Exporters Face Container Shortage [Container Shipping]

Journal of Commerce ^

[Army Air Corps]

Mine would be mostly below ground. Basically, two floors with the second floor above ground. Also, only about 1/4 would be above ground.

[Attention Surplus Disorder]

It’s always sumpthin’.

[Army Air Corps]

Yep, seen those. I have been working on the idea for a bit over a year. I have done cost breakdowns and figured-out design and construction features. Also, my plan is for a rural dwelling.

[GonzoGOP]

Don't know why you say I'm wrong. 40' footers are piled up in China. And 48's and 52's are pile up empty at Global 1 and Global 2 here in Chicago, but you can't use those for export since they are clearly marked domestic only.

The article you posted dealt mostly with grain and agriculture. That's inefficient to move in containers. Usually those get moved by rail in covered hoppers, barges, and bulk freighters via the great lakes and St. Laurence. So a container shortages would be a minimal impact on that trade.
Empty containers clog China's Yantian port
New Mountain Range: Ocean Containers in China

[Paladin2]

Railroads ship empty boxcars and grain cars all the time on somebody’s dime.

[Attention Surplus Disorder]

Very practical, but the interior headroom is kind of an issue at least as far as I’m concerned; not that I am all that tall, but I think I’d find it a tad claustro. Plus it would be pretty difficult to make them/it non UG-LEE.

[rockinqsranch]

Yes, I read that in the article, and it isn’t a new situation as it has happened occasionally throughout the history of containerization during economic downturns, but the term “container shortage” does apply to those areas of interest that don’t have the containers, because the shipping lines either haven’t the budget to reposition the appropriate quantity of teu to the region, or they simply cannot charge sufficiently to warrant the costs of repositioning the equipment.

We are talking produce here I believe which is specialized equipment such as Insulated, and or Refrigerated Container equipment. These units are of lesser quantity than standard Ocean Cargo dry freight units, and the costs to operate the Refrigerated units much less the repositioning costs can be prohibitive under the current economic situation as well. Sort of a Containerization Catch-22 if you will.

[org.whodat]

How many do you want and how much will you pay and when do you want them delivered!!! LOL

[Army Air Corps]

I would make the above ground section look more mike a convention structure with regard to appearance. Natural rock for exterior walls. The interior would have finished wall surfaces such as decorative wood and sheetrock walls. The interior height isn't bad for me (I stand at 6’ 1”). Part of the ground floor would be open to the subterranean floor.

[org.whodat]

So a container shortages would be a minimal impact on that trade.

Then where is the impact on agriculture. They don't sell corn one grain at a time!!

[Army Air Corps]

:-)

Seriously though, I have looked at configurations with 10 and 12 units.

[rockinqsranch]

Thank you. I see your train of thought.

Agree that much farm product is shipped by barge, but there is also a quantity that does ship by specialized Ocean Cargo Container equipment such as Ventilated, or Refrigerated Containers, and this article as I read it is addressing that quantity of product shippers desire to ship in that manner whatever that quantity might be.

[org.whodat]

There was a story on discovery a year are so back about some guy building out of containers. Look for it!! They are around and cheap!!, just remember the provision for utilities is a problem and requires planning.

[Army Air Corps]

I know. I have been working on the details of this for over a year. Issues such as installing French drains, coating the exterior with spraylax as a corrosion barrier, etc.

[Paladin2]

Empty trailer railcars stored in Montana.

View Larger Map

[Paladin2]

http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=h&layer=c&cbll=47.183249,-105.054255&panoid=23LU-aC9aGWdW1Si8zwfyw&cbp=12,168.25,,0,0.38&source=embed&ll=47.183121,-105.054016&spn=0,359.966955&z=15

[mysterio]

if imports from Asia do not pick up significantly during the peak shipping season.

Um, sorry, we need jobs first before we start buying stuff again.

[GonzoGOP]

Then where is the impact on agriculture. They don't sell corn one grain at a time!!

No they sell it by the ship load not the container load. Moving bulk grain, or bulk coal, cement, stone etc. in a 40x8x9 box that has to be loaded through an end door just isn't efficient. To much hand work. A hopper car is self unloading, and can be loaded quickly through a roof hatch. During the grain rush they run 125 car unit trains of nothing but grain cars every half hour 24-7 through Chicago, and that doesn't include the stuff that goes down the Mississippi to New Orleans or west to Seattle.

As for the ships they are self unloaders. They dump the grain in loose, and conveyor systems along the bottom of the hold can unload the entire ship in an hour with only minimal human intervention.

The agricultural products that move in containers are those that cannot handle the rough treatment of self unloaders (fresh fruit), or which need special handling (frozen foods).

[org.whodat]

LOL

[KTM rider]

this is what happens when a country goes socialist