What is in the Container?

What Type of Goods are Carried in Containers?

Just about every thing you will see in the high street and many other types of cargo too. From Ipods to washing machines, liquid products, scrap metal, waste paper, cars, large pieces of equipment, such as diggers and dumpers, food products, pharmaceuticals as well as empty containers going back to the Far East to be refilled.

Who Pack the Containers?

Containers can be packed and unpacked at the exporters or importers premises by their own staff, usually using small forklift trucks. Alternatively, special warehouses called Container Freight Stations (CFS) are found throughout the country where specialist operators pack and unpack the general cargo from several different importers or exporters into a container bound for a common destination.

How do Containers get to the Terminal?

There are three modes of transport which are used to move containers..

In Southampton 70% of containers arrive or are collected by container lorries. Each day up to 2,200 container lorries arrive at the Terminal.

27% of containers travel by rail from two rail terminals, managed by Freightliner. Every day 25 trains arrive and depart each day to eight main consumer and manufacturing regions of the UK, mainly:

- London, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Glasgow, Cardiff, Birmingham and Cleveland.

Feeder ships move 3% of containers from all European ports to meet the mainline mother vessels in Southampton.