-->
By Rajkamal Rao
Go to The Move
The shipping industry has standardized its hardware to make shipping easy and efficient. In developing the intermodal freight container, it has made it easy for customers to ship goods from one mode of transport (such as truck) to another (such as rail or ship) without unloading and reloading the container. The progress the industry has made in this regard is truly remarkable. In fact, your shipping container is sealed in your presence when it leaves your home. And unless it is selected for inspection by port authorities, it will arrive at the India customs facility in the exact sealed state - where the seal will be broken in your presence.
Standardization however means that options are limited for the shipper. Much like Henry Ford’s famous quote - “any customer can have a car painted any color that he wants so long as it is black” - the shipping industry has limited container sizes to just two - 20 ft and 40 ft.
According to Hapag-Lloyd America Inc, a major shipping line, there is always the possibility that individual container manufacturers and shipping lines will have container specifications which vary somewhat from the standard. You need to inquire about precise specifications from your shipping line or forwarder when you arrange for your shipment.
But back to the basics. A 20 ft. container is 20 ft long, 8 feet wide and 8 ½ feet high (all dimensions external). The internal dimensions are 19'4" x 7'8" x 7'10" giving you an internal volume of 1,172 cft. But this limit can only be reached if you were shipping cotton or grain where the shipment could reasonably fit every cubic inch of space in the container. Since your shipment is likely to be made up of scores of odd-sized boxes coupled with furniture of various shapes, you can practically accommodate no more than 1,000 - 1,050 cft for a 20 ft. container. A 40 ft. container is 40 ft long with the same width and height as a 20 ft. container. It gives you about 2,344 cft of internal space and a maximum gross weight of 30,480 kg (67,200 lbs). In recent years, the industry has introduced the “High-cube container” which is a 40 ft. container that is a foot taller giving you more than 12% additional volume.
The shipping industry prefers gross weight as a more practical metric to determine container limits.
By Rajkamal Rao
Go to The Move
The shipping industry has standardized its hardware to make shipping easy and efficient. In developing the intermodal freight container, it has made it easy for customers to ship goods from one mode of transport (such as truck) to another (such as rail or ship) without unloading and reloading the container. The progress the industry has made in this regard is truly remarkable. In fact, your shipping container is sealed in your presence when it leaves your home. And unless it is selected for inspection by port authorities, it will arrive at the India customs facility in the exact sealed state - where the seal will be broken in your presence.
Standardization however means that options are limited for the shipper. Much like Henry Ford’s famous quote - “any customer can have a car painted any color that he wants so long as it is black” - the shipping industry has limited container sizes to just two - 20 ft and 40 ft.
According to Hapag-Lloyd America Inc, a major shipping line, there is always the possibility that individual container manufacturers and shipping lines will have container specifications which vary somewhat from the standard. You need to inquire about precise specifications from your shipping line or forwarder when you arrange for your shipment.
But back to the basics. A 20 ft. container is 20 ft long, 8 feet wide and 8 ½ feet high (all dimensions external). The internal dimensions are 19'4" x 7'8" x 7'10" giving you an internal volume of 1,172 cft. But this limit can only be reached if you were shipping cotton or grain where the shipment could reasonably fit every cubic inch of space in the container. Since your shipment is likely to be made up of scores of odd-sized boxes coupled with furniture of various shapes, you can practically accommodate no more than 1,000 - 1,050 cft for a 20 ft. container. A 40 ft. container is 40 ft long with the same width and height as a 20 ft. container. It gives you about 2,344 cft of internal space and a maximum gross weight of 30,480 kg (67,200 lbs). In recent years, the industry has introduced the “High-cube container” which is a 40 ft. container that is a foot taller giving you more than 12% additional volume.
The shipping industry prefers gross weight as a more practical metric to determine container limits.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thank you for your note. Please consider signing up for email or RSS updates on our home page www.relocationtoindia.com