CONTAINERIZED CARGO- TYPES OF CONTAINERS AND THEIR USES-LOSS MINIMIZATION

BY- SWAPNIL SINGH

FS11-017 ML(FS & CM)11-13

Origin of containers
It origins in the late 1780s or earlier. The global standardization of containers and container handling equipment was one of the important innovations in 20th century logistics. By the 1830s, railroads on several continents were carrying containers that could be transferred to trucks or ships. for shipping coal on and off barges, 'loose boxes' were used to containerize coal from the late 1780s on places like the Bridgewater Canal. By the 1840s, iron boxes were in use as well as wooden ones. The early 1900s saw the adoption of closed container boxes designed for movement between road and rail.

In the United Kingdom, several railway companies were using similar containers by the beginning of the 20th century and in the 1920s the Railway Clearing House standardized the RCH container.

 From 1926 to 1947, in the US, the Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee Railway carried motor carrier vehicles and shippers' vehicles loaded on flatcars between Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Chicago, Illinois. By 1953, the CB&Q, the Chicago and Eastern Illinois and the Southern Pacific railroads had joined the innovation. Most cars were surplus flatcars equipped with new decks. By 1955, an additional 25 railroads had begun some form of piggy-back trailer service.

In 1955, businessman (and former trucking company owner) Malcolm McLean worked with engineer Keith Tan linger to develop the modern intermodal container. The design incorporated a twist-lock mechanism atop each of the four corners, allowing the container to be easily secured and lifted using cranes. Helping McLean make the successful design, Tan linger convinced McLean to give the patented designs to the industry; this began international standardization of shipping containers

Toward the end of World War II, the United States Army used specialized containers to speed the loading and unloading of transport ships. The army used the term "transporters" to identify the containers, for shipping household goods of officers in the field.

Theft of material and damage to wooden crates, in addition to handling time, by stevedores at the Port of Pusan, convinced the army that steel containers were needed. In 1952 the army began using the term CONEX, short for "Container Express". The first major shipment of CONEX (containing engineering supplies and spare parts) were shipped by rail from the Columbus General Depot in Georgia to the Port of San Francisco, then by ship to Yokohama, Japan, and then to Korea, in late 1952. These standards were adopted in the United Kingdom for containers and largely displaced wooden containers in the 1950s. The railways of the USSR had their own small containers

Definition of Container
Any object that can be used to hold things (especially a large metal boxlike object of standardized dimensions that can be loaded from one form of transport to another). A shipping container is a container with strength suitable to withstand shipment, storage, and handling. Shipping containers range from large reusable steel boxes used for intermodal shipments to the ubiquitous corrugated boxes. Containerization is a system of intermodal freight transport using standard intermodal containers as prescribed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). These can be loaded and sealed intact onto container ships, railroad cars, planes, and trucks. These Steel boxes have become the building blocks of the new global economy.

TYPES OF CONTAINERS
1. Standard Containers 2. Bulk Container 3. Flat rack Container 4. Hard Top Container 5. High-Cube Container 6. Open-Top Container 7. Platform Container 8. Refrigerated and Insulated Containers 9. Tank Container 10. Ventilated Container

STANDARD CONTAINERS
Standard containers are also known as general purpose containers. They are closed containers. Types Standard containers with doors at one or both end(s) Standard containers with doors at one or both end(s) and doors over the entire length of one or both sides Standard containers with doors at one or both end(s) and doors on one or both sides *NOTE: In addition, the various types of standard container

also differ in dimensions and weight, resulting in a wide range of standard containers.

Standard containers are mainly used as 20' and 40' containers. Containers with smaller dimensions are very seldom used. Frame and bottom cross members are made of steel profiles, while three different materials are used for the walls:
i. Steel sheet, corrugated Characteristics: low material costs easy to repair high tare weight susceptible to corrosion difficult to clean owing to corrugated walls ii. Aluminum sheet in conjunction with stiffening profiles Characteristics: low tare weight high material costs easily deformed, very quickly dented

iii. . Plywood with glass fiber-reinforced plastic coating (plywood +

GRP) Characteristics: easy to clean owing to smooth surfaces easy to repair strong and resilient, does not dent moderate material costs moderate tare weight

The floor is generally made of wood, usually planking or plywood. Although wood is relatively expensive, it has substantial advantages over other materials: it is strong and resilient, does not dent, may be easily replaced during repairs and, when appropriately finished, has an adequate coefficient of friction, which is important for cargo securing.

