Container Information

 

History of Shipping Containers
Many people think the Shipping Container was invented in China -- not true. The first shipping 
container was invented and patented in 1956 by an American named Malcolm Mc Lean.
Mc Lean was not an ocean shipper, but was a trucker and by 1956 he owned the largest trucking 
fleet in the South and the fifth largest trucking company in all the United States. He saved his money 
and bought his first truck in 1934. During those years all cargo was loaded and unloaded in odd 
sized wooden crates. The process was very slow and certainly not standardized.

After observing this slow and inefficient process for 20 years, he finally decided to step back and 
develop some standardized way of loading cargo from trucks to ships and warehouses.

Malcolm then purchased Pan Atlantic Tanker Company, which owned a bunch of fairly rusted tankers. 
He re-named the new shipping company Sea-Land Shipping. With this shipping company he could 
finally experiment with better ways to load and un-load trucks and ships. After many experiments, 
his final design is what we know now as the Shipping Container. ...super strong, uniform design, 
theft resistant, stackable, easy to load, unload, truck, rail, ship, and certainly store.

Matson, on the West coast of the US also attempted the container concept, but failed sorely. The final
boost to standardize Mc Lean's concept was the US Navy and by the early 70's were globally accepted.
So in fact, although Mc Lean had the first concept and working system in 1956, it was the US military
who finally did what was necessary to make the ISO shipping container accepted by every shipping
line and every country of the world.

Because it was so much faster and organized to load-unload, the cost of loading freight was reduced
by more than 90%. Thus, the cost of products you sell or buy were reduced greatly because of the 
invention and standardization of the ISO shipping container. 

         In 1956, loose cargo cost $5.86 per ton to load.  Using an ISO shipping container,
         the cost was reduced to only  .16 cents per ton.

The shipping container invention of Malcolm Mc Lean has certainly changed the world and thus, it has

changed the lives of every human on the planet. 

General purpose 20' x 8' x 8'6"		Steel
		Millimetres	Feet
Internal Dimensions	Length	5,898	19'4 13/64"
	Width	2,352	7'8 19/32"
	Height	2,393	7'10 7/32"
Door Opening	Width	2,340	7'8 1/8"
	Height	2,280	7'5 49/64"
		Kilograms	Pounds
Weight	Max Gross	30,480	67,200
	Tare	3,650	8,440
	Max Payload	26,830	58,760
		Cube Metres	Cube Feet
Internal Capacity		33.2	1170

General purpose 40' x 8' x 8'6"		Steel
		Millimetres	Feet
Internal Dimensions	Length	12,032	39'5 45/64"
	Width	2,352	7'8 19/32"
	Height	2,393	7'10 7/32"
Door Opening	Width	2,340	7'8 1/8"
	Height	2,280	7'5 49/64"
		Kilograms	Pounds
Weight	Max Gross	30,480	67,200
	Tare	3,830	8,050
	Max Payload	26,650	59,150
		Cube Metres	Cube Feet
Internal Capacity		67.7	2,390

High cube 40' x 8' x 9'6"		Steel
		Millimetres	Feet
Internal Dimensions	Length	12,032	39'5 45/64"
	Width	2,352	7'8 19/32 "
	Height	2,698	8'10 7/32"
Door Opening	Width	2,340	7'8 1/8"
	Height	2,585	8'5 49/64"
		Kilograms	Pounds
Weight	Max Gross	30,480	67,200
	Tare	3,830	8,440
	Max Payload	26,500	58,760
		Cube Metres	Cube Feet
Internal Capacity		76.4	2700

High cube 45' x 8' x 9'6"		Steel
		Millimetres	Feet
Internal Dimensions	Length	13,556	44'5 45/64''
	Width	2,352	7'8 19/32"
	Height	2,698	8'10 7/32"
Door Opening	Width	2,340	7'8 1/8"
	Height	2,585	8'5 49/64"
		Kilograms	Pounds
Weight	Max Gross	30,480	67,200
	Tare	4,700	10,360
	Max Payload	25,780	56,840

Refrigerated 40' x 8' x 9'6"			Steel
			Millimetres	'
Internal Dimensions	Length		11,590	38'19/64"
	Width		2,294	7'6 5/16"
	Height	Norminal	2,555	8'4 19/32"
		Usable	2,445	8'21/32"
Door Opening	Width		2,290	7'6 5/32"
	Height		2,569	8'5 9/64"
			Kilograms	Pounds
Weight	Max Gross		30,480	67,200
	Tare		4,880	10,760
	Max Payload		25,600	56,440
			Cube Metres	Cube Feet
Internal Capacity	Norminal		67.9	2,399
	Usable		65.3	2,307

