Located in central Devon we can provide local storage with monthly rental.
Alternatively, if you require on-site lockable, weatherproof secure containers then we can provide these too through shipping container hire.
We can also provide site offices, toilet units, temporary showrooms, bespoke units and container sales.
Container Rental & Self Storage
Shipping Container History and General Information
About Shipping Containers
As most of us are aware, the shipping container is generally used for the transportation of goods over large distances, (typically by sea). Prior to the invention of the shipping container, for the most part goods were individually handled requiring hard labour, time and of course expense.
Additionally storage was a problem for goods waiting to be loaded on a suitable vessel at ports so multiple handling of items may be necessary prior to reaching their destination. Of course the shipping container addressed many of these problems. In the late 17 hundreds and through the 18 various bespoke transportation vessels, (early containers) were first used. However these tended to be product or transport specific and were not a generic solution.
The advent of the modern shipping container stems from the 1950s when standardisation came into effect. This allowed for generic handling devices and transportation to be used.
Today, we take containers for granted but if you look back some 60 years ago we had no shipping containers – no intermodal transport system. Its arrival has made a vast impact on the way we do business with other countries.
Container Information
Containerships carry in excess of 60% of the value of goods shipped via sea. The modern container shipping method for the transport of goods has grown steadily over the years, starting some 60 years ago.
Nations had been trading with each other across the seas for thousands of years prior to the invention of containerised shipping. Ships would transport goods, yet without the modern containers as we know it today, the process was a long and arduous one.
Containers were designed to be durable with the purpose of withstanding the elements thrown at them by the seas and to carry heavy goods. They have the benefit of being able to be interlocked on top of another. The construction of the containers means they can be suspended or supported by their corners, either top or bottom corners.
Containers were initially designed for freight but over time they have been adapted for many secondary uses, such as offices, storage, workshops, portable toilets, restaurants and school classrooms. Their uses are endless. Due to their strength containers lend themselves for other uses such as secure stores or modified into temporary accommodation or offices.
When empty the containers are easily stacked. And can be placed one upon another in a stack up to 12 units high when empty, formidable wall, (approx. 96ft or 30 metres). This reduces the footprint required for storage of empty units.
A special form of shipping container can be used for liquid transportation. These tend to have same external dimensions but have a cylinder for fluids inside the frame.
Shipping Container Shapes and Sizes:
There are various sizes and shapes of shipping container available meeting the modern standard.
High cube dry containers are built with an extra foot in height in comparison with STD dry containers. The high cube dry containers are ideal for carrying light, voluminous or bulky cargo. These extra volume containers are most commonly made in 40’ in steel and aluminium, (generally for air freight). They are referred to as 40’ HQ. Standard height Dry containers are available in 8’, 10’, 20’, 30’, 40’ and occasionally 45’. For the most part they are manufactured from steel (again Aluminium can be used if a lighter weight container is required). They are suitable for most types of cargo. Aluminium dry containers have a slightly larger payload than steel, and steel dry containers have a slightly larger internal cube.
Containers originated not in the 20’ or 40’ containers we know today but 33’ containers invented and patented by an American, Malcom McLean in 1956. Their rival Matson’s were using 24’ containers. The need for standardisation was obvious in order to improve how the containers were stacked and shipped.
Typical shipping container dimensions are approximately:
Shipping Container Dimensions
* 45' are also available as a special, generally for USA
** HQ = High Cube
The ‘HQ’ suffix refers to High Cube. High Cube shipping containers have the same dimensions as a standard container but have an extra 1 foot of height.
Special Purpose Shipping Containers
Specialist containers can be designed and manufactured for various purposes. Mobile ramps, car carriers, generators, rail wagon tops, these are just some of them. They are designed to meet customer specifications for a specific purpose. The Military are also a beneficiary of container usage and often use bespoke purpose built units for field use.
Refrigerated containers (sometimes known as reefer containers) are used to transport goods such as fruit, meat, vegetables and dairy products. Any goods requiring temperature-controlled conditions would use a refrigerated container for transit.
Open top containers are designed with a roof that is able to be opened to enable large cargo such as timber and metal to be loaded from the top. Open top containers also have an end door to allow more flexibility over loading and unloading.
Flat rack containers are designed with heavy goods and cargo in mind that need loading from the top or sides, such as machinery or pipes. Flat rack containers come in 20’ or 40’ sizes.
Platform containers are designed without sides, ends or a roof. They are generally used for unusual shaped cargo which does not fit in any other type of container. Specific dimensions tend to vary.
Containers continue to be manufactured in various sizes but still, the most popular are the 20’ and 40’ containers. The other popular non specialised containers are: general purpose containers, high cube containers, refrigerated containers and open top containers, amongst some of them.
