The 5 Benefits Of Using An Intermodal Container

Unlike earlier days when bulk transportation was a great effort and only a single mode of transport were to be used mostly the rail or shipping, today there has been much development in this transportation industry. Goods can invariably be transported to any destination without the need of specific same type connectivity. For e.g. If the goods are to be sent from a seaside area to another country that has no marine connectivity, earlier it was not possible to deliver or even if they did, it was like unloading at the nearest port, unpacking and then repacking them to suit the road transport and sending them. This was quite a herculean task and involved lot of handling charges that jacked up the transportation cost.

To solve this problem, the Intermodal Container was introduced resulting in multiple benefits to the consigner as well as the consignee. For this a set of standards were set that would be applicable uniformly world over thereby making movement even between countries and continents much easier. This also promoted globalization to a great extent.

Reduced Cost - When materials were earlier sent in normal containers they were not adaptable by all means of transport. Those meant for shipping were restricted to it only and to transfer the goods on to trucks or rail for road or rail transport required that these were unloaded, unpacked and repacked in containers meant for road or rail. This resulted in extra efforts and increased packaging and handling charges thereby making it not viable.

Faster freight movement - With the use of Intermodal Container the need for unpacking & repacking was eliminated and the freights were directly uploaded on to the next transportation. This means easy and faster loading and unloading and products reached their destination much faster.

More security to the goods - Unpacking and repacking involved risk of damage, theft and loss which is now eliminated as there is no intermediary unpacking.

Reduced wastage - Unpacking and repacking involved 2 or even 3 steps of packing and unpacking resulting in more wastes by way of these packaging materials thereby adding up to the garbage.

Scheduling made easy - The unloading, unpacking and repacking at intermediary points took considerable time by which time there were chances of missing the connecting transportation which means the freight has to be stored and rescheduled to be picked up at a later time. This resulted in cluttered ports /depots and haphazard scheduling. But when the consignment is directly transferred they could be properly scheduled and immediately shifted onto the next transporting vehicle / shipment.

As a part of standardization the Intermodal Container comes normally in 3 standard dimensions i.e. 20 ft, 40 ft and extra sized ones famously known as the high - cube 40 ft container. The Intermodal Container comes in various shapes to accommodate the different types of goods. For liquids and gases there are the tanker type containers, for bulk goods there are the flat tracks and platforms, for those that need a consistent temperature there are the insulated and refrigerated containers.

Overall we can say that Intermodal Container has added up to the economy and made even overseas transportation much simple and easier.