Do you know about the different shipping container types and sizes?
Are you thinking of importing products from China?
Shipping containers are the most important aspect of the entire transportation and trade process.
Today, containers are available in a variety of sizes and shapes. And, different container types are suitable for different uses.
Therefore, understanding your container type will offer you an edge over competitors. And, it gives the best opportunity of making the ideal business decisions possible.
Are you not sure which container will fit your needs?
No worries anymore! In this blog post, we’ll give you a complete overview of shipping container types and sizes.
We’ll also explain things to consider before choosing any container for shipping products from China.
So let’s get started!
Table of Content
Chapter 1: Overview about Shipping Containers
Chapter 2: 3 Common Sizes of Shipping Containers
Chapter 3: 10 Most Common Types of Shipping Containers
Chapter 4: What are the Different Grades of Shipping Containers?
Chapter 5: FAQs about Container Types
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Overview about Shipping Containers
Packing the goods with care is regarded as the best practice when delivering a shipment.
The concept is to pack the shipment in such a way that it moves as little as possible while providing the necessary long-term support.
When it comes to international consignments, the goods must be dispatched in such a way that they can withstand the harsh conditions of transportation.
Additionally, they must arrive at their destination while retaining their quality regardless of weather conditions.
That’s where the role of shipping containers comes into play.
So let’s start understanding the concept of shipping containers and what the ideal container type for your goods would be.
1. What are shipping containers?
In simple words, we can define shipping containers as the storage units that are used to transport goods through one location to another without causing damage to the products or other products in the shipment.
The shipping containers are reusable and can handle the hurdles of transportation.
Therefore, shipping containers significantly reduce transportation costs— allowing for long-distance trade.
The invention of these containers had a substantial impact on the global economy of business and trade.
2. Which things to consider before choosing container type & size
Now that you know the basic purpose of shipping containers, it’s time to understand some key factors before choosing a container type for your products.
So let’s get started!
- Utilize the entire volume of the container.
The calculation of CBM of products by your supplier may be inaccurate.
This means that the actual CBM could be lower or higher than the CBM the supplier tells you.
In this situation, we suggest you order more products than estimated in order to avoid blank space in the shipping container.
If any products remain after the container has been completely filled, they can be stored in a warehouse or loaded into the next container.
In most instances, freight forwarders can adjust products very expertly and leave no space in the container due to their extensive experience in freight loading.
Such experts could even load 30 CBM of products into the 28 CBM container.
- To avoid being overweight, confirm the maximum weight limit.
Another important factor while deciding on container type is to confirm the weight limit with a freight forwarder.
On the one hand, various freight forwarders set different wei