping containers are common names for these steel boxes. They are also called boxes, conex boxes and sea cans. Whatever someone calls them, they provide safe and secure storage and movement of contents.

According to the World Shipping Council, there are 17 million inter modal containers in the world. They are manufactured in several standardized sizes to suit various types of cargo. Their capacity is usually expressed in twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), or twenty feet long by eight feet wide. Air freight uses lighter unit load devices (ULDs), which are pallets or containers used for luggage, mail and other aircraft freight. Read more of this post