BULK CONTAINERS
Bulk (or bulk cargo) containers have three loading hatches in the roof, each of a diameter of approx. 455 mm The distance between the hatches (center to center) is 1.83 m. On the door side, there are two discharge hatches, which are sometimes equipped with short discharge tubes for guiding the bulk cargo. Alternatively, two unloading hatches may be mounted in the doorways, for emptying the containers. Lashing rings are mounted in the top side rails for securing the cargo. Some bulk containers are equipped with forklift pockets, which allow handling by forklift trucks.

FLAT RACK CONTAINERS

Flat racks consist of a floor structure with a high loading capacity composed of a steel frame and a softwood floor and two end walls, which may either be fixed or collapsible. The end walls are stable enough to allow cargo securing means to be attached and several flat racks to be stacked on top of one another. Flat racks are available in 20' and 40' sizes. A number of lashing rings, to which the cargo may be secured, are installed in the side rails, the corner posts and the floor.

HARD TOP CONTAINERS

The walls of hard-top containers are generally made of corrugated steel. The floor is made of wood. It has two typical distinguishing structural features.
On the one hand, it is equipped with a removable steel roof. In some types, this roof has points for accommodating forklift trucks, allowing the roof to be lifted by forklift truck. In addition, the door header may be swiveled out.

These two structural features greatly simplify the process of packing and unpacking the container. In particular, it is very easy to pack and unpack the container from above or through the doors by crane or crab when the roof is open and the door header is swiveled out.

In the case of transport of an over height cargo, the container roof may be left open and fastened directly to a side wall on the inside of the container. To do this, the roof only needs approx. 13 cm (5 1/8") of space. Lashing rings, to which the cargo may be secured, are installed in the upper and lower side rails, the corner posts and the middle of the side walls

HIGH-CUBE CONTAINERS
High-cube containers are similar in structure to standard containers, but taller. In contrast to standard containers, which have a maximum height of 2591 mm (8'6"), high-cube containers are 2896 mm, or 9'6", tall. A number of lashing rings, capable of bearing loads of at most 1000 kg, are mounted on the front top end rail and bottom cross member and the corner posts. High-cube containers are used for all types general cargo (dry cargo). However, they are particularly suitable for transporting light, voluminous cargoes and over height cargoes up to a maximum of 2.70 m tall.

OPEN-TOP CONTAINERS
The walls of open-top containers are generally made of corrugated steel. The floor is made of wood. It has the following typical distinguishing structural features. The roof consists of removable bows and a removable tarpaulin. The door header may be swiveled out. These two structural features greatly simplify the process of packing and unpacking the container. It is very easy to pack and unpack the container from above or through the doors by crane or crab when the roof is open and the door header is swiveled out.

PLATFORMS CONTAINERS
Platforms consist solely of a floor structure with extremely high loading capacity, they have no side or end walls. This high loading capacity makes it possible to concentrate heavy weights on small areas. A platform consists of a steel frame and a wooden floor structure. Lashing rings, to which the cargo may be secured, are installed in the side rails. The lashing rings may take loads of up to 3.000 kg.

REFRIGERATED AND INSULATED CONTAINERS

Refrigerated and insulated containers are mainly available as 20' and 40' containers. A distinction may be drawn between two different systems: 1. Integral Unit (Integral Reefer Container, Integrated Unit):
This type of refrigerated container has an integral refrigeration unit for controlling the temperature inside the container. It is arranged in such a way that the external dimensions of the container meet ISO standards and thus fit into the container ship cell guides. When being transported by ship, integral units have to be connected to the on-board power supply system. The number of refrigerated containers which may be connected depends on the capacity of the ship's power supply system.

