

A collapsible shipping container aims to revolutionize global shipping - dc2k08
http://www.fastcompany.com/blog/cliff-kuang/design-innovation/ingeniously-green-collapsible-shipping-containers?partner=rss

======
Tichy
Does it really help all that much? Seems to me there is no point in bringing
more empty containers to China than full ones back. There already is enough
space for the full once, so what does one save by collapsing them? Not sure
where the 25% less weight come from - another subject altogether (I don't
think it is the air inside of the container...Also I think they are often in
lower pressure anyway?).

~~~
roc
I believe the weight savings is from the materials/design, not the fact that
it collapses.

And it seems the advantage of collapsing containers is that you could more
efficiently shuffle the empties in complex shipment chains.

Would you rather ship 100 containers to the US and have 20 China-bound US
shipments and 80 empties come straight back? Or ship 100 containers to the US,
take on the 20 China-bound shipments, collapse the 80 empties and have room
for 60 more elsewhere-bound US exports you can drop off on the way back?

~~~
jhgfgbhn
There aren't any complex shipping chains. Goods go china -> Europe/US the only
thing that goes back is waste.

I can't see this helping. It costs more in a very price sensitive industry.
Rollup doors means it isn't going to be used for shipping anything valuable or
anything which then needs further onward shipping at the destination - are you
going to have a truck full of DVD players going down the highway with canvas
doors!

None of the existing handling systems is going to be able to deal with them,
so you will need special cranes to load the collapsed ones - unless you load
them inside regular containers.

~~~
algorias
> None of the existing handling systems is going to be able to deal with them,
> so you will need special cranes to load the collapsed ones

Not true. The photos clearly show the standard locking mechanism present
(twistlock holes in corners). The procedure to tie several of them into a
bundle is probably the same as with flat racks, and yes, those can be lifted
by regular cranes.

~~~
jhgfgbhn
They are regular containers when up, but when folded they are just big flat
heavy pieces of freight - so you can load them as any other 40' long piece of
freight but that means extra handling gear, forklifts, cranes etc at the
customer's site to collapse them.

You can put them on flat rack, but those are a pain to handle as well. Now if
eg. 10 of these folded flat could lock together and be the same height as a
regular container and and be handled as a regular container that would be
great.

Frankly when you can pay < $1000 for a new steel container in China nobody is
going to be buying expensive, unproven composite containers however clever.

------
avinashv
From my limited experience in the freight and export business, I am skeptical
that they managed to design a collapsable container and reduce weight without
compromising the structural integrity of the container. Standing in a shipyard
and seeing a 40-foot container almost being _thrown_ around is awesome, but I
can't see this standing up to the rigors of the day-to-day life of a
container.

~~~
electromagnetic
Reducing weight doesn't necessarily mean they've reduced the containers
strength in anyway. Aluminum alloys, by weight, can easily be three-times
stronger than Steel alloys. By volume, I believe it can easily be ten-times
stronger than steel. By a three-fold price increase over a standard container,
I'm certainly betting they've got aluminium in there.

A fully aluminum container could be significantly stronger/lighter (not both)
than a steel container, and it would have a significantly longer lifespan than
steel as a rigid container could be virtually maintenance free for virtually
ever. The only losses to the industry would likely be when a ship goes down,
and then the containers would remain ready and waiting for salvage to return
to work.

However turning the entire freight industry from Steel to Aluminium containers
would probably require depleting all the earths aluminium reserves, and then
likely require discovering an extra-terrestrial source and probably depleting
that too.

Honestly, I don't think this new container will catch on for being light or
collapsible. Also, a thing to wonder, is if the amount of rust washed off of
shipping containers annually is helping promote algal blooms.

~~~
eru
> However turning the entire freight industry from Steel to Aluminium
> containers would probably require depleting all the earths aluminium
> reserves, and then likely require discovering an extra-terrestrial source
> and probably depleting that too.

The 8 most common elements in Earth’s crust (by mass):

    
    
      * 46.6% Oxygen (O)
      * 27.7% Silicon (Si)
      * 8.1% Aluminum (Al)
      * 5.0% Iron (Fe)
      * 3.6% Calcium (Ca)
      * 2.8% Sodium (Na)
      * 2.6% Potassium (K)
      * 2.1% Magnesium (Mg)
    

(from
[http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/earth/geology/crust_e...](http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/earth/geology/crust_elements.html))

------
ippisl
There's a u.s. company that reuses abandoned shipping containers , to build
cheap homes for Mexican families.a family house built this way should cost
$8000.

[http://renaissanceronin.wordpress.com/2008/11/01/drumroll-
pl...](http://renaissanceronin.wordpress.com/2008/11/01/drumroll-please-
welcome-the-8000-shipping-container-home/)

So it would be probably much more effective to reuse container to build homes
for the poor , than to fold them.

------
kqr2
Here's a video of the collapsible container:

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHlTrOVv9gs>

~~~
NonEUCitizen
start at 1:05 to save time.

------
borism
They forgot to add that it costs not insignificant amount to collapse and
rebuild these things as well.

