Extended Operational and Trade Vocabulary

ISO Container Manufacturing and Leasing glossary (page 2)

The container-manufacturing and leasing vocabulary: container variants (A60 fire-rated, dry freight), ACEP and the CSC plate with its ACEP number, corrugated end-wall construction, and the build-specification and leasing terms. Grounds each term in the ISO container standard or the leasing-and-maintenance process it belongs to.

378 defined terms.

Showing 128 on this page (page 2 of 2).

O

One-Trip Container: Container that has made one laden trip from plant and is then sold as nearly new.
Open top container: Container with removable tarpaulin roof.
Operator-Owned Container: Container owned by an operating carrier rather than by a leasing company.
Overheight Indicator: Marking or flag on a container exceeding standard 2.591 m external height.
Owner Code: Three-letter portion of the four-character BIC code identifying the owner.

P

Pacific International Container: Chinese container manufacturer commonly abbreviated PCI Group.
Pallet wide container: Container sized for European pallets.
Payload: Component of an attack that performs the intended malicious action.
PCI Group: Pacific International Container, a Chinese manufacturer of dry and specialty containers.
Per Diem: Daily rental charge applied to a container under lease or detention.
Periodic Examination Scheme: CSC inspection alternative to ACEP based on fixed five-year intervals.
Pickup Reference: Carrier-issued reference to authorize collection of an empty container from depot.
Pin Lock: Twist lock used to secure containers to chassis or to other containers.
Plywood Floor: Tropical hardwood plywood typically 28 mm thick forming the floor of a dry container.
Pocket Wagon: Rail wagon with a recessed pocket accommodating semi-trailer or swap body in piggyback service.
Polyurethane Insulation: Foam insulation filling the cavity between inner and outer panels of a reefer container.
Portable Tank Operator: Operator of fleets of UN portable tanks for international carriage of liquids and gases.
Power Pack: Self-contained motor, pump, and reservoir unit supplying hydraulic power to steering gear or deck machinery.
Pre-trip inspection: Sequence of functional checks on a reefer container before stuffing, including cooling-down, defrost, and alarm verification.
Prefix Allocation: Issue of a BIC owner code to a container operator on request to BIC Paris.
Pressure Vessel Tank: Tank container constructed to pressure-vessel codes for liquefied gas service.
PTI Procedure: Reefer pre-trip inspection procedure setting out diagnostic steps and acceptance criteria.

Q

Qidong Plant: Singamas container manufacturing site at Qidong near Shanghai.
Qingdao Plant: CIMC and DFIC container manufacturing site in Qingdao, Shandong Province, also home to MCI reefer manufacturing.
Quality assurance plan: Document defining inspection, documentation, and acceptance criteria for coating work.
Quay Crane Spreader: Telescopic spreader on a quay crane lifting containers via top corner castings.

R

Racking Test: Strength test imposing transverse load on container end frames to certify racking resistance.
Reefer container: Refrigerated container with integral plant.
Reefer Plug: Onboard or terminal 440 V socket for reefer power.
Refurbished Container: Used container restored to a marketable grade through cosmetic and structural repairs.
Repair Estimate: Document detailing estimated time and material to repair a damaged container.
Repair Manual: IICL guide setting out standard methods and time for container repair.
Repair Shop: Workshop within a depot equipped to perform container repair, often certified to IICL standards.
Reposition: Operational movement of an empty container from surplus to deficit area.
Roof Bow: Detachable transverse member supporting the canvas of an open-top container.
Roof Panel: Single-piece pressed steel roof of a dry container.
Rosenlew Container: Finnish heritage container brand, historically built specialty containers for the European market.
Rotational Speed Detector: Sensor on reefer compressor monitoring shaft speed during pre-trip inspection.

S

SCAC: Standard Carrier Alpha Code used in US intermodal documentation, separate from BIC prefix.
Sea-Worthy: Common grade of used container fit for ocean carriage with minor cosmetic wear.
Seaco Global: Container leasing company with fleet including dry, reefer, and tank equipment.
SeaCube Containers: Container leasing company with a particular emphasis on reefer container leasing.
Secondary Market: Market in used containers sold out of service for storage, conversion, or one-way use.
Self-Contained Reefer: Reefer container with integral refrigeration unit, the dominant configuration in marine service.
Service Life: Working life of a container in marine service, typically twelve to fifteen years.
Set point: Operator-specified target temperature for return or supply air.
Shanghai Plant: Singamas and DFIC container manufacturing sites located in the Shanghai area.
Shipper-Owned Container: Container owned by a shipper rather than a carrier or lessor and marked accordingly.
Shorebox: Older slang for a used ISO container repurposed as static storage.
Side Door Container: Dry container fitted with full-length side doors, generally a 20-foot specialty unit.
Side Wall: Corrugated steel side panel of a dry container.
Singamas: China and Hong Kong-headquartered manufacturer of dry, tank, and reefer containers.
Singamas Reefer Tianjin: Singamas reefer container manufacturing site in Tianjin.
Single-Use Liner: One-trip flexible liner installed in a dry container for bulk loading.
Size and Type Code: Four-character ISO 6346 code such as 22G1 or 45G1 identifying container size and type.
Slot Charter: Charter of a defined number of TEU slots on a containership.
Slot Cost: Allocated cost per TEU slot on a vessel, a key economic driver of container ship operations.
Sock Lashing: Specialty lashing arrangement for unitized cargo inside an open-top container.
Specialty Container: Any container other than a standard dry box, including reefer, flatrack, tank, open-top, and bulk units.
Spreader Twistlock: Twistlock at each corner of a quay crane spreader engaging the container's top corner castings.
Stack Test: Stacking compression test on IBCs and large packagings under IMDG 6.5 and 6.6.
Standard Dry Container: 20-foot or 40-foot ISO container of external height 2.591 m used for general cargo.
Steel Floor Container: Container with steel rather than plywood floor, used for some heavy-duty or specialty applications.
Stencil Sticker: Adhesive sticker carrying owner stencils, gross weight, and CSC data in lieu of paint stencils.
Stolt Tank Containers: Subsidiary of Stolt-Nielsen operating one of the world's largest fleets of ISO tank containers for chemicals.
Strap Lashing: Webbing strap secured to lashing points inside a container to restrain cargo.
Stuffing: Loading of a container.
Sub-Lease: Lease of containers from one lessee to another for short-term capacity needs.
Subleased Equipment: Equipment leased through a sub-lease arrangement with consent of the head lessor.
Surveyor: independent expert appointed to investigate cause and extent of loss.
Swap Body: European intermodal unit with twistlocks and supporting legs but without corner castings of an ISO container.
Swap Body Class A: EN 283 class A swap body of 12 to 13.6 m length used in long-haul road and rail.
Swap Body Class C: EN 283 class C swap body of about 7.15 m length, the dominant European combined-transport unit.