To ensure adequate circulation of the cold air, the floor is provided with gratings. Pallets form an additional space between container floor and cargo, so also forming a satisfactory air flow channel. In addition, the side walls of the container are "corrugated", which ensures satisfactory air flow there too. The temperature display is attached to the outside of the refrigeration unit, so that operation of the unit may be checked at any time.

2. Porthole containers:
This type of container is often referred to not as a refrigerated container but as an insulated container, as it has no integral refrigeration unit. The lack of a refrigeration unit allows such containers to have a larger internal volume and payload than integral units. On board, the inside of the container is supplied with cold air via the ship's central cooling plant. The air flows through the container in the same way as in integral units. Cold air is blown in at the bottom and the "warm" air is removed at the top.

.
Porthole containers do not have an integral temperature display. Either such a display is installed in the terminal refrigeration systems or the "clip-on units" or the temperature values may be obtained from the ship's central cooling plant. If the porthole-containers are provided with "clip-on units" when ashore, they no longer fulfill ISO requirements with regard to dimensions.

3. General:
The doors constitute a weak point in both integral units and porthole containers. Wear to rubber door gaskets or improper handling may result in the doors no longer closing correctly, so that they are no longer sealed against rainwater and the like. During transport of chilled goods and frozen goods, water ingress may lead to cargo spoilage or to ice formation in the door area. In addition, refrigeration capacity has to be increased to compensate for losses due to cold air leakage.

TANK CONTAINERS
Tank containers must be at least 80% full, to prevent dangerous surging of the liquids in transit. On the other hand, they must not as a rule be over 95% full, or there will not be sufficient space for thermal expansion. Tank containers intended for transporting foodstuffs must be labeled "Potable Liquids only". Some hazardous materials must be transported in tank containers with no in- or outlet openings below the surface of the liquid.

VENTILATED CONTAINERS
Ventilated containers are also known as passive (naturally) ventilated or coffee containers. Ventilation is provided by ventilation openings in the top and bottom side rails. The openings do not let in spray, to prevent depreciation of the cargo by rain or spray. Lashing rings, to which the cargo may be secured, are installed in the upper and lower side rails and the corner posts.

CONTAINERIZATION IN INDIA
Containerization was introduced for the first time in Indian domestic market way back in 1966 by the Indian railways to provide door to door service to their customers and attract cargo from roadways. However the International Marine Container failed to become popular right up to the late 1980s which in turn affected international trade growth. It was only in 1987 that the Government of India realized the importance of containerization and started constructing a satellite port at Bombay which commenced operations in 1988 and was christened The Jawaharlal Nehru Port (JNP) after the first Prime Minister of India.

 India acquired its first cellular ship in 1948 with a capacity of 400 TEUs. The first container was handled at Cochin in 1979 carried by a vessel owned by American President Lines which also commenced a scheduled service from Bombay followed by several other foreign companies. The shippers and consignees also responded positively to this new development and forced the government to make heavy investments in the infrastructure for growth of containerization in India.

CONCLUSION
The most important aspect of the containerization is the suitability for door to door service i.e. a shipment can be made complete in all the respects from shippers premises in one country to the consignees premises in another country. Trade in general and exports and imports in particular have benefited by containerization. Marine risks by way of weather damage, thefts etc are reduced due to cargo being transported in containers. It results in lowering of insurance premium. Earlier when general cargo was transported in non unitized form, weather proof and sturdy packaging was a necessity. But in container transport this need has been eliminated and package size has been reduced to optimize container space usage. Transportation of cargo in earlier era by general cargo vessels necessitated warehousing at ports of loading and discharge for storage, sorting, packing, inspection etc.


Containerization has dispensed with such processes leading to cost savings. Container carriers sail at high speeds and maintain strict schedules. This allows the exporters and importers to do forward planning and maintain lower inventory. Containerization leads to better service to customers in the form of quicker delivery, assured transit times and less damage to cargoes in transit because container carriers are high speed vessels which spend less time in ports due to improved efficiency of port handling equipment.