Containers, Unitisation and Palletisation

It is advantageous if consignors can load goods at their premises, so that those goods can be transported and delivered to the consignee without the necessity of unpacking and handling individual items in transit. The aforementioned aids enable this to be done, as they are all methods of providing a “unit” from one mode of transport to another. There is, therefore, no interference with the load in transit.

Containers

A container is now a major piece of transport equipment, and because its purpose is to ensure that a load is transported without interference to the consignor, it is important that it can be moved across national boundaries. It would be a major problem if containers were of different sizes and aptness in various countries, therefore the International Standards Organisation (ISO) has made recommendations for freight containers that are generally accepted by national and international standards (see, for example, ISO 17712:2003). The ISO suggests that general-purpose freight containers are of a rectangular shape, weatherproof for transporting and storing a number of unit loads, packages, or bulk materials; they confine and protect the contents from loss or damage and can be separated from the means of transport, handled as unit loads, and transhipped without rehandling the contents. A freight container is an article of transport equipment that:

• is of a permanent character and accordingly strong enough for repeated use, • is specially designed to facilitate the carriage of goods by one or more modes of transport, without intermediate reloading, • is fitted with devices permitting its ready handling, particularly its transfer from one mode of transport to another, • is so designed as to be easy to fill and empty, and • has an internal volume of 1 square metre or more.

The freight container does not include vehicles or conventional packaging.

Standard container sizes are based upon a module of 2.4 m x 2.4 m and will take the loads varying from 10 to 30 long tons.

Types of Containers

It is important to remember than an ISO standard, although valuable, is not going to meet all requirements, and many organisations will wish to design their own containers to suit their needs. Floors may be required to be strong enough for forklift trucks to enter when loading or unloading. Sides and posts may be required to be suitable for use with special lifting devices. Many types of containers are available, including:

• high-capacity boxes, • demountable tanks (for bulk liquids), • ordinary boxes, • insulated containers, and • curtain-sided containers.

Organisations despatching by these methods may own their containers, which will be painted in their colours and hence have advertising value. Alternatively, they may be hire such containers.

Continental Operation

If companies are regularly sending goods across Europe, for example, it will be an advantage to have Transport Internationaux Routier (TIR) registration, which enables containers to cross customs frontiers easily. A point worth noting is that for European tax purposes, the container is not part of the unladen weight of the vehicle.

Unitisation

Unitisation comprises assembling a number of small packages into one large package, or “unit load,” which makes handling much easier and, when loading or unloading, will:

• reduce the amount of labour required, • enable mechanical handling to be used, • reduce vehicle turn round time, • make loading and stowage easier, • allow safer working practice to be used, • reduce damage and pilferage, and • permit marking and labelling of consignments to be simplified.

Unitisation, therefore, reduces handling and transportation costs. In the case of air freight, these advantages are very important, because speed is the main reason for using this method of transport. Unitisation means that a much speedier method of loading is possible compared to handling loose items of cargo. The customer can share in the reduced costs because airlines offer special rates for bulk unitisation cargos. Security measures (inspection, scanning, verifying source of the units) are, however, an increasing problem since the terrorist attacks such as that which occurred on September 11, 2001, and elsewhere.

Standard Packaging

Many organisations have a range of standard packs that take certain quantities of each product. Therefore, when an order is received, it is known at once which standard “outer” pack will be suitable. This not only takes advantage of unitisation principles but means that the air or shipping space can be booked right away.

Palletisation

I will not describe in this section pallets and their construction but rather palletisation, used to facilitate transport loading. As with unitisation, the advantages gained from palletisation can be summed up as the reduction in handling and transportation costs, and the particular advantages are also similar:

• Enables mechanical handling to be used • Reduces road vehicle turn round time

• Makes loading and stowage easier • Reduces damage and pilferage

The possible cost savings by using pallets are considerable, because goods can be picked up by forklift truck and taken aboard ship or into container and stowed. At this point it is worthwhile reminding ourselves of what a pallet is. It is quite simply a device on the deck of which a quantity of goods can be assembled to form a unit load for the purpose of transporting it, or of handling or stacking it with the assistance of mechanical appliances. This device is normally made up of two decks separated by bearers, or of a single deck supported by feet; its overall height is reduced to a minimum compatible with handling by fork lift trucks and pallet trucks; it may or may not have a superstructure.

Ownership and Return of Pallets

The ownership and return of pallets represents a considerable problem because everyone using pallets has their own, and the cost of having them returned can be considerable. One solution is to use low cost, nonreturnable (LCNR) pallets. The pallet has to be strong enough to support loads and to withstand forklift trucks moving them, but to have a low cost. In practice, LCNRs are usually reenforced with plastic. Another solution is to use a “pallet pool,” where all users contribute to the pool and use pallets accordingly. The drawbacks that pallets have when compared with containers are as follows:

• The pallet offers only limited protection to goods. • A reasonable amount of labour is required to handle pallets. • The pallet loads cannot be transported under bond, as they cannot be sealed. • A single pallet load is not an economic unit of transport.

In addition, there has been a failure among countries to agree on a standard for pallets. For example, the United States and Europe have different standards.