Auto Shipping Via Closed Container

Open auto shipping is the type of transport most often recommended by those who are experts in the field. They mention the ease of loading and loading the open carrier as opposed to the closed carrier. In just two hours, as many as 33 vehicles can be loaded in the open container, while the closed container may take that long to load just one vehicle and raise it onto the container vessel. The closed container method, unlike the open, requires special heavy-duty equipment to be in the area where loading and unloading take place. The terminals that exist today are not built to handle this type of operation and a separate space must be allocated for this process and the storage of related equipment. Separate, off property storage must be made available for the safekeeping of the vehicles. The open carrier can carry twice as many cars as the closed container.

Many precautions must be taken to ensure a car’s safety within a container. It must be carefully and professionally handled and secured with special equipment for loading and unloading. The securing process becomes even more complex if the container is not specifically designed to hold a vehicle. There is much wedging, coaxing, tying and binding involved in securing the vehicle inside the container. It is in this initial process of loading and securing that mistakes may be made causing damage to the vehicle, which may be discovered only at unloading.

In the open container, as contrasted to the closed, most of the damage is due from unauthorized access by persons of nefarious intent. Because the open container is easily accessible, vandalism can occur from even outside the platforms. Cars have arrived with bullet holes, probably not from a hunting accident. The interior of a closed container is not totally impervious to access by those people intent on doing it harm, but it does make the task much more difficult for them.

Very long trains which are open carriers may run into difficulty when crossing foreign borders. Not every country has the technology to ship by this method and the documentation and bureaucratic policies of the different countries can easily disrupt a shipment. Sometimes when long trains cross borders after loading at a factory in a foreign territory, the crew may be required to unload and then reload the cargo into more apt carriers in the country on the other side of the border. This not only delays the time of delivery, but also further exposes the vehicle to possible damage.

Though not available in all countries, innovative technologies like Trans-Rack may be a solution . Bear in mind that not all of even the major countries can deal with the technical operations required of closed-container shipping.

The Trans-Rack system allows for an increase in the number of vehicles loaded into closed containers and cuts costs of transport by around 25%. It offers no-damage loading and unloading of cargo. Trans-Rack containers are much safer against accidents than the old-fashioned type of containers. Experiments have been made that drop Trans-Rack containers from a height of 5 meters. The containers were, in fact, damaged, but not the cargo inside. They are also much less time consuming to load and unload, requiring about 30 minutes for each full container. There are standard systems in place for securing the vehicles which also decrease costs and promotes safety.

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