What Is Insulated Shipping Container | LOTUS Containers

An insulated shipping container is a container type used widely for the shipment of temperature-sensitive products such as fruits, vegetables, pharmaceuticals, organs, certain chemicals, and other such products. It lets you keep goods for longer without having to worry about spoilage or rotten. The steel box container from outside tends to suffer wear and tear when it comes in contact with the direct sun, harsh wind, and salty seawater. They rust and often end with leaks and damage, but the insulation done from inside in the insulated container prevents the damage of goods from leaks, condensation, or external temperature. They have insulated panels, roofs, and doors to maintain the temperature of the product. 

Unlike refrigerated shipping containers, they do not have a built-in refrigeration unit thus cannot heat or cool themselves. But it can retain the temperature of the cargo for a specific length of time.

What are the dimensions of an insulated shipping container?

Insulated shipping containers are available in different container dimensions to help the shippers. The approximate dimensions of the shipping box are given below:

20ft Insulated

 

Internal Dimension	19’1” x 7’6” x 7’5”
External Dimension	19’10” x 8’ x 8’6”
Door opening	7’6” x 7’5”
Max gross weight	67200 pounds

 

 

40ft Insulated

 

Internal Dimension	39' 2” x 7’6” x 7’5”
External Dimension	40’ x 8’ x 8’6”
Door opening	7’6” x 7’5”
Max gross weight	67200 pounds

 

 

 

45ft High Cube

 

Internal Dimension	39' 2” x 7’4” x 8’4”
External Dimension	40’ x 8’ x 9’6”
Door opening	7’6” x 8’4”
Max gross weight	74960 pounds

 

From the past few years, its usage and popularity have increased much more especially when used as a building material for constructing houses, offices, or stores, etc.

What are the types of insulated shipping containers?

They are available in different types that are mentioned below: 

• Regular Ice Totes- Being adorned with a foam-filled double wall they maintain the temperature and control it well. Used mostly to store or ship food items, processed seafood, and wineries. 

• Dry Ice Totes- Insulated shipping containers are the most perfect to ship merchandise like dry ice and ice-creams as they are made of compounded-melt blend low-density polyethylene plastic. 

• Specialty- The items that need onboard handling, defrosting, or chilling applications, and the insulated containers are best for that. 

• Merchandise/ Display- They don’t need mechanical refrigeration systems as they just maintain the temperature not cool or heat it. So they are perfect for transporting fresh food items or other materials to the markets, vendors, etc. 

How can you insulate the shipping container?

There are various ways by which you can do it but the most commonly used materials are fiberglass, closed-cell spray foam, Styrofoam, rigid polystyrene foam, or some coating available in the market. 

Let’s see some of the easiest ways of insulating a shipping container.

Styrofoam

Styrofoam is a quick, affordable & cost-effective way to insulate a storage container from inside. It does not require any build-out of stud walls to safeguard the panels because the panels are stuck directly onto the walls using glue. Or these are mounted on bars that are flush on the walls.

Batt

Batt is a type of insulating material made of finely woven strands of glass, mineral wool, or plastic fibers. This insulation is highly preferred when the container is modified for residential purposes like building a house, offices, etc. Once the wooden framing work is completed, R 13 or R 19 batt insulation is installed to it entirely.

Spray Foam

Spray foam is widely used to solve the insulation and condensation issue in freight containers both from the interior and exterior. It sets as a hard, water-resistant covering. Unlike batt, it does not require any wooden framing because it is sprayed directly on the walls of a container.

Any of these ways are tremendously effective in making a storage container temperature resistant. 

What are the benefits of Insulated Shipping Containers?

The benefits of insulated shipping containers are vast. Some of them are:

 • The insulated shipping containers provide insulation and safeguard the freshness of the goods.

• They are known as economical solutions as they can be recycled and reused. 

• The shipping containers incur low shipping costs due to being light-weighted.

• Being fitted with thick foam, they provide safety to the goods and keep them in shape.

• The box saves the goods from being spilled as they are fixed with EPS foam, a tight-fitting lid, and a corrugated carton.  

• They provide the perfect solution for transporting food (cakes, pies, steaks, etc.), candles, pharmaceuticals, and bio-products, etc. as well. 

• Insulated box mitigates thawing by keeping the products chilled as they are made to maintain the temperature inside the box. 

• It saves the merchandise from getting damaged by keeping them safe for a longer time.

Hence, we see that insulated shipping containers are the special type of containers that help the shippers in transporting temperature-sensitive goods like fruits, food items, pharmaceuticals, certain chemicals, and other such products.  Well, a big question can still hover in the mind like- from where to buy a good quality container, should the shipper go for a new or used shipping container, etc. 

So if you are also the one who is looking for cargo shipping containers in Utah or the one who is tight on budget, and need used office trailers for sale in Utah. There are many shipping container companies in Utah that have been satisfying customer needs by offering a wide range of storage and shipping containers. The best thing the shipper can do is to get in touch and know from the expert to check which insulated shipping container type works best for you.