International freight forwarding companies and other businesses need to know that the container as a standard means of transport, about its WEIGHT, the first is the limit of its box itself, each container on its box will clearly mark its own maximum WEIGHT: MAX WEIGHT XXXXKGS, TARE WEIGHT: ZZZZ KGS, the former minus the latter, is the maximum loading weight of the container, some container doors will be directly marked with PAYLOAD: SSSSKGS this weight limit.

This is the maximum strength that the container box can withstand, loading exceeds this limit, the box may be deformed, the bottom plate falls off, the top beam bends and other damage, and all the resulting losses will be borne by the loader. At present, most professional container terminals in China have installed automatic weighers, so as long as the container is loaded beyond the box weight limit, the terminal will refuse to receive the container. Therefore, it is recommended that you see the weight limit on the container box before packing to avoid unnecessary reloading operations. The old ordinary dry cargo box is 20 'GP; There are two types of 40 'GP, of which 20' GP is generally limited to 21.5 TONS, suitable for heavy cargo, and 40 'GP is generally limited to 26 TONS, suitable for light cargo. However, with the popularity of container shipping, more and more goods, which are not suitable for container transportation, have also begun to choose to use container ships to transport, which puts higher requirements on the container box.

It was not long before a shipping company developed a 40HQ designed to transport light cargo such as textiles and electronics to Europe, with a general weight limit of 25.5TONS; As more types of cargo such as ores, grains and chemicals were added to the container transport, the shipping company developed a 20 'GP reinforced container with a weight limit of 27.5TONS; The 40 'GP reinforced box has a weight limit of 28TONS, and some shipping companies even develop 45' and 48 'special boxes for some specific countries.

Secondly, container transportation is a collaborative process involving multiple departments, so in addition to the weight limit of the container box itself, there are some other factors to consider, listed below:

1. Loading of mechanical equipment at docks and storage yards. After the container ship docks, it generally needs the crane of the dock to load and unload, and then it is dragged to the container yard by truck and then lifted down by forklift. If the weight of the container exceeds the mechanical load, it will cause difficulties for the operation of the dock and storage yard, so for some small ports with relatively backward equipment, the ship owner or the international freight forwarding company and other shipping companies will generally inform the port of the weight limit in advance, and the port will not be accepted if it exceeds this limit.

2. Supporting road transport weight limit. I think people who have worked in the inland points of the United States have a deep understanding that the weight limit of road transportation in the United States is very strict, because many containers need to be towed inland by road with collecting cards after unloading at the port, so the road weight limit has also become the reason for shipping companies to limit the weight of containers, of course, only the port is not limited. In addition to the United States, South Korea has had a road weight limit since 2008.

3. Shipping company's space/weight balance. Each container ship has a certain space and weight limit, but in a specific route, space and weight are not always just right balance. Contradictions often occur in the heavy cargo is relatively concentrated in North China, the weight of the ship has arrived, the space is much less, in order to make up for the loss of space, the shipping company often adopt a price strategy, that is, the cargo weight more than how many tons after the additional freight. There are also shipping companies that do not use their own ships, but buy the space of other shipping companies to transport, and the weight limit will be more strict, because the shipping space sales between shipping companies are calculated according to the standard of 1TEU=14TONS or 16TONS, and the excess weight will not be boarded.

Another kind of charge on the weight is the weight selection fee, the general dock/yard will ship owners or international freight forwarding companies such as ordinary dry boxes stacked together, if you want to choose one of the special weight container, the dock/yard must be searched one by one, the resulting selection fee is generally the same price as the designated container fee.