The Ocean Freight Container is a huge component of international trade, and has been an extremely important aspect of how cargo transportation has taken shape through the years. In the most recent decade, the volume of global ocean going cargo reached more than 8 billion tons. This fact, coupled with an annual average growth rate in this respect of 3 percent proves that the Steel Shipping Container was an invention to be reckoned with.
The Box and Economics: A Key Factor
Roughly 16 percent of global freight exports originating from more than 200 countries were bound for the United States, and of that amount, almost 60 percent was oceanborne cargo, in other words, carried by Ocean Freight Containers. The United States is the world’s largest economy and leading importing nation, accounting for almost 25 percent of global gross domestic product. A large percentage of GDP is carried by Ocean Cargo so a significant amount world trade hinges on the utilization of these Corten Steel Shipping Containers. It’s numbers like this that stress the importance of the Ocean Freight Container and how much of an impact it’s had on the global economy and many other aspects of our lives.
Modern World Effects
Since the 21st century began, almost 90 percent of non-bulk cargo on a global basis is moved by Ocean Freight Containers stacked on steamships. The sheer dominance of the container has had a ripple effect in other areas of not only cargo transport, but industry standards as well. For example, there were four main recommendations by the ISO (International Standardization Organization) that were internationally accepted:
Proposal of standard corner fittings
Defined the terminology, dimensions and ratings
Defined the identification and markings
Proposed the minimum internal dimensions of the cargo container
After these main components were set in stone, other areas of general freight economics were affected. Trucking and other intermodal methods had to conform to these standards, specifically as determined by these four primary recommendations defined by the ISO. Flatbed dimensions, width and height changed per these new standards. The way that products were packed; pallets and boxes – basically everything with regards to cargo fell within these set of guidelines to help improve cost and productivity. It is was so much faster and more organized to load and unload cargo that the cost of loading freight was reduced by more than 90%. Therefore, the cost of products you buy or sell were reduced greatly because of the ISO Shipping Container. Containerization has revolutionized international cargo transportation, bringing substantial improvements in general efficiency.
An American Made Change
Malcolm Mclean may not have realized the difference he was making in the lives of human beings when he came up with the idea for the Shipping Container in 1956, but the invention was most definitely pre-meditated. After watching, for 20 years, the slow and inefficient method of carrying, loading and unloading cargo, Mclean finally decided the industry needed a change. He came up with the idea that a specific unit was needed that conformed to a standard the world would recognize. So, the man born in Maxton, North Carolina was not only an American Entrepreneur but later became known as the father of Containerization and named the Man of the Century for his invention of the Ocean Freight Container.
Shipping containers can be modified to fit a variety of industries and situations.
One example of this is using shipping containers to simulate a fire training facility. Fire departments around the country don’t have many resources and thus are always on the lookout for useful, safe, and cost-effective ways to practice fire training. One good, reusable option – steel storage containers. The containers’ reinforced steel structure can easily be modified to recreate real life fires because they are fireproof and can be burned multiple times. Containers are also portable and can be replaced over the years with ease. Fire departments continue to re-use containers for training and multiple other uses.
One department that has been working on creating a safe way to practice is the Sylva Fire Department in Sylva, NC. Sylva FD purchased two 20-ft shipping containers and two 40-ft. containers last summer to build a training ground with cost-effective storage containers.
This is one of those scenarios in which industries and government sectors need to innovate with the limited resources they have, such as coming up with ways to creatively reuse or modify metal containers. A shipping container turned into a fire-training facility allows firefighters and rescue workers to develop actual firefighting experience. In this instance, fire departments can use a steel fire-proof container to learn fire behavior such as fire growth, rollover, flashover, and backdraft phenomena as well as practice fire-reduction techniques.
The Financial and Safety Benefits for Fire Departments having Training Containers
Its spreading like wildfire (pun intended), fire departments all over cities and towns throughout the United States are taking cost preventive steps toward lowering business’ fire insurance costs and a giant leap in improving firefighter training by investing in modified fire training containers.
County officials are starting to see the possibilities with purchasing ISO shipping containers to assemble a two-story structure made from metal containers to replace their outdated training setups. Some of the simulations firefighters practice are extinguishing wooden pallets set ablaze inside the shipping containers. Within the containers, firefighters can learn when to use a T, Z, or O-shaped pattern to extinguish a fire. Keeping fires at bay inside buildings is also a valuable skill learned inside a modified storage container, since a stream of water maneuvered incorrectly may produce sufficient steam to suffocate a person trapped inside a room. ”There is an art to interior firefighting,” an anonymous fire chief states. “The only way to teach that is to actually do it.”
Modified Fire Training Container Options
What are the possible options that can come with these kinds specially modified containers?
