General about ISO container

We learned about the history of the birth of containers in the field of multimodal transport in the previous article: Containers are more important to globalization than all trade agreements! In this article, Blogistics will introduce in detail the concept of standard containers in the field of multimodal transport, or in short, multimodal containers, or ISO containers.

What is ISO container

As we know, thanks to the process of Containerisation, containers have been designed to carry goods on many different means of transport such as ships, railways and trucks without unloading (so they are also called intermodal containers). And to ensure safety in transportation and facilitate multimodal transportation, a common standard for containers is needed, which is ISO (so these standard containers are also called ISO containers). Currently, there are more than 20 ISO standards related to cargo containers established, the most notable of which are the following ISOs: ISO 668:2020 (regulations on classification, size, and assessment of containers); ISO 6343:2022 (regulations on coding, identification and marking of containers); ISO 1496:2013 (regulations on Technical Specifications – testing).

According to ISO 668:1995(E), a freight container is an article of transport having the following characteristics:
– having the characteristics of durability and adequate strength suitable for reuse;
– specially designed to be able to carry goods by one or more modes of transport, without having to be unpacked and repacked en route;
– equipped with equipment allowing convenient loading and unloading, especially when transferring from one mode of transport to another;
– designed to facilitate the loading and unloading of goods;
– having an internal volume equal to or greater than 1 cubic meter (35.3 cubic feet).

Structure of container

There are many different types of containers available today, depending on their intended use. Each type has its own specific structural characteristics but still adheres to certain standards to ensure consistency and convenience for use in multimodal transport. For example, a liquid container will consist of a cylindrical tank surrounded by a rectangular frame with standard twist-lock corners like a regular container. Below is the basic structure of the most common type of container, the General Purpose Container.

• Top of container: includes the container roof, made of corrugated steel sheet or Flat roof; a steel plate extension to cover the joint between roof and container beam (Header Extension Plate).
• Frame of container: has a rectangular shape and is the most important part, determining the load-bearing capacity of the container, including: 4 Corner Posts, 2 Top Side Rails, 2 Bottom Side Rails, 2 Door Header & Door Sills, 2 Top End Rail & Bottom End Rail.
• Bottom and floor of container: Containe bottom includes Cross Members connecting with 2 Bottom Side Rails to form a load-bearing surface and connect to the container floor; are mainly made of plywood but some shipping lines have experimented with container floors made of bamboo or steel floors.
• Side of container: includes 2 Side Panels on both sides of the container and 1 front wall of the container (End wall). These are metal panels with a surface that is usually corrugated and are attached together to cover the sides and increase the load-bearing capacity of the container.
• Door of container: designed with 2 steel doors fastened to 2 corner posts on the back of the container with hinges. The edges of the doors are sealed with rubber gaskets. On the doors are round metal bars that act as latches and are controlled by handles (Locking Bars).
• Corner Fitting or Corner Casting: are thick, hollow steel boxes welded to the top and bottom corners of the container. These hollow steel boxes are drilled with 3 holes: 1 at the bottom to connect to the twistlock; 2 holes on the 2 sides to serve as hooks for the lashing bars on the ship.

Dimension of ISO container

Below is a table of dimensions and classifications of common container types according to ISO.
Note: ISO standards are not a fixed set of numbers (only fixed for the external dimensions of the container) but a set of options (minimum container dimensions; maximum total mass), so depending on the container manufacturer, there may be different parameters.

Hopefully the above article has helped readers better understand the concept, structure and some common types of containers according to ISO standards in the field of multimodal transport. If you need further discussion, need advice or have a need for Logistics services, please comment below or contact our team of experts immediately to receive the earliest support.