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Intermodal transport equipment
Published in Jason Monios, Rickard Bergqvist, Intermodal Freight Transport and Logistics, 2017
Rickard Bergqvist, Jason Monios
ISO containers are the strongest loading unit, as well as being stackable. They are, therefore, the most versatile. The key underpinning of successful intermodal transport was not simply the invention or adoption of these containers but their increasing standardisation. This was a long process (see Levinson [2006] for a detailed history and the role of the ISO) that resulted in a handful of main container types. Three important ISO standards regarding freight container specification are ISO 668:1995 Freight Container – Classification, dimension and ratingISO 6346:1995 Freight Container – Coding, identification and markingISO 1161:1984 Freight Container – Corner fittings – Specification
International container design regulations and ISO standards: are they fit for purpose?
Published in Maritime Policy & Management, 2019
Sally Martin, Jeffrey Martin, Polin Lai
The primary ISO standard defining the operational codes found on a container is ISO 6346. This standard provides the structure of the container number and the size type code and details the way in which these codes should be displayed. The container number code structure as well as uniquely identifying the container also provides a means of identifying the container’s owner. The size type code comprises a two-digit size code and a two-digit type code, which are displayed together on a container. The size code provides the external length, width and height information of a container and the type code distinguishes between container types. When first introduced by ISO 6346:1981 the size code included logic that distinguished between ISO and non-ISO containers however this logic was withdrawn when the standard was restructured by ISO 6346:1995. Since this revision there has been no means of visually distinguishing between ISO and non-ISO containers. In total, there have been three iterations of the size type code structure (1981, 1995 and 2012) all of which are still found on containers in circulation today depending on their date of manufacture.