T

T1 Tank: UN portable tank instruction for the lowest hazard liquid commodities.
T11 Tank: UN portable tank instruction widely used for hazardous and non-hazardous chemicals.
T14 Tank: UN portable tank instruction for chemicals of higher hazard classification.
T22 Tank: UN portable tank instruction for specific corrosive and toxic liquids.
T50 Tank: UN portable tank instruction for non-refrigerated liquefied gases.
T75 Tank: UN portable tank instruction for refrigerated liquefied gases such as ethylene and LNG.
TAL International: Former independent container lessor merged with Triton in 2016 to form Triton International.
Tandem Chassis: Chassis with two axles at the rear for higher payloads.
Tank container: ISO tank container for liquids and gases.
Tank Container Association: Common reference to the International Tank Container Organisation ITCO.
Tank Operator: Operator of a fleet of ISO tank containers such as Stolt, Hoyer, Bertschi, or Newport.
Tare Weight: Weight of an empty container or vessel.
TEU: Twenty foot equivalent unit.
Tianjin Plant: CIMC, DFIC, and Singamas reefer container plants located in Tianjin.
Tinglev: Site of MCI's historic dry container factory in Denmark, now closed.
Top Lift Frame: Lifting frame engaging only the top corner castings, used by reach stackers and gantry cranes.
Top Side Rail: Longitudinal frame member running along the top of the container side wall.
Total Loss Container: Container deemed beyond economic repair and removed from the active fleet.
Touax Group: French container, modular building, and rail freight lessor headquartered near Paris.
TRAC Intermodal: US chassis pool operator and intermodal chassis lessor.
Trade Body ITCO: International Tank Container Organisation, the principal global trade body for tank container operators and depots.
Trade Lane Imbalance: Difference in laden flows between trade lanes driving empty repositioning costs.
Tri-Axle Chassis: Chassis with three axles for higher payload, common for heavy tank or out-of-gauge loads.
Triton Container International: Former independent container lessor that merged with TAL International in 2016.
Triton International: World's largest container lessor formed by the 2016 merger of Triton and TAL.
TT Club: Through Transport Mutual Insurance Association, a mutual insurer for transport operators including terminals and freight forwarders, outside the IG.
Twenty-Foot Dry Standard: ISO dry container 6.058 m long, 2.438 m wide, and 2.591 m high with internal volume around 33.2 cubic meters.
Twistlock: Locking device joining containers at corner castings.
Two-Way Forklift Pocket: Pair of slots in the base of a 20-foot container permitting forklift handling from either side.
Type Approval Certificate: Issued by a class society or flag administration for equipment.

U

UES: United Equipment Services Holdings, a container leasing and trading company.
UIC Code: Identification code under International Union of Railways rules, used for swap bodies in European rail traffic.
UN Portable Tank: Multimodal tank meeting IMDG Chapter 6.7 design and approval requirements.
Unit-Load Container: Specialty container designed to carry a single unit-load such as a power transformer.
Useful life: PSPC target of 15 years during which coating system is intended to remain in GOOD condition.

V

VAN DEN BOSCH Transporten: Dutch transport company operating a large fleet of ISO tank containers and tank silos.
Vapor return line: Cargo gas return between ship and shore on tankers/gas carriers.
Vent: Air vent fitted to dry containers to equalize internal and external pressure.
Ventilated container: ISO type group V; classic 22V0 design for ventilated dry cargo such as coffee.
Verified gross mass: VGM of containers under SOLAS Chapter VI.
Vetting: Charterer inspection of vessel before fixture.
VGM Plate: Plate or sticker affixed to a container recording its verified gross mass declaration.
Voyage Allocation: Allocation of container slots by an operator to specific shipments on a given sailing.

W

W&K Container Industries: Chinese specialty container manufacturer.
Wall Stiffener: Vertical or horizontal pressing reinforcing container side or end walls.
Weathering steel: Corten-type steel sometimes used in superstructure components; not generally a hull material.
Welded Repair: Container repair involving welding-in of replacement panels or members.
Wet Lease Container: Container leased together with a refrigeration unit and certain services.
Wide-Body Container: Container of greater external width than the 8-foot ISO standard, used in some European trades.
Working Pressure: Operating tank pressure typically 0.07 to 0.25 barg on membrane and Moss.

X

Xinhui Plant: CIMC container manufacturing plant in Xinhui, Guangdong Province.

Y

Yangzhou Reefer Plant: CIMC reefer container manufacturing site in Yangzhou.
Yard Move: Internal movement of a container within a terminal or depot.

Z

Zinc Coating: Corrosion protection for chains and fittings.
Zone Repair: Repair restricted to a defined zone of a container panel to limit replacement of full panels.