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Containerization is a system of intermodal cargo transport using standard ISO containers that can be loaded on container ships, railroad cars, and trucks. There are three common standard lengths, 20 ft (6.1 m), 40 ft (12.2 m) and 45 ft (13.7 m). Container capacity (of ships, ports, etc) is measured in twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU, or sometimes teu). A twenty-foot equivalent unit is a measure of containerized cargo equal to one standard 20 ft. (length) × 8 ft. (width) × 8.5 ft. (height) container (approximately 40.92 m3). Most containers today are of the 40-ft. variety and thus are 2 TEU. 45 ft containers are also designated 2 TEU. Two TEU are referred to as one FEU or "Forty-foot equivalent unit". These two terms of measurement are used interchangeably. "High cube" containers have a height of 9.5 ft. (2.9 m), while half-height containers, used for heavy loads, have a height of 4.25 ft (1.3 m).
It is an important element of the logistics revolution that changed freight handling in the 20th century. Malcolm McLean claimed to have invented the shipping container in the 1930s in New JerseyNew Jersey is a state of the United States of America and has the U. postal abbreviation of NJ . The state is named after the island of Jersey in the English Channel. The USS New Jersey one of the most decorated vessels in the United States Navy, was name, but only founded Sea-Land corporation in the 1950sCenturies: 19th century 20th century 21st century Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s Years: 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 Events and trends Technology United States tests the first fusion bomb..
McLean explained that while sitting at a dock waiting for cargo he trucked in to be reloaded onto a ship, he realized that rather than loading and unloading the truck, the truck itself, with some minor modifications, could be the container that is transported.
Containerization revolutionized cargo shipping. Today, approximately 90% of cargo moves by containers stacked on transport ships. Over 200 million containers per year are now moved between those ports.
The widespread use of ISO standard containers influenced modifications in other freight moving standards, gradually forcing removable truck bodies or swap bodies into the same sizes and shapes (without however the strength needed to be stacked), and changing completely the worldwide use of freight palletA pallet is a flat transport structure made of wood or plastic (and in a few cases metal) which is meant to support a variety of goods in a stable fashion while being lifted by any mobile forklift device. The goods are placed on top of the pallet and secus which fit into ISO containers or into commercial vehicles.