Transforming the Shipping Industry

 

Standardized containers have transformed the shipping and container transport services Gold Coast industry of the world, allowing the transport of goods by rail, road and ship easily, all because the containers can fit onto different forms of transport.

 

As it is, international shipments of goods, especially in the maritime sector, are mainly based on container transport services Gold Coast. The containers are all in standard sizes and can be seamlessly transported by ship, trucks and trains.

 

Standard sizes

 

These containers made in standard sizes can also be transported efficiently over long distances. They can be transferred from one means of transport without being opened. The standardization of containers has helped increase efficiency and economies of scale.  

 

Short history

 

Modern container transport services Gold Coast celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2006. Almost from the first voyage, the use of this method of transport for goods grew steadily since then and in just five decades, containerships had carried about 60% of the value of goods shipped via sea.

 

In 1955, Malcolm P. McLean, thought it would be much simpler and quicker to have one container that could be lifted from a vehicle directly onto a ship without first having to unload its contents.

 

Today, major international ports provide specifically dedicated terminals for loading and unloading of containers and their transfer on trains or trucks.

 

Easy transport

 

Containers could then be moved easily between ships, trucks and trains, simplifying the whole process. This would eventually lead to a revolution in cargo transportation and international trade over the next 50 years.

 

This mode of transport development brings enormous benefits to international trade in terms of reducing transport costs, damage to goods and theft. It was a logical next step that container sizes could be standardized so that they could be most efficiently stacked.

 

Standardization

 

This standardization now applies across the global industry. The 20-foot container, referred to as a Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit (TEU) became the industry standard reference with cargo volume and vessel capacity now measured in TEUs.

 

The 40-foot length container - literally 2 TEUs - became known as the Forty-foot Equivalent Unit (FEU) and is the most frequently used container today.

 

Shipment types

 

FCL means full container load, usually when the goods are received by a single recipient.

This type of shipment is usually preferred by those who have large quantities of goods to be sent for a single receiver.

 

LCL means less than container load. The shipment is for the non-exclusive use of the container. Here the rental is organized so as to provide for multiple recipients. If the goods to be shipped are not enough to fill a standard container, the load is grouped with other lots for the same destination in a Container Freight Station.

 

Last notes

 

Presently, there is a wide range of containers that are used according to the particularity of the goods (refrigerated containers, tank-containers, flat racks, open tops or open sides, etc.)

 

This modern method of transport developed in 1955 is now the most-used transport in the world and is crucial in the strategy of a good logistics process.