ISO Containers for trouble free shipping

ISO containers in the freight transport industry are also known as shipping containers. ISO containers have been around for years now. These date back to the era of World War II. Post that war, the world has seen vast rise of use of ISO containers. They can be moved from one place to another over rail, ships and trucks in few cases. All this transportation can happen without opening them. International trade industry relies heavily on them because one, they reduce the transportation costs significantly and two, they are made of standard dimensions.

ISO containers are categorically divided into five different lengths. The five standard lengths are 20-feet, 40-feet, 45-feet, 48-feet and 53-feet. Transportation, freight and other industry experts believe that ISO containers to be a resounding innovation in the last few years. The use of these containers has brought made a great positive impact on the world trade market and the profits they reap. Many businesses, medium and large, use ISO containers for export and import of goods. This has had a direct impact on the businesses, their foreign relations with clients and the growth on many world economies. There is about five million of these ISO containers used around the world today and that number only seems to be improving by the year. Most of the trade using them is concentrated around China, Hong Kong, Japan, parts of Europe and US. ISO stands for International Organization for Standardization. ISO has developed several standard procedures and laid some formal rules so there is no discrepancy in the usage of these containers. These standards govern the usage, coding, identification, dimensions, specifications, classifications and other relevant things where ISO containers are in the picture.

There are different kinds of intermodal or ISO containers. Since they are used for various purposes around the world, their types also differ depending on the primary usage. Among many is a popular insulated shipping container. They are always used to transport goods that are temperature sensitive. Pharmaceuticals, chemicals and processed foods are transported in these types of containers because these products require being fresh and stored in cool places at all times. This helps them maintain the efficiency and freshness of the products. An insulated shipping container is made of thermal blankets that are fabricated, foamed plastic sheets, reflective materials so they do not absorb any heat and a vacuum flask. Most of them have systems that can indicate time when products where logged in and temperature inside the container.

While there are several benefits of using ISO containers, there are some flip sides to it as well. For instance, the fuel costs for transporting these ISO containers have gone up in recent years. Many socially driven organizations have objected as this contributes to Global Warming. In order to reduce rising fuel costs, the businesses are under certain obligation to transport as many ISO containers as possible at one go. Trains carrying these containers interstate stack up one over another.

A clear boon for the many trading agencies, ISO Containers have reshaped the way international business is done.