Refrigerated 40' x 8' x 8'6"			Steel
			Millimetres	Feet
Internal Dimensions	Length		11,587	38'0.1"
			2,259	7'4.9"
	Height	Norminal	2,219	7'3.4"
		Usable	2,119	7'3.4"
Door Opening	Width		2,283	7'5.9"
	Height		2,177	Width7'1.7"
			Kilograms	Pounds
Weight	Max Gross		32,000	70,500
	Tare		4,350	9,590
	Max Payload		27,650	60,960
			Cube Metres	Cube Feet
Weight	Norminal		58.1	2,051
	Usable		55.5	1,959

Refrigerated 20'x 8' x 8'6"			Steel
			Millimetres	Feet
Internal Dimensions	Length		5,455	17'10 3/4"
	Width		2,292	7'6 1/4"
	Height	Norminal	2,274	7'5 1/2"
		Usable	2,174	7'1 14/25"
Door Opening	Width		2,232	7'6 1/4"
	Height		2,259	7'4 15/16"
			Kilograms	Pounds
Weight	Max Gross		30,480	67,200
	Tare		3,000	6,610
	Max Payload		27,480	60,590
			Cube Metres	Cube Feet
Internal Capacity	Norminal		28.4	1,000
	Usable		27.2	958

Open top 40' x 8' x 8'6"		Steel
		Millimetres	Feet
Internal Dimensions	Length	12,036	39'5 55/64"
	Width	2,352	7'8 19/32"
	Height	2,248	7'8 7/16"
Door Opening	Width	2,340	7'8 1/8"
	Height	2,280	7'5 49/64"
		Kilograms	Pounds
Weight	Max Gross	30,480	67,200
	Max Payload	26,680	58,820
		Cube Metres	Cube Feet
Internal Capacity		65.9	2.330

Open top 20' x 8' x 8'6"		Steel
		Millimetres	Feet
Internal Dimensions	Length	5,900	19'4 9/32"
	Width	2,352	7'8 19/32"
	Height	2,350	7'8 33/64"
Door Opening	Width	2.340	7'8 1/8"
	Height	2,280	7'5 49/64"
		Kilograms	Pounds
Weight	Max Gross	30,480	67,200
	Tare	2,120	4,670
	Max Payload	28,360	62,530
		Cube Metres	Cube Feet
Internal Capacity		32.6	1,152

Flatracks 40' x 8' x 8'6"			Steel
			Millimetres	Feet
Internal Dimensions	Length		12,180	39'11 17/32"
	Width		2,230	7'3 51/64
	Height	Unfolded	1,955	6'4 31/32
		Folded	647	2'1 15/32"
			Kilograms	Pounds
Weight	Max Gross		45,000	99,210
	Tare		5,000	11,020
	Max Payload		40,000	88,190
			Cube Metres	Cube Feet
Internal Capacity			53.1	1876.6

Flatracks 20' x 8' x 8'6"			Steel
			Millimetres	Feet
Internal Dimensions	Length		5,618	18'5 3/16"
	Width		2,230	7'3 13/16"
	Height	Unfolded	2,233	7'3 29/32"
		Folded	370	1'2 9/16"
			Kilograms	Pounds
Weight	Max Gross		30,480	67,200
	Tare		2,750	6,060
	Max Payload		27,730	61,140
			Cube Metres	Cube Feet
Internal Capacity			27.9	986

Garmentainers 40' x 8' x 8'6"		Steel
		Millimetres	Feet
Internal Dimensions	Length	12,180	39'11 17/32"
	Width	2,230	7'3 51/64"
	Height	1,955	6'4 31/32"
Door Opening	Width	2,340	7'8."
	Height	2,280	7'5.8"
		Kilograms	Pounds
Weight	Max Gross	30.480	67,200
	Tare	3,885	8,565
	Max Payload	26,595	58,635
		Cube Metres	Cube Feet
Internal Capacity		67.7	2,390

Garmentainers 20' x 8' x 8'6"		Steel
		Millimetres	Feet
Internal Dimensions	Length	5,900	19'4.2"
	Width	2,352	7'8.5"
	Height	2,353	7'10.1"
Door Opening	Width	2,340	7'8"
	Height	2,280	7'5.8"
		Kilograms	Pounds
Weight	Max Gross	24,000	52,910
	Tare	2,240	4,490
	Max Payload	21,760	47,970
		Cube Metres	Cube Feet
Internal Capacity		33.2	1,172