Of late some manufacturers have produced both modular container houses and ready-made prefabricated housing. The modular housing are generally built up from several interconnecting containers, still requiring a large amount of on-site work. The ready-made, complete units may be unloaded to site and with a quick set up, connection of utilities are immediately ready accommodation. They offer a quick, turn-key housing solution.
Containers have also found a use as a readily manufactured and located storm shelter. In areas such as Kansas where Hurricanes are a threat, a container can easily be buried to provide a safe and secure storm shelter. Criminals have also found a use for the units for the hidden cultivation of cannabis in countries where this is illegal and they need to hide their actions. In 2015 a gang in the UK were arrested and found to have grown £150,000 worth of cannabis in an underground shipping container with a concealed access. The containers had lighting, ventilation and water supply.
What is the meaning of full container load?
​A standard (20’ or 40’) container that is loaded and unloaded under the risk and account of the shipper or consignee. In general, a full container load attracts lower freight rates than an equivalent weight of loose (break bulk) cargo. Also called full trailer load (FTL). The alternative to this is a LCL shipment where a customer will elect to occupy a volume of a container and ship a small volume only.
The History/People behind the standardisation of the modern shipping container.
One of the key people behind the standardisation of Freight containers was Malcolm McLean.
Born in 1914, McClean was raised on a farm in North Carolina. He saved enough money to buy a second-hand truck and gradually built up his trucking business. During his years in the trucking business he had witnessed a routine delivery being loaded and unloaded involving many men and many hours of labour. He became aware of what a labour intensive and costly process this was.
His trucking business expanded and by 1956 he owned the largest trucking fleet in the South and the fifth largest trucking company in all the United States. From 1937 – 1950 McLean focused on his transportation business. It was during this time that several weight restrictions and levying charges were introduced.
McLean was now thinking of more efficient and cost effective ways to transport cargo and this took him back to watching the routing delivery of cotton bales and the labour involved in the process. He started to work on designing a very primitive form of what we now know of as the shipping container.
His concept of the shipping container, something which could be removed from trucks and loaded onto ships and then put back onto trucks or trains and continue to be transported was an innovation. Similar ideas had been tried in different parts of the world throughout history, but never one as successful as McLean’s.
He sold his trucking business and purchased an already established shipping company, Pan-Atlantic. He renamed it SeaLand Industries. He then went on to create and test various shipping containers. All he needed now were the ships to carry his creation. McClean purchased Ideal X with the intention of modifying it to carry 58 of his newly designed containers along with enough storage for 15,000 tons of petroleum.
This was the birth of the shipping business some 60 years ago, which has now altered and developed beyond recognition, to what we now see today. The idea of a box changed the way the world worked, being able to contact a freight company to export or import your goods to China, Europe, Australia or anywhere in the world brought with it new possibilities – a new way to do business with other countries. Something today, we now take for granted.
The expansion of shipping containers
After the success of Idea X, the first ship designed specifically to carry containers, was ordered by McLean and took its first voyage in October 1957 from New Jersey to Miami. Amazingly its cargo was moved at an unbelievable rate with very few dockworkers involved.
Inevitable redundancies caused by the containers created fierce resistance at ports to the shipping of containers. This was hindering the shipping container business from spreading worldwide.
Traditionally, the process of loading cargo required lots of port workers to physically manhandle all of the goods into position. However with containers these workers were no longer required, which caused outrage with the dockside unions. During the early 1970’s many union workers went on strike, disrupting the shipping industry and shipping container’s rapid expansion.
However, due to the huge financial savings of containerised shipping, these union workers were paid severance agreements and shipping containers’ growth expanded beyond belief.
As a result, by 1970, SeaLand Industries had 36 container ships, twenty-seven thousand containers and connections with more than 30 ports in America.
There was no stopping its growth at this point, containers had revolutionised the way the world traded.
The Legacy of the shipping container as we know it
In the spring of 1966, Sea-Land’s Fairland set sail from the US to the Holland with an incredible 236 containers loaded on its decks.
Thereafter container ships saw a massive expansion, and in 1968 container ships had the capacity to carry around 1,000 20’ containers, which for its time was exceptional.
Some people now claim containers have been the single largest driver in globalisation over the last 60 years.
The Present, the Future.............What's in store????
So, how many shipping containers are there currently in the world?
It is believed there are currently over 17 million shipping containers in the world. Approximately five to six million of them are shipped around the world on ships, trucks, and trains. In total, they make around 200 million trips a year.
Container Freight remains the most popular way to ship goods around the world with no sign of this changing. While small changes do occur in container design there are currently no signs that this mode of goods transportation will change greatly in the future. Of recent years there have been moves against globalisation and focus on the negative effects on the planet of long distance freight movement. However, while the consumer still desires a huge variety of products at affordable prices the likelihood is the shipping container is here to stay. Retailers will continue to source their stock from countries which can produce at the most competitive price and meet the shipping costs to bring to their customers.