Steel shipping containers are a crucial component of globalization and the worldwide market place. Learn about their massive impact on our everyday lives.
Steel shipping containers are a crucial component of globalization and the worldwide market place.
According to one estimate, in 2012 approximately 560 million, 20 foot long containers known as TEU’s, were moved from port to port, amounting to almost one and a half billion tons of cargo.
The shipping containers can carry any kind of product internationally, from clothing to computers.
Designed to carry bulk cargo from port to port, the shipping containers make international shipping efficient and orderly by shipping all kinds of products in one uniform container.
The containers that carry different products are identical and interchangeable, except for a serial number, what color they are, and who owns them.
A global shipping system allows for each ship carrying thousands of containers to make several stops loading and unloading cargo in different countries.
The largest container ship is capable of carrying 13 thousand TEUs at a time.
And the largest shipping container port in the world is in Shanghai, which reportedly moves 31 million TEUs every year.
The rising use of shipping containers has made outsourcing a popular way of cutting costs for manufacturing companies in the United States.
