Big Bags are primarily used for cargoes which have a high weight per unit volume and thus a low stowage factor. The same almost always applies to palletized cargoes of paper bags.
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| Big Bags and palletized paper bags in a 40' container |
If 1,150 mm x 1,150 mm pallets are used, the container floor can be virtually completely filled. In the door area, a wooden lattice of squared lumber and/or boards fitted between the corrugations serve to close off the stow.
The wastage of stowage space is very clear in this example. Although the full capacity by weight of the high-cube container has been utilized, only half its volume has been filled.
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Big Bags and palletized paper bags in a 20' container |
If the same batch of cargo had been packed in a 20' container with a somewhat higher load-carrying capacity, the container's capacity could have been fully utilized in both weight and volume terms. This would have resulted in excellent utilization of the container as its ratio of weight capacity to cubic capacity is virtually identical to the cargo's gross stowage factor. As for practical packing issues, interlayer dunnage of wooden dunnage boards was laid between the first and second layers. In this case too, a small residual gap in the stow in the door area can be finally secured with a lattice of wooden dunnage and/or squared lumber.
Packing 40' containers with Big Bags and other cargo can only be economic and practical if relatively light, bulky cases with a high stowage factor are stowed together with Big Bags with a low stowage factor. This combination of cargo allows the capacity of 40' containers to be fully utilized in both weight and volume terms.
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| Alternating packing sequence: cases, Big Bags etc. | ||