With all of the features of a fixed training facility and the ease of installation of a portable trainer unit, these are ideal solutions for many fire departments. These trainer containers can be permanent or semi-permanent installations and they also help to overcome zoning or regulatory issues. The Fire and rescue containers can range in different sizes and levels. You can get stand-alone single containers, or larger stackable multi-level complexes. Also Non-fire, search and rescue units can be made upon request. Call us with a questions at 1 888-896-5084 or just Contact us for a quote.
Our customized fire units are a great solution for future firefighters in training who need to learn the basic NFPA 1001 fire fighting skills. These training units help simulate realistic fire situations in a very controlled, safe, and environmentally sound way.
Some containers can have very special features, like movable interior walls could be repositioned if necessary. Or another feature that could be purchased is a robust 10,000 cfm smoke generator which completely clouds a persons vision, which will give fire department rookies the simulation and practice of a real life search and rescue mission. These units can be designed to be in compliance with UL508 and NFPA 86 standards and made to fit the guidelines of NFPA 1402 and 1403. Our single or multi-unit container units can be equipped with many different naval props to accommodate maritime fire training drills.
Other possible features include:
• Pitched roofs
• Chop out panels
• Ventilation fans
• Doors w/ optional forcible entry jambs
• Shuttered windows
• Observation windows
• They can have an equipment room
• Interchangeable fire mock-ups
Use our area selector to find the Container Alliance partner in your areas or Get a quote now.
Grandfolia is a locally owned and operated business that designs, sells, leases and maintains interior plant-scapes for the Santa Barbara, CA and Ventura, CA areas. Container Alliance can undoubtedly agree that having plants has a calming effect and can change a drab space into an area full of vitality. Grandfolia makes this a reality. Recently, Grandfolia requested to have Container Alliance create a storage and workshop space from a 40’ shipping container.
Container Alliance went to the drawing board with a used 40’ shipping container and created corrugated French doors from the containers siding. Container Alliance also added two skylights equally placed on the roof to allow natural light into the container. After modifications were finished the container was painted bright white in order to reflect UV rays off the container to keep the interior cooler during daylight hours. This container houses all the supplies that need to be kept in a dry and safe place. The 40’ Shipping container provides a huge amount of storage space on the nursery grounds in an economical way. Instead of building something from raw materials, Grandfolia saw value in creating something that is from recycled material that can be moved to another location if necessary. Container Alliance modified a steel-shipping container, which is now being used for a different purpose all together. In a fraction of the time, Grandfolia has storage solution that is guaranteed to be wind and water tight and secure. It is also beneficial in terms of a storage solution because shipping containers are transportable; If Grandfolia ever needs to move the storage container to another location on their property or transport it somewhere else it can be done with ease.
Container Alliance is thrilled to see customers who come up with unique ideas to help their business prosper and enjoys helping along the way.
Grandfolia provides beautiful plants and flowers to local residential and office locations they provide a product and service that must be dependable, as plants tend to diminish if not cared for properly. Grandfolia is known for quality products and service and will be providing quality for years to come. For more information please visit www.grandfolia.com
November 11, 2011 Harbor Marine Works is a family owned and operated full service Marine Yard located in Santa Barbara, CA. The facility is situated in the Beautiful Santa Barbara Harbor, and serves in a number of vital roles as the only haul-out yard in all of Santa Barbara County. As an important gateway destination to the Channel Islands and a harbor of safe refuge proximate to Point Conception, they support very active home ported, recreational, commercial, sport-fishing and agency fleets, as well as many coastwise cruising and transient vessels. Their philosophy is quite simply, the very best service available at the very best price possible. This philosophy means the world to people, when the next boatyard seems a world away.
Within the services they provide, there is an inherent amount of marine worthy storage needed in an area that is extremely exposed to the elements. Essentially right on the sand! Due to the exposure at their location, Harbor MarineWorks contacted Container Alliance, because some of their existing storage containers previously purchased were beginning to rust out, creating problems for their state of the art equipment and tools needed for the services they provide. Container Alliance went to the location to see exactly what was needed to properly accommodate their storage needs. The solution was two, 20’ One Trip Containers. One Trip Shipping Containers are the best option for this type of location due to being newly manufactured, having solid hardwood floors, and can serve as the best possible unit in terms of portable storage with regards to being safe from the elements, absolutely wind and water tight, as well as structurally sound. The new 20′ containers are built with COR-TEN Steel which is essentially the same material that has been used to repair bridges. COR-TEN is considered a “weathering steel” due to it’s chemical composition, these steels exhibit increased resistance to atmospheric corrosion compared to other steels. This is because the steel forms a protective layer on its surface under the influence of the weather. Container Alliance recommended this type of steel container for Harbor Marineworks due to their close proximity to the ocean and therefore Container Alliance is certain Harbor Marineworks has selected the perfect product for there container storage needs.
