Which is the Best Container Type for Perishable Goods? | LOTUS Containers

Talking about the shipment, we often think of goods like iron, crude oil, electronics, textiles, or grains. But in the shipping industry, perishable goods that we consume every day too have extensive demand. It could be anything- from fruit that festers in a few days, meat that rots in a few hours, to organs and blood that get spoiled in a few minutes when exposed to the unfriendly environment are shipped from countries to countries with ultimate care and protection.

Did you know how?

Through flight? The answer could be yes! But still traveling from Miami to Beijing will take you 14 hours approximately by flight. And one cannot even expect the freshness of such goods (especially that needs to be shipped chilled and frozen) to be the same as they were before takeoff. And flight is the most expensive mode. Having to transport every day by flight will cost you a good amount.

So, what’s the other alternatives that suit such kind of shipment? Is it a container? Yes, container but a little modified and innovated one. To suit the shipment of different kinds of cargoes, the shipping industry kept on evolving. And reefer (also called refrigerated containers) is one such result of evolution that revolutionized the entire logistics.

What is Reefer Containers?

Reefer is nothing but a big size fridge (maybe 20ft reefers, 45ft or 40ft high cube container size fridge). A shipping container made from high-quality steel, given door at one side with attached refrigeration unit and vacuumed from all sides and corner, is called as Reefer.

Ever since its invention, it is highly being used by the food industry and health care industry for shipment of goods that have a short life span. It's temperature-controlled feature helps to keep goods like vegetables, dairy, seafood, drugs, pharmaceuticals fresh for a longer time (15-20 days or more).

They have insulated panels, roof, doors that do not allow any exchange of air molecules between internal and external environments. It can maintain temperature ranging from -25°C to +30°C.

In addition to being able to maintain its temperature to work like a refrigerator, it can also raise the temperature for cargoes requiring high temperatures. The control unit allows for the setting and adjustment of various parameters such as temperature, moisture, humidity, ventilation, etc. 

Different dimensions:

 20ft

Internal dimension- 17’10x7’6x7’5

External dimension- 19’10x8x8’6

Door opening- 7’6x7’4

Max gross weight-67200 pound

40ft High Cube

Internal dimension- 38’2x7’6x8’2

External dimension- 40x8x9’6

Door opening- 7’6x8’3

Max gross weight- 67200 pound

 Unlike other shipping boxes, reefers are designed a bit differently. They have a lining type structure on the floor that allows the distribution of chilled air to each part crossing each package. Its T-shaped decking helps cool air to reach every part of the box uniformly. 

 It's not necessary that a single reefer would be equipped with a single type of product. The product can vary. And hence the airflow requirements of each good vary and there is no particular temperature for all. That is why it is said that reefer does not reduce the temperature of the cargo but rather it just maintains the pre-cooled temperature of the loaded cargo.