container loading

Not only do we provide container loading systems, but we also offer a hydraulic lifting system, which we call ‘MDS’ and is specially designed to help you lift sea containers or box ones from the chassis to the ground, and vice versa. This lightweight system can cope with up to 35 tonnes and level the container with the loading platform.

The modular design of the system makes the operation simple. You’ll only need one person to conduct the lift onto the trailer or off it. The system consists of four electro-hydraulic jacks that attach to each corner of the container and then onto the container castings. You use a 1-tonne forklift truck to attach the jacks, and the jacks themselves are powered by a 440 v 3-phase power supply. The easy connection of the jacks to each other makes this an extremely safe way to load your container onto your trailer.

Containerisation is one of the biggest ever innovations to have taken place in the logistics industry. Although sources differ on when the invention of the first container took place, one thing no one can dispute is how far containers have come. Container design has become extremely efficient.

Like many other things, containers have their advantages and disadvantages. Below is a look at some of the pros and cons they offer, starting with the pros.

flexibility

Containers can hold a large variety of goods from food grains and products to machinery and more. Cargo that doesn’t fit into standard six-sided shipping containers (out of gauge cargo) can be transported on flatbeds or platform containers. When cargo is of an abnormal shape or size, you’ll often see the term ‘out of gauge cargo’ used.

Meanwhile, reefers can carry temperature-sensitive cargo, and operators can use flexitank containers to transport non-hazardous liquid cargo for transportation. Wine, latex and edible oils are all examples of this type of cargo.

easy to manage

Managing a full container load (FCL) is easier to manage than handling other ways to transport goods such as less-than-container loads (LCLs). Shipping containers are non-divisible units. Each container has a unique identification number so it’s easy to track and manage. Various agents in the shipping process, including the shipper, recipient, ports, customs authorities and more use this number to verify the cargo.

economies of scale

It’s much cheaper to transport loads by container than as loose goods or an LCL. Transportation in containers has had a major impact in terms of lowering the price of goods, too.

Economies of scale are a considerable factor. This is the general advantage companies enjoy as a result of producing in bulk or dealing in it.

durability

Although usage will determine how long a container lasts, a good container will serve you between 10 and 25 years. If a container is no longer used for shipping, it’s not all over for the container. The container can still serve as a storage item.

When a warehouse or distributor has reached its full storage capacity, containers can provide temporary storage. The business can also place them in any convenient location in the warehouse yard. The storage a container offers is flexible and temporary as necessary.

standardisation

ISO-certified containers possess standard sizes and dimensions. This means any standard transport or piece of material handling equipment (MHE) can handle them. Using, storing and transporting the containers is more straightforward, as a result.

safety and security

Containers are safe and secure. They’re walled on each side, except on the end where the double doors are situated. Each double door has lock rods. The operators use the rods to seal the container and lock it so the container is safe and tamper-proof.

Unfortunately, working with containers isn’t always as plain sailing as you might like it to be. Here are a few disadvantages of containers:

Constraints on space

Containers can hold a lot, but that same capacity is a double-edged sword because they take up a lot of space, regardless of whether they’re empty or have cargo in them. Terminals must ensure they have enough stacking space to accommodate the containers that go in and out of them.

To guarantee minimum port turnaround times for cargo ships, the latest container handling equipment and other necessary infrastructure must all be in place. The container terminal must consider all of this. Offering a favourable location isn’t enough.

Infrastructural costs

Dockside gantry cranes can cost millions. Leading ports and terminals will be able to afford these costs and upgrade their equipment in line with advances in technology; ports and terminals in developing countries may struggle to, however.

Potential for container management failure

Receipt and processing of information must be reliable to manage cargo in containers well. Implementing good terminal management software will make this possible. It doesn’t pay to cut costs on this. Doing so could spell disaster, and it likely will.

The need to reposition empty containers

When containers arrive with cargo, the company unloads them and moves them to the designated stack for empty containers. Operators must be able to keep their containers available where there’s demand. It means they must shift their containers in a timely fashion to the desired locations.

Companies spend a lot of money repositioning their containers. Whether they’re full or empty, containers take up the same amount of space in storage and during shipment. If operators don’t move empty containers to locations where they can be used, they’ll create an imbalance between supply and demand that generates a shortage of containers for shipping operations.

Containers are big and bulky and take some planning to load and transport. Below are a few tips on how you can improve your loading planning.

The days of load planners using nothing but graph paper, a pencil and their brain to plan container loading are long gone, or at least they should be. A computer can take care of the necessary calculations much faster.

Fitting cargo into a container is challenging, but the right software can work wonders. When the operator has to build a load, the planner enters information about the cargo into the system, such as the dimensions, weight, number of pieces and any special conditions. The software then quickly forms a pallet loading plan that fits all the cargo into the container, showing the operator where to place each piece and other important instructions. Often, the software will produce several plans so the operator can choose the one most suitable for your needs.

