The intermodal container may be referred to by other names such as a box, high-cube container, ISO container, freight container, sea box, conex box, and container. These units are manufactured from standardized reusable steel. They provide secure and effective and safe storage for transporting materials across the world via a international containerized intermodal freight system.
The term "Intermodal" refers that the container can be moved from one type of transport to another. For example, intermodal refers from ship to rail or ship to truck, without having to unload and relaod the contents of the container. Several of the container lengths which have a unique ISO 6346 reporting mark on them vary from 8-feet or 2.438 m to 56 feet or 17.07m. These units are as high as 2.438 m or 8feet to 9 feet, 6 inches or 2.9 m. It is estimated that there are around 17 million intermodal containers of different types to suit a range of cargoes in the globe.
These containers can be transported by container ship, freight train and semi-truck trailer. They could also travel many distances without having to be unpacked. At container terminals, they are transferred between modes using container cranes. Normally a reach-stacker is employed to transfer from a flat-bed truck to a rail car. These models are secured during transportation by a variety of "twistlock" points located at each corner on the container.
In order to manage to containers identification and tracking, each container is equipped with a bin identification code or BIC code painted directly on the outside of the box. These models could carry things 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 accommodate double-stacked containers safely and efficiently. The loading gauge of a rail system could actually restrict the specific modes of the shipment and the kinds of container shipment. Like for instance, the smaller loading gauges that are usually found in European railroads would only handle single-stacked containers. In certain countries like the United Kingdom, there are some sections of the rail network which cannot accommodate high-cube containers, unless they can utilize well cars only.
These containers are made to last and are utilized to travel extreme distances. They are re-used with businesses and could carry an enormous amount of cargo. These containers are responsible for transporting many of the things we rely on everyday around the world.