As a general mission, Container Alliance tries to provide excellent customer service and outstanding value when it comes to providing Shipping Containers for storage. Being located in Santa Barbara County, we always take extra care, and try to take that extra step in our community to make sure that local businesses stay successful, and that we all stay supportive of each other.
Harbor MarineWorks is an institution when it comes to their long lasting reputation as the experts in marine vessel haul-out and repair. Their high level of experience has served the area for years, and with decades of experience, they will be the go to facility for generations to come. Container Alliance is honored to have a relationship with Harbor MarineWorks in helping them with their Portable Storage needs.
In today’s world, technology is at its peak. It seems as if we can do everything on our phones or on our computers. Not only is it more convenient but it is also the goal to keep technology up to speed with our daily lives. Well, Lynda Weinman and Bruce Heavin were thinking exactly that, when they co-founded Lynda.com a web based business model to help busy professionals keep up to speed on their software skills.
Lynda.com helps the users master software whether it is Adobe Photoshop, Light room or countless other software applications. The Lynda.com software training involves an immense amount of video tutorials and other tools that will enhance the learning of most computer software. Lynda.com strives to be user friendly and a huge asset to the learning of many software and programs.
Lynda.com recently purchased a 40’ Super High Cube Container from Container Alliance, for added storage on their site in Carpinteria, CA. The container chosen is a 40’ shipping container that is 10’ 6” high. In order to Access the container from the side they had Container Alliance install a 7ft roll up door on the side of the container. The second modification to the 40′ shipping container was to paint the container a special color to match the new office and administration building. The container was a great addition because it adds significantly more storage room in an economical way. The container was placed in the parking lot at the lynda.com headquarters and is conveniently located right outside the main building. The container serves as great auxiliary storage. The benefit of adding the roll up door will ensure that fitting things of bigger size will roll in very effectively while not needing to access through the standard cargo door on one end of the 40′ storage container. Lynda.com specializes in making things easier for their customers and so do we. We believe storage solutions should be economical, environmentally sound, and designed your way. Lynda.com picked the size of container and modifications they saw fit on the 40’ super high cube container, and we delivered. Thank you Lynda.com, we look forward to working with you again in the future. We always enjoy working with local progressive companies in the Santa Barbara area.
Container Alliance partner company Container Technology, Inc was contracted by the Atlanta Botanical Garden to convert a 40ft non-working refrigerated container otherwise known as 40ft insulated container into their “Frog Pod”. They approached us with the concept to create on-site lab to cultivate new and endangered species of frogs. They called it a “bio-secure amphibian research lab”.
A non-working refrigerated container (or insulated container) was a perfect fit for their application. They didn’t the refrigeration machine to be functional. They needed an insulated area where the temperature and humidity could be controlled for the frogs. Container Technology, Inc created two separate rooms within the 40ft insulated container. The smaller room or “clean room”
is where they enter the lab. They come into this area and prepare themselves to enter the lab. This is done to avoid bringing any outside contaminants into the lab itself. We installed the access door from the exterior, interior door, electrical, overhead lighting, window A/C and linoleum flooring. The botanical garden also installed some of their own components as well as the plumbing.
The interior door opens up into the lab area. This area is where the frog specimens are cultivated and monitored. We installed the exterior door, windows, electrical, overhead lighting, and window A/C. All of the tanks, racks, tank lighting and miscellaneous components were installed by the botanical garden.
It was a fun an innovative project to be a part of…The “Frog Pod” represents another creative way in which a container (in this case, a non-working refrigerated container) can be converted and used in the aftermarket.
Author: Ray Gregorio Company: Container Technology Inc.
Contact:ray@containertech.com | 770-960-6210
Since the 21st century began, almost 90 percent of non-bulk cargo on a global basis is moved by Ocean Freight Containers stacked on steamships. The sheer dominance of the container has had a ripple effect in other areas of not only cargo transport, but industry standards as well. For example, there were four main recommendations by the ISO (International Standardization Organization) that were internationally accepted:
Malcolm Mclean may not have realized the difference he was making in the lives of human beings when he came up with the idea for the Shipping Container in 1956, but the invention was most definitely pre-meditated. After watching, for 20 years, the slow and inefficient method of carrying, loading and unloading cargo, Mclean finally decided the industry needed a change. He came up with the idea that a specific unit was needed that conformed to a standard the world would recognize. So, the man born in Maxton, North Carolina was not only an American Entrepreneur but later became known as the father of Containerization and named the Man of the Century for his invention of the Ocean Freight Container.
Grandfolia is a locally owned and operated business that designs, sells, leases and maintains interior plant-scapes for the Santa Barbara, CA and Ventura, CA areas. Container Alliance can undoubtedly agree that having plants has a calming effect and can change a drab space into an area full of vitality. Grandfolia makes this a reality. Recently, Grandfolia requested to have Container Alliance create a storage and workshop space from a 40’ shipping container.
