A shipping container is a container with strength suitable to withstand shipment, storage, and handling. Shipping containers range from large reusable steel boxes used for intermodal shipments to the ubiquitous corrugated boxes. In the context of international shipping trade, "container" or "shipping container" is virtually synonymous with "intermodal freight container" (sometimes informally called a "sea can"), a container designed to be moved from one mode of transport to another without unloading and reloading.[1]
- ^ Dictionary of International Trade: "Container: ... must be b) specially designed to facilitate the carriage of goods by one or more modes of transport without intermediate reloading. ... Ocean shipping containers are generally 10, 20, 30, or 40 feet long ... and conform to ISO standards"