Container Transport Continues to Evolve, Some advances in container transport

Container transport is not a new idea. Containers have been used to move freight more easily since the shipping days of the sixteenth century. When railroads came along, it only made sense to facilitate moving large loads of freight by using containers.

Then came the internal combustion engine which brought the world big trucks capable of moving large loads overland. Loading packed containers onto the flatbed trailers of these diesel workhorses made moving freight simple and safe. Standardizing container sizes simplified the process further and now freight haulers can make use of removable truck bodies that hook up right to big trucks. Refrigerated containers allow perishable items to be moved great distances at safe temperatures.

More advances in container transport include the ability to completely seal containers, lending a greater sense of security for freight clients. And tracking devices can be installed in containers in order to ensure they can be located with no difficulty. Some containers even are foldable, allowing them to be returned to their origin empty thereby avoiding high shipping costs of their own.

Of course in these troubled times, it is important not only to secure container content. It is also imperative to ensure that the contents of sealed—uninspected— containers offer no threat of their own. Since the modern world has everything from smuggling to terrorists to worry about, the transportation and shipping industries have had to respond. There are now high-tech container surveillance systems that have been designed that use imaging and even nuclear technology. Customs and other policing agencies can now “see” into containers without having to open them.

Container transport continues to advance and who knows where it might lead?