Protecting your goods

Security and reliability, the prerequisites for container transportation

From dry or refrigerated goods, to giant factory parts or pharmaceutical products, all goods require specific attention. Because the challenges relating to businesses’ and producers’ commercial trading activity is a priority, reliability is a major concern. To address this, we apply all of our expertise in order to ensure the integrity of goods right through to being delivered on time.

Our teams of goods container experts provide continuous and extremely careful monitoring of our container fleet. They perform systematic quality controls on each container, as well as inspections and regular maintenance in order to ensure that they are in perfect condition. They select the containers best suited to your cargo and eliminate the oldest from our fleet. Our experts also keep abreast of new regulations relating to container transportation and our Group complies fully with the International Safety Management code for shipping companies.

For transporting your hazardous goods, our five specialist offices use a rigorous acceptance and control policy that complies strictly with national and local regulations, the Group’s guidelines and vessels’ specific requirements.

We make our containers intelligent

We capitalize on the power of smart technologies and big data to optimize goods transportation. Smart containers make it possible to obtain value-added information about the status of goods in real time through all stages of the supply chain. These intelligent solutions make us more efficient. Our containers are equipped with our Traxens technology, which makes it possible to exchange information about the position of goods and facilitates intermodal connections.

Our Reefer fleet is one of the most advanced in the market

To arrive at the right port fully intact, many goods need to be transported under extremely tightly controlled temperature, atmospheric and humidity conditions. According to the UN, one third of food produced worldwide is lost during transportation. Reducing this waste is also an issue we are addressing with our intelligent Reefer containers.

In this market where every detail counts, we currently benefit from three key strengths. First of all, our teams of experts: we have a dedicated organization and a network of refrigerated container transportation specialists in more than 80 countries.

Secondly, we also offer producers one of the biggest and most modern container fleets on the market using Reefer technology: with capacity of over 400,000 TEU, the average age of vessels is seven years. Available in several formats, these containers are able to keep your goods at constant temperatures ranging from -40°C to +30°C.

Thirdly, our containers are equipped with the latest technologies, providing precision and optimal control of conditions for transporting your refrigerated goods. In particular, they feature refrigeration units that accurately control the air temperature required for your cargos. Specially designed channels in the container’s floor allow this air to circulate continuously and uniformly inside the goods storage area.

Humidity levels are controlled in a similar way and can be maintained between 85% and 60% throughout transportation. Our Reefer containers also benefit from atmospheric control systems to adjust oxygen and carbon dioxide levels, slowing down the ripening process for fruits and vegetables.

Information such as the intensity of any shocks, door opening and closure, or variations in outside or inside temperature is transmitted in real time to allow for more reliable control of cargo integrity.

A wide range of customizable standard containers

Dry goods also require closer attention and need specific containers suited to their characteristics, such as quantity, destination and swift transition from ship to train, barge or truck. We offer a vast fleet of standard containers designed to transport all kinds of dry goods. Generally used for goods packaged in cardboard boxes, bags, bails or barrels, they are available with a number of options:

• Open top: instead of a rigid roof, these containers have a removable cover for products that can only be loaded or unloaded by crane or bridge crane.
• Flat rack: foldable and with folding extremities, these are suitable for heavy, bulky and particularly tall or large items.
• High cube pallet: specifically designed for transporting pallets, they are able to carry 33 pallets per row compared with 27 for a conventional container.

We pay particular attention to the environmental impact of our containers. For example, for all our new orders we opt for floors made from bamboo, which grows very quickly and can be cut after four or five years. We are also investing in containers made from light steel, which optimize fuel consumption while also limiting emissions of greenhouse gases and air pollutants.

Bespoke solutions for outsized and non-standard goods

Some goods are simply too big, too heavy or too delicate to be transported by container. For these outsized and non-standard cargos, the dedicated experts in our Project Cargo Division provide specific help and come up with integrated and customized solutions. With seven specialist teams in Europe, China, Brazil, the United States, the Middle East and Singapore, they can handle any concern.