Moving more than 2000 boxes a month

Containerised freight is here to stay – and if anything grow – as more and more shippers are electing to move their freight this way, says Regan Moodley, managing director of Shipping & General Transport. “The use of full containers for the movement of freight is increasing in popularity,” he told FTW. “There are various factors that play a role in that – the first being that costs are becoming more attractive and secondly the security of having cargo containerised is simply unparalleled.” A major challenge though is that clients are often not equipped to unpack containers that contain certain commodities, as these may need specialised equipment. “Another common problem is overloading or point loading where shippers don’t consider weight limitations or perform the proverbial ‘balancing-act’ of the cargo being loaded. This inevitably leads to overloading fines being imposed and ultimately exorbitant corrective fees being raised to the client.” According to Moodley, his company moves in excess of 2000 containers per month around the country. With new age containers being produced with Corten sheeting – which is lighter yet stronger – they are also a lot more durable than earlier products, usually manufactured with heavier gauge mild steel. “Effectively this means new age containers have a higher payload threshold, although very marginal.”