To form a good load plan, however, you have to feed the right data into your planning system. Getting the data wrong could see you fail to make the most of the space in the container, or items in the load could become damaged during transit. Measure and weigh each item in the load accurately.

The size of the container can have a significant impact on your costs. It can cost a lot more to transport a 40 feet container on the railways than a 20 foot one. Sometimes, choosing a heavyweight 20-foot container is more cost effective than using a lightweight 40 foot one as well.

High cube containers can help. An extra foot of height might not make much difference if you’re shipping a dense load, due to the weight limit and the possibility the load reaches the limit before you can capitalise on the additional space; if however, you’re shipping a less dense load, the high cube container will allow you to ship taller pallets and take advantage of the space.

The software may deal with the more scientific part of container load planning, but an experienced planner will know how to get creative and exploit the space in the container.

Modifying the packaging can create extra space in the container. If you make the pallets a few inches narrower, would that free up some room for extra pallets? Can you design cases slightly taller so each one holds more product?

Machinery and other large items might call for a flat rack or open top container, which can cost more than a standard container. If you transport this over the road, you could have to treat it as oversized cargo, which will then carry additional costs. Disassembling the load or reconfiguring it could help you to avoid the extra costs.

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Measurement of a container’s capacity is rated according to its cubic measurement and the maximum weight of the cargo it can hold.

The internal capacity of a container is measured in cubic metres in the UK and is calculated by multiplying the internal size of the container. That means the inside length, width and height. It’s important to measure the goods you’re loading correctly so you can maximise the amount of cargo you ship in the container and prevent a shortage of space.

To calculate the cubic measurement of the freight, multiply the length, breadth and height of each item that you’ll be loading.

Multiply the cubic metres total by the number of items that size which must go in the container. Check the end cubic metre total against the cubic metre capacity of the container.

It’s important to remember the invention of containers came about as a way to reduce costs and shipping time. This wasn’t only to minimise the direct costs of the operation, but also the indirect ones, including the costs associated with damage to items during shipping. Containers achieved the objective, lowering costs and shortening loading times.

Before the days of containers, businesses were wrestling with drums, cases, boxes, barrels, crates, cans, reels and more. They had to waste excessive amounts of time handling all these items that were different sizes and differently weighted.

If you have a container, you no longer need to grapple as much with this; however, to maximise container utilisation, you may have to increase the amount of manual work, complexity and, as a result, the execution time. Whereas for operators of ships and in ports, it’s about shifting as many tonnes as possible per hour, the simplicity of internal stacking makes a major difference for the people handling the containers. If you’re planning to implement a scheme that will use a higher percentage of the volume, consult them first.

In the wake of COVID-19, effective container utilisation has become even more essential. No business wants to pay the high costs of shipping only to ship half-empty containers. Unfortunately, a lot of businesses who rely on containers to keep their supply chains up and running don’t realise how much space they’re wasting in their containers. When it comes to improving your container utilisation, there are several avenues you can explore:

• the products and the way your business packages them for shipping;
• the size of shipping containers and the type you use;
• the manufacturing, ordering and shipping processes;
• the container load configurations.

Sometimes, the lack of efficient container utilisation is because of the type of container the business is using rather than the way the operator is loading it. A lot of businesses pay too little attention to appropriate container sizing when they book international ocean shipments. Instead, they leave these decisions up to their freight forwarders.

Optimising the combination of the container and the load can yield considerable savings by increasing the amount of space used in the container. Perhaps you’re using 40-foot containers and not able to double stack all your pallets, in which case a high cube container could be better because it’s taller and would allow you to fill all your container space. The cost might also be only a little more than a standard 40-foot unit, so sometimes it will be cheaper to hire 20-foot boxes instead of hiring 40-foot ones but only filling them partially.

As well as considering how the shape and size of packaging affect how it uses up container space, you should also think about minimising the amount of airspace inside your packaging.

This means thinking about the different elements of your manufacturing process and how you might revise them. One example would be to switch from manufacturing finished pieces of furniture to producing unassembled units or partially assembled ones you can pack more tightly into a container.

Flat packing lends itself tremendously well to container shipping. If you sell fully finished items of furniture, you might wish to ship the items in flat packs to their destination and build them, instead of building them first and shipping them from their point of origin.

It’s a good idea to check whether you can alter how you configure loads.

Are you palletising them? If so, did you know it’s easier to configure unpalletised cargo than palletised ones? Note that you might have to palletise loads further into the shipping process for them to continue on their journey; at the destination port or terminal, for instance. If this is the case, you might also have to provide instructions for destuffing and palletisation.

You may also need special equipment for palletisation and destuffing. Fortunately, shipping internationally without pallets won’t incur the same amount of time and costs that the inspection, certification and fumigation of loads incur when pallets are present. Depending on the type of products you wish to ship and the volume of which you plan to do so, comparing the cost of palletising the goods versus the cost of not palletising them could help you increase your container utilisation and save you time and money.

