Conex Box vs Shipping Container vs Storage Container: Is There a Difference?
Kleenex or tissue. Soda or pop. Tennis shoes or sneakers. Conex box or shipping container.
Sometimes, we use different words to refer to the same thing. Over time, the words become interchangeable and are universally understood no matter whom we are speaking to. Often, the only difference in word choice is geographical or historical.
For example, “soda” is the preferred term in the Northeast, most of Florida, California and pockets of the Midwest around Milwaukee and St. Paul. “Pop” is what people say in the majority of the Midwest, and “coke,” regardless of the flavor, is what people call it in the South.
Different Names For Shipping Containers
Whether you call them “shipping containers,” “storage containers,” “Conex (or Connex) boxes,” “ISO boxes,” or “sea containers” they all usually refer to the same thing – large metal, weather-resistant containers used to store or ship things.
They are also all controlled by strict manufacturing guidelines to ensure they are universally interchangeable within common conex box dimensions to help streamline shipping.
Conex Boxes: The History Behind Them
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CONEX is short for “Container for Export”, coined by the International Shipping Organization (ISO). Today, the word “Conex” is understood as a shipping term to refer to the way goods are shipped overseas.
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CONEX containers are one of the most iconic developments in the history of transportation and logistics and they revolutionized the shipping industry.
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The military saw the need to develop the early shipping containers in 1952. They saw the efficiencies of putting cargo in containers and not shipping items loose on ships.
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The commercial shipping industry took note in the mid-1960s and realized the need for standardization in container sizes and build specifications.
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The International Maritime Organization established the International Organization of Standardization (ISO) to set universal guidelines that govern the manufacturing guidelines, sizes and capacity requirements of every shipping container made in the world. That is why they are sometimes referred to as “ISO boxes” or “ISO containers.”
The use of standardized steel and aluminum shipping containers actually began during the late 40s and early 50s, when commercial shipping operators and the U.S. military started developing shipping units.
During World War II, the U.S. Army began experiments with containers to ship supplies to the front lines because cargo was being delayed at ports due to the time required by break bulk loading and unloading of ships, and supplies being stolen or damaged during transport.
“Shipping Containers” And “ISO Containers”
A “shipping container” is the most common way to describe a standard-sized box with strength suitable to withstand shipment, storage and handling while transporting goods from one place to another. Most shipping containers are made from Corten steel, a high-quality, corrugated steel that is susceptible to surface rust only, making it the ideal material to survive extreme weather.
In the shipping trade, the terms “container” and “shipping container” and “Conex” are understood to mean the same thing:
A large, reusable steel box designed to protect goods while they are shipped around the world.
These containers can withstand harsh environments and make it possible to ship materials using various modes of transportation – ship, rail or truck – without needing to unload the cargo each time the mode of transportation changes.
In the container industry, shipping containers are referred to as ISO containers or Intermodal Containers, which are large standardized shipping containers designed and built for intermodal freight transport. Intermodal shipping containers can be as large as 53-feet long.
Shipping containers must conform to the International Maritime Organization’s ISO (International Organization for Standardization) specifications. These standards ensure consistent loading, transporting and unloading of goods in ports around the world. The ISO standardization also mandates that containers meet the size and durability requirements to allow them to stack safely and uniformly on ships and trains.
ISO containers are inspected every 30 months by a certified inspector to ensure the container is within specifications. Used ISO containers for sale that are still certified for shipping are referred to as “Cargo Worthy” containers.