‘Hi-cubes becoming the standard’

Objections by the SA traffic authorities to container trucks carrying high-cube boxes ignore a global reality, according to Peter Newton, director of Seaboard Maritime Services and a well-known voice in the shipping industry. Although Transnet Port Terminals (TPT) container statistics do not differentiate between 8-foot 6-inch/2.6-metre standard-height boxes and the 9-ft 6-in/2.9-m hi-cubes, the commonly held opinion is that they now comprise the bulk of the containers arriving in SA. “The general consensus is that the 9-ft 6-in hi-cubes – both general purpose (gp) and reefers (refrigerated boxes) – constitute at least 70% of the 40-footers (12-m long),” Newton told FTW. “While it is probably somewhat less, percentage-wise, in the case of 20-footers (6-m) they are increasingly also high-cubes. And I’d say, in the case of 40-ft reefers, almost certainly all are 9-ft 6-in.” To support this case of the growing predominance of hi-cubes in an attempt to get the department of transport to finally legalise the road transport of these boxes on standard container trucks, Newton’s research has been extended to Maersk Line. To confirm the results of his investigations, Newton is awaiting a letter from the line confirming that at least 70% of its overall fleet is 9-ft 6-in hi-cubes. “We are also expecting them to verify that nobody is building 8-ft 6-in standard heights anymore,” he said. “When the 8-ft 6-in boxes have been phased out, 9-ft 6-in will become the ‘standard’.” He feels that evidence from this line should add the extra arm-twist needed to convince the authorities of the truth of the matter. “As you may know,” Newton said, “Maersk Line is the largest ocean carrier of containers in the world, with something over 500 ships in the water, so it’s reasonable to assume that whatever they say in this context is a true reflection of reality.”