Like most businesses, the global container industry uses jargon terms to describe its products and processes.
Here’s the Container for sale guide to the most commonly-used …
| Bolster – see Platform Flat |
| Box (BX) – see Dry Cargo |
| Bulk or Bulker (BK) – a container specifically designed to carry dry cargo without the need for intermediate packaging. Foodstuffs such as wheat or rice, chemicals or coal are typical cargoes. For sensitive material, an inner liner may be used between the cargo and the container wall. |
| CCU – short for Cargo Carrying Unit and used in the offshore industry to refer to what is known in the marine industry as containers. |
| Clip On – a generator (see Gen Set) that fits externally on the front wall of a temperature controlled container. Two types of fittings are common – the pin type which engages in the top rail of the container and Twist Lock type which fits into the front face of the upper Corner Castings. |
| Collapsible Flat (FC) – a Flat Rack with end frames that are hinged such that they can be folded for empty shipment. With the end frames folded, 3-9 units (depending upon design) can be stacked into the same cube as one unit with the ends erected. The end frames may be Flush Folding. (see separate entry). |
| Corner Casting – the steel fitting, normally located at the eight extremities of the container, which allows a container to be lifted or secured to a vehicle. |
| CSC – the Container Safety Convention is the more common name for the International Convention for Safe Containers 1972, a United Nations mandated set of regulations which stipulate container sizes and capacities, markings and minimum standards of safety, quality and testing. CSC regulations have been revised and amended a number of times over the years since its introduction. |
| CSC Plate – an aluminium plate, normally fixed to outside of one of the rear doors, on which statutory information about the container is recorded. For Flat Racks and other units without doors, the plate is normally fitted to the rear bottom rail. |
| Curtain Side (CS) – a container with the floor, roof and ends of a Dry Cargo unit but with side access. Access is through a removable tarpaulin which covers a steel framework. Timber slats are often fitted which help restrain cargo movement. It is common to be able to load cargo through either side. |
| DNV – Det Norske Veritas: a global provider of services for managing risk whose services includes providing specifications for the design, construction and inspection of cargo carrying units (containers) for use in the offshore oil, gas and wind farm industries. A “DNV” unit is an offshore container which complies with standards set by the organisation. |
| Dry Cargo (DC) – the standard shipping container for dry goods. It comes in various sizes and, in its basic form, has a single pair of doors to one end. It is made of steel with a plywood or solid timber floor. (New flooring materials are being introduced.) |
| Dry Van (DV) – see Dry Cargo |
| FEU – Forty feet Equivalent Unit (see also TEU). This term, most commonly used in North America, is for quantifying containers particularly where different size lengths are involved. One 20ft container equals half an FEU. |
| Flat – a range of specialised containers principally used for carrying out of gauge or difficult to handle cargoes. |
| Flat Rack (FR) – a Platform Flat fitted with end frames. The frames may be either Fixed or Folding (see separate entry). The end frames can be either solid, with panels filling the end frames, or open to allow for over length cargo to be carried. If a single open end is used, it is the end farthest from the Goose Neck Tunnel. |
| Flush Folding (FF) – a Flat Rack with folding end frames that secure within the cargo deck of the container. Such units can be used as Platform Flats when the end frames are in the horizontal position. |
| General Purpose (GP) – see Dry Cargo |
| Gen Set (G/S) – a removable generator that is specifically designed to provide electrical power for Reefer containers. Gen Sets come in a number of types see Clip On, Integral and Undermount. |
| Goose Neck Tunnel – an aperture on the underside of 40ft and longer containers which allows them to be carried on certain types of chassis. The tunnel is formed by leaving a space between the cross bearers in the under frame at the front of the container. |
| High Cube (HC) – a container that is 9’6″ (2.89m) high. |
| Incoterms – a commonly used set of definitions created by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) to identify globally known and used standard trade rules and definitions for agreeing up on and arranging the delivery of goods. |
| Integral – a Gen Set which fits flush within the ISO cube of a Reefer container. |
| ISO – the acronym for International Organization for Standards, or International Standards Organisation as it is more commonly known. The ISO sets the basic standards to which containers have to be built. With some operators, particularly military units, they refer to “ISOs” as meaning standard shipping containers in the same way as a “conex” refers to containers in US military parlance. |
| Nose Mount – see Clip ON. |
| Open Side (OS) – see Curtain Side. Some open side units are not fitted with tarpaulins but have a steel mesh frame to help prevent unauthorised access and/or cargo restraint. |
| Platform Flat – a container consisting solely of the base frame of an ISO container. Units may have proprietary fittings enabling a number of units to be secured together when stacked. Floors are made of wood or steel sheeting. |
| Port Hole – a type of Reefer container which has no machinery itself and relies upon external equipment to provide a flow of temperature controlled air. Two apertures on the front wall of the insulated container allow cooled or heated air to be fed and recycled. These circular hatches resemble port holes, hence the jargon. |
| Reefer – an abbreviation of refrigerated referring to temperature controlled containers. The term is somewhat misleading as Reefer containers are normally capable of providing a cargo temperature range of at least –25c to +25c. |
| Tank (TK) – a container specifically used for the carriage of liquid or dry cargo in bulk. Milk, orange juice, petroleum products and chemicals are typical cargoes. Tank containers can be refrigerated and/or heated depending upon product requirements. |
| Tarp – short for tarpaulin, the flexible vinyl covering used for the roofs of Open Top containers or the sides of Curtain Side containers. |
| TEU – Twenty feet Equivalent Unit. This is the most common term for quantifying containers particularly where different size lengths are involved. One 40ft container equals 2 TEU. Container ship sizes are defined in TEU. |
| Tilt – another term for tarp |
| Twist Lock – a device for securing containers to lifting equipment or vehicles by engaging a rotating pin into one face of a container’s Corner Casting. |
| Undermount – a Gen Set that is installed on the chassis carrying Reefer containers. |
| Underslung – see Undermount. |
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