Unfortunately, shipping container accidents are common, and lots of shipping containers get lost at sea. This inflicts financial losses on the business and is also dangerous for human life and sea life. Incorrect loading is often the cause of these incidents.

Loading a container consists of four main steps:

1: checking the condition of the container;

2) considering the load distribution;

3) securing the cargo;

and 4) conducting a final check.

You should always load the container properly and double-check that the cargo is secure before the ship or another vehicle begins its journey with the container.

Below is a look at the process for loading shipping containers.

Before you load your container, you should conduct a thorough check of its condition. The first thing to look for is whether the container has a valid container safety convention (CSC) plate. If it doesn’t, send the container back to the supplier. Otherwise, move on to the next stage of the check.

Check the interior and exterior of the container, looking for various things:

• Does the panelling have any holes or tears in it?
• Is the container clean and dry inside?
• Is the floor space clear — such as free from protruding screws and nails — and undamaged?

You should also verify the container’s official payload and confirm whether it meets your requirements.

Creating your loading plan is the next step.

It’s essential to distribute the weight of the cargo evenly across the container floor. Never place more than 60% of the payload within half of the length. Before lifting things and putting them into place, think carefully about where exactly they must go.

Consider the weight, size and density of each item. You should place heavy cargo and liquids at the bottom, and lighter loads and dry products on the top. Separate accordingly any cargo that could cause damage (for instance, if it has sharp edges).

You must pack the cargo as tightly as possible into the container to stop it from moving.

Work from the bottom of the container to the top in tiers. Try to fill all the space. If items don’t fit, fill the gaps with empty boxes or blankets, or secure the item down.

During transit, the cargo will experience compressive forces continuously, due to the pitching and rolling of the vessel over heavy seas. This will put your securing devices under some real strain, so it’s important to choose your load securing equipment carefully and ensure it’s adequate to cope with the strain. Blocking, bracing, dunnage and strapping, and load securing by direct lashing or friction lashing, are all options to consider.

Once you’ve loaded your container, do a final check to make sure you’ve stowed the items away correctly. Have you placed the heavy items at the bottom? Have you filled all the space? Have you secured the items correctly? If not, make the necessary adjustments and, if you’re happy with the load, close the doors and lock them with a strong shackle padlock.

There are lots of different ways to load a container onto a trailer. Equipment ports will use include gantry cranes, top loaders, reach stackers and more; not all this equipment is always available, however, and some ports don’t have loading bays. The question then remains: how do you load a container onto a trailer?

The process consists of four main steps:

1. position the container in a designated area;

2. load the trailer with the necessary loading equipment;

3. secure the container with twist locks;

4. conduct a thorough safety check.

Below is a look at these in more detail.

Positioning the container

First, you must find a suitable area to begin loading. Ideally, this area should be close to the container that you’re loading onto the trailer, whether the trailer is empty or laden.

Then have the prime mover and the trailer placed in the area selected. Have a safety inspector present to facilitate the process and make sure the driver is using their mirrors and blinkers when backing into position.

Once into position, the prime mover should be set into parking gear. The trailer should also be using its parking brake and should be attached to the mover at all times. Just like when you’re in a loading bay, you should use wheel chocks for extra safety.

Enlist someone to check the mover, the trailer and the surrounding area for any obstructions. Personnel should be wearing hard hats, safety vests, shoes and other protective clothing.

There are several different ways to load the container onto the trailer. Here are some of the main ones:

After you’ve loaded your container onto the trailer, you must secure it in place so it doesn’t become dislodged during transit. General purpose shipping containers have up to eight corner castings: four at the one bottom, with one on each corner, and four at the top with one on each corner. These castings allow operators to secure the container in place easily with twist locks.

When loading a container onto a trailer, you see the corner castings resting on the twist locks on each end of the trailer. Rotate the twist lock handle 90 degrees to lock the container in place. This will keep the container locked down at each corner and connect it securely to the trailer, which is vital for safe transportation.

Once you’ve loaded the container onto the trailer, it’s essential to check you’ve carried this out safely and that it’s locked in and ready for transportation. Below are a couple of lists of the most important things to check before the container begins its journey.

Checking the container

You should check the undercarriage, walls, doors, ceiling and twist locks of the container. During loading, you may damage parts of the container or dislodge them, so you should check these elements of the container.

Here are some of the checks you should make:

• Undercarriage: check for dents and holes.
• Doors: check the locks and locking mechanism. Make sure there are no loose bolts. Check the hinges are functioning.
• Walls: Look for structural damage.
• Ceiling: Look for structural damage.
• Twist locks: Check all the twist locks are engaged.

Checking prime movers and trailers

When checking prime movers and trailers, the same principles apply. You should check no damage has occurred during loading. Check the following:

• the brakes;
• the lights (prime mover and trailer);
• the fire extinguishers;
• the tyre pressure (prime mover and trailer).

Loading containers and then transferring them to a ship or truck trailer must be conducted safely. If you’d like to find out more about how our loading and lifting products can support your operations, contact us. We’ll be happy to advise you on our systems.