Editing Containerization (section)

{{short description|Intermodal freight transport system}}
{{redirect|Container Revolution|the pottery term|Container Revolution (pottery)}}
{{for|the virtualization technology|Containerization (computing)}}
{{Use American English|date=August 2012}}
[[File:Line3174 - Shipping Containers at the terminal at Port Elizabeth, New Jersey - NOAA.jpg|thumb|[[Shipping container]]s at the [[Port Newark-Elizabeth Marine Terminal]] in New Jersey, US]]
[[File:WCML freight train.jpg|thumb|A container-goods train on the [[West Coast Main Line]] near Nuneaton, England]]
[[File:Eastbound at Shawmut (16110256449).jpg|thumb|Double-stack Union Pacific container train crossing the desert at Shawmut, Arizona]]
[[File:NYK Virgo (8154929586).jpg|thumb|An ocean containership close to [[Cuxhaven]], Germany]]
[[File:Container ship loading-700px.jpg|thumb|A [[container ship]] being loaded by a [[portainer]] crane in [[Copenhagen]] Harbor, Denmark.]]
'''Containerization''' is a system of [[intermodal freight transport]] using [[intermodal container]]s (also called '''shipping containers''', or '''[[International Organization for Standardization|ISO]] containers''').<ref name="PT">{{cite web |first = John |last = Edmonds |title = The Freight Essentials: Getting Your Products Across The Ocean. |url = https://go.indiegogo.com/blog/2017/03/freight-essentials.html |access-date =2017-09-01| date = 2017-03-03}}</ref> Containerization, also referred as '''container stuffing''' or '''container loading''', is the process of unitization of cargoes in exports. Containerization is the predominant form of unitization of export cargoes today, as opposed to other systems such as the barge system or palletization.<ref name="DrMariappaBabuBaskar">{{cite book |last1=Baskar |first1=Mariappa Babu |title=Blue Book of Container Stuffing – The Container Stuffing Management in International Logistics: The Economics Behind |publisher=Massey Press |location=Auckland |date=2021 |isbn = 978-1703213027|edition=I}}</ref> The containers have [[Standardization|standardized]] dimensions. They can be loaded and unloaded, stacked, transported efficiently over long distances, and transferred from one [[mode of transport]] to another—[[container ship]]s, [[rail transport]] [[flatcar]]s, and [[semi-trailer truck]]s—without being opened. The handling system is mechanized so that all handling is done with cranes<ref name="PTS">{{cite journal |first = Krzysztof |last = Lewandowski | title = Growth in the Size of Unit Loads and Shipping Containers from Antique to WWI. |journal = Packaging Technology and Science |volume = 29 |issue = 8–9 |year =2016 |pages =451–478 |issn = 1099-1522 |doi = 10.1002/pts.2231|s2cid = 113982441 }}</ref> and special [[forklift]] trucks. All containers are numbered and tracked using computerized systems.

Containerization originated several centuries ago but was not well developed or widely applied until after [[World War II]], when it dramatically reduced the costs of transport, supported the post-war boom in [[international trade]], and was a major element in [[globalization]]. Containerization eliminated manual sorting of most shipments and the need for dock front warehouses, while displacing many thousands of dock workers who formerly simply handled [[break bulk cargo]]. Containerization reduced congestion in ports, significantly shortened shipping time, and reduced losses from damage and theft.{{sfn|Levinson|2006}}

Containers can be made from a wide range of materials such as steel, fibre-reinforced polymer, aluminum or a combination. Containers made from [[weathering steel]] are used to minimize [[maintenance, repair, and operations|maintenance needs]].