Not just another new box

Railway Age, Dec, 2004

A new high-capacity container developed by Schneider National and introduced at the North American Intermodal Expo in San Antonio last month "meets the needs of stacktrain operators," according to Schneider Vice President and General Manager-Intermodal Services Brian Bowers. The container is 53 feet long and 100-3/8 inches wide--1.5 inches wider than a standard intermodal container--and thus has the potential for 10% to 15% more palletized cargo due to the ability to "pinwheel" pallets.

"It mimics the highway trailer experience," says Bowers, "and offers the same loadinq configuration as over-the-road equipment. There is no need for a shipper to modify packaging just to conform to a container configuration, so it's transparent to customers, rail or road." Schneider National worked with Stoughton Trailers and Wabash National to develop the new, stackable intermodal unit. After testing this fall, the company plans to put 200 of the containers into service in 2005.