Picture above shows what a container is. A container is an object that can be used to hold things. Intermodal containers are containers which can be used interchangeably in different modes of transportation such as ships, on rail, truck or by planes. Different transportation modes have different cost functions.
Intermodal container is designed to be moved with common handling equipment enabling high-speed intermodal transfers in economically large units. Examples of intermodal containers are tank and box containers.
Why used intermodal containers?
Containers are used because they significantly reduce the number of man-hours required to move and account for the items within the containers. This results in significant savings of time and money. Containers also provide significant advantages over pallets and cargo nets. These advantages include providing protection from sun, wind, and rain; can be locked and etc. They can also be stacked; therefore, the potential storage capacity or movement capacity of a ship or railcar can be saved.
Because of standardization of the intermodal containers, these enable workers from worldwide to load and unload their goods safety and effectively.
Advantages include:
- Standard transport product: transfer infrastructures allow all elements (vehicles) of a transport chain to handle it with relative ease
- Flexibility of usage: can transport a wide variety of goods ranging from raw materials (coal, wheat), manufactured goods, and cars to frozen products
-Management: Indivisible unit carries a unique identification number and a size type code enabling transport management in terms of unit. Thus, computerized management enables to reduce waiting times considerably and to know the location of containers at any time.
- Speed: Has a higher capacity of 3 to 6 times than a conventional cargo ship. Therefore, using intermodal containers gain benefit over transshipment time as a crane can handle more movements per hour.
- Costs: Container transportation reduces transport costs.
- Warehousing: Used of intermodal containers limits the risks for goods it transports because it is resistant to shocks and weather conditions.
- Security: It can only be opened at the origin, at customs and at the destination. Therefore, reduce loss and spoilage.
Used of intermodal containers do have disadvantages, they include:
- Space consumption: Conventional port areas are often not adequate for the location of container transshipment infrastructures
- Infrastructure costs: Container handling infrastructures, such as gantry cranes, yard equipment, road and rail access are needed to participate effectively in international trade.
- Stacking: Arrangement of containers is a complex problem. Have to ensure that containers that must be taken out first are not below the pile
- Management logistics: Need high levels of information technology for the handling containers.
- Empty travel: Shipping lines waste substantial amounts of time and money in repositioning empty containers
- Illicit trade: Illicit trade of drug and weapons, as well as for illegal immigrants
Below is a chart showing the used of intermodal containers over the years.
From 1990-2005, mainly because of the entry of China, containerization began to seriously impact global trade patterns and manufacturing strategies. During the same period, a new class of Post panamax containership became a dominant vector of maritime shipping. The maturation of container traffic will be linked with the maturation of the global economy.
No comments:
Post a Comment