Your Guide to Shipping Container Safety and Cargo Doors
When you buy a shipping container, you want assurances that your cargo will remain safe from the elements and thieves. You also want to make sure it’s easy to access whenever you need to. That’s why the cargo doors you choose are so important, as is the overall safety of your container.
From heavy-duty doors and theft-proof locks to alarm systems, surveillance, and perimeter fencing, there are many things you can do to ensure the safety of your unit. Doors are the main concern for many.
Types of Shipping Container Doors
There are many methods of cargo safety measures, the main measure being manual elements such as locks and bars. Remember, the right doors will protect your cargo from outside influences of humans and nature.
Here’s a look at the different types of doors:
- Double doors: These are the most common, providing you with the highest level of cargo loading flexibility. You can opt for both the front and rear ends of the shipping containers to have double doors, or you could add a set just at one end. It’s your choice.
- Open side doors: These are another popular choice, with two-leaf gates at the sidewalls that you can fully open for easy loading of heavy cargo.
- Personnel Doors: These doors are made of heavy-duty steel with insulated cores, and allow for easy and frequent access to the container by approved personnel. The insulated core regulates temperatures inside the unit.
- Roll-up doors: These are great for heavy cargo transport and unloading. They’re lightweight and can easily be rolled up to provide easy access to the interior. Also known as overhead entrances, roll-up doors can be attached to the sidewalls.
- Sliding glass doors: Made of glass and vinyl, these are not as common due to their transparent nature and the security issues they pose.
- Sliding steel doors: Similar to sliding glass doors, these are slightly more viable for cargo safety.
- Cargo Door: These are heavy-duty steel core, two-leaf doors located at the rear, providing tunnel access to the interior.
- Combination Door: This allows you to add different types with more security measures and cargo-loading flexibility. You can even have multiple access points, great for containers used as tiny homes or offices.
Container Door Elements
The kind of door you choose will determine decides how quickly, efficiently and safely you can load and unload cargo.
Open-side doors, for example, are a secure way to load heavy equipment securely due to the wider access.
But in addition to the door, you also should know about some of the markings, which tell you a lot about the container’s identity. This is where all the owner or manufacturer information will be listed, as well as the ISO number, maximum payload capacity and empty container weight.
You will also find safety approval plates such as the Container Safety Convention plate and the Approved Continuous Examination Program which tells you all about the safety status of the container. And finally, you will also see height caution stickers on the doors.
In the end, your container door acts as the last line of defense between the interior of your shipping container and the outdoors. That’s why it’s important to carefully research the type of cargo door you want. The right one will keep intruders at bay (important for those who own businesses with expensive equipment).
The right one will also keep Mother Nature out, as well as pests, moisture and rot. The above types of doors can generally be included on all common sizes of shipping containers, such as 20-foot, 40-foot and high cube containers. They can also be used on specialty units such as flat racks, open-sided containers, open-top containers, hard-top containers and refrigerated units (reefers).
Don’t hesitate to speak with your shipping container provider, as they can help you choose the right cargo doors for your intended purpose, budget, security needs and container type.
Contact Transocean Equipment Management
We welcome any and all questions you may have about door options for our many shipping container models. You can get a free quote on our container sizes and modifications such as doors when you give us a call at (910) 483-7828. We service a large area for your convenience and bring you all the add-ons you need to complete your container.
