Shipping containers - Container trackingShipping containers are large standardised storage containers that facilitate and accelerate international goods traffic enormously. Consequently they are the key to ongoing economic globalisation. It is hardly surprising that shipping containers have been a resounding success for over 50 years as almost every commodity can be transported in shipping containers. They enable global standardised loading, transport, storage and unloading of goods, particularly on land and water without the need for transshipment of individual goods. By standardising the containers, they can be carried by different means of transport such as container ships, freight trains and trucks and can be transshipped efficiently and quickly.The most common shipping containers are 8 feet wide and 20 or 40 feet long, they are also referred to as 20-foot containers and 40-foot containers. Here, the 20-foot container is used as a unit of measure for standardised counting of containers, whereby a 20-foot container is equivalent to one TEU. As a result, the loading capacity of container ships and the handling capacity of container ports and goods stations is specified in TEU. While the container width is always consistent, there are special sizes regarding the container height and container length, to optimise the use of space especially for road transport. Shipping container transport can pose risks which arise due to specific chemical, biological, mechanical or climatic stresses. It is therefore necessary to check before transport by container under what conditions certain goods can be transported by shipping container and what type of container is the most appropriate with regard to transport safety when other logistics objectives are followed. More information: Container Dimensions and Capacity |