Wider containers
Page 62
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THERE IS considerable consternation among container men about the swing away from the standard ISO recommended cross section dimensions of 8ft high x 8ft wide. As mentioned in this column last month, many shiplines, Cunard among them, and container operators (International Ferry Freight for one: Integrated Container Services is another), now have 8ft 6in. high units in their fleets. One trans-Atlantic operator, Container Marine Lines, has gone to 9ft high units. Fair enough. The cubeage is greatly increased and nobody is particularly bothered except, perhaps, British Railways, who can only load them on special low-loader wagons. They still fit into the cells of container ships and, in this country at any rate, road operators will not be concerned over the question of height (though they will have to watch their weight perhaps).
But Germany has gone one better. An exhibitor at last week's giant Hanover Fair was showing van-type containers which were 6cm wider than the usual 8ft norm. The idea, apparently, is to "metricate" the width. 8ft and 6cm being more easily recognizable on the Continent as 2.5m, and they allow pallets to fit in them side by side. To enable them to be handled by ordinary container equipment, the corner castings have elongated fittings. The snag is, at this width, they just won't fit into the guide rails of a cellular container ship. So they are certainly not "intermodal" as far as ocean carriers are concerned.
German Railways are reported to be buying several hundreds of these new containers for domestic use and, according to the SMMT's book of international use regulations, they only just come within the maximum width allowed on German roads. But they are too wide, I notice, for Portugal and Switzerland, and could prove awkward for some of our vehicles in the United Kingdom. Hauliers who carry German Rail containers, lmarked prominently with the letters 'DB') would be wise to check up on the width before hauling them here.