Custom containers include not only containers of non-standard dimensions but also containers rebuilt into houses, shops, garbage bins, and so on. By containers, we mean those large 20’x8’x8′ and larger boxes used to transport everything from heavy machinery to thousands cartons of trinkets (in each box).
These containers are used extensively in international trade as they can be packed and custom sealed at the factory and then transported by truck, railcar and ship (or aircraft) to distant locations without being opened till they reach their destinations. The standardized dimensions and specialized handling equipment make it easy to transfer the containers from trucks to railcars to ships and in the reverse direction. With containers, the efficiency of transport logistics improves dramatically.
While transporting containers filled with merchandise is an economic proposition, transporting empty containers is not. Containers that come in are re-used to ship merchandise out from their original destinations. Where this is not possible because of unbalanced trade, empty containers tend to accumulate at high import destinations.
These empty...