GlossaryEN1 min readUpdated: Jun 22, 2026
Container
A freight forwarder ships electronic components from Shanghai to Hamburg: the cargo is stuffed into a 40ft container, sealed, and carried as a self-contained unit aboard the vessel.
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Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shipping_container
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A freight forwarder ships electronic components from Shanghai to Hamburg: the cargo is stuffed into a 40ft container, sealed, and carried as a self-contained unit aboard the vessel. A container is a standardised, reusable steel cargo unit whose external dimensions and corner castings conform to ISO specifications, making it fully interchangeable across ships, rail wagons, and trucks worldwide without reloading. Standard lengths are 20ft, 40ft, and 45ft; the 20ft unit is the basis of the TEU (Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit). Beyond the standard dry box, specialised types include refrigerated containers (reefers), open-top containers, flat-rack containers for oversized cargo, and tank containers for liquids. Containerisation has fundamentally reduced handling costs in global ocean freight and largely eliminated the cargo damage that characterised break-bulk shipping.
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