What is containerized freight?

Container loads are no different than others, but there are some characteristics for specific deliveries. Containerization is a common practice, with wide application and many advantages. Earlier use of containers began with larger carriers, hence the great development of this process. 

What is meant by containerization?

Generally speaking, containerization is the process of transporting goods that have similar shapes and sizes. Thus, they are assembled in one delivery, which is then distributed to end users. In practice, there are almost no restrictions that require the storage of goods in a container. Container rental is safe and can greatly facilitate the transportation of goods. This is because exporters do not have to visit the seaport to export goods, which takes time. 

Containerization allows goods to be sent to the internal container depot or so-called container freight station and from there to be sent to the destination. 

In 1993, the Law on Multimodal Freight Transport was adopted, thanks to which it is possible to transport goods with containers. This law is still applicable today. 

To further clarify the process of containerization, let’s see what activities it involves: 

• Packaging of containers, which is done not on the pier, but at the place where the goods are produced;
• Use of coastal cranes to lift containers from and onto the ship;
• Moving containers to the port by truck or rail;

Benefits and Advantages of Containerization

Containerization offers exceptional benefits and advantages for developers and development teams. Among them are the following:

• Portability – the container creates an executable software package, but it is portable and not tied to the host operating system. This way it can work very consistently and evenly in the cloud and on any chosen platform. 
• Reduce costs – containers often share the core of the machine’s OS, which is associated with additional costs. This achieves higher server efficiency while reducing additional licensing costs and speeding up start-up times. 
• Security – the use of containers, in practice, manages to prevent the intrusion of breakdown codes in the system or in order to seize other containers. Security is at a very high level also in terms of the fact that security permits can be defined to block the entry of unwanted goods into containers. It also allows for restrictions on communications with unnecessary resources.
• Efficiency – the system serving the container environments can work very efficiently if it is tailored to the needs and the way the containers work. For example, software shares the core of a machine’s operating system. In this way, sharing between containers can take place. 
• Easy management – the platform that manages containerization automates the process of installation, scaling and management of activities and services related to the transport of goods in containers. Such a platform can greatly facilitate a number of tasks, such as management such as scaling container applications, logging and debugging, launching new versions of applications and providing monitoring, and more.
• Error reduction – each container management application is isolated and works independently of the others. In this way, the occurrence of one container in malfunction will not lead to the interruption of the others in the chain.

What are container freight stations (CFS): 

Container freight stations perform very important functions in any supply chain that relates to internal point intermodal (IPI) loads. The main advantage of the stations is that they are designed to help with logistics. 

The most frequent customers of these companies are freight forwarders. In general, however, the container freight forwarding service can be used not only by freight forwarders, but also by logistics service providers, as well as third parties wishing to transport freight to the end user (customer). 

For greater convenience, container freight stations are situated rationally – close to ports and large inland distribution cities. 

Main advantages and functions of CFS

The main advantages of container freight stations are:

• Consolidation of LCL shipments into a larger container;
• Transfer of IPI containers with smaller capacity to larger ones, thus saving significant transportation costs and exercising greater inventory control.
• Effective freight management and cleaning of cargo by freight forwarders.
• Ensuring control and better organization in the implementation of internal freight movements of freight forwarders.
• Providing an option to defer payments that the sender owes for duties and taxes. They will be due when the product is sold to a customer or started to be used in the production process;
• Stations provide very valuable information, recording each shipment, names of importers, exporters, customs agents. In addition, the origin of each product and destination and other cargo data are known. 

Containers are a real revolution today. About 90% of the goods produced are already transported by sea through containers. This widespread practice is extremely successful and cost-effective for manufacturers, carriers, and end users.