Container parts
forklift pocket
A forklift pocket is a slot in the bottom side rail of a container. Forklift tines slide into it to lift and move the box. Twenty foot containers often have them. Many 40 ft containers do not. Check the maker's limits before any lift.
Why it matters
Forklift pockets let a yard lift a container without a crane. Operators use them to move empty 20 ft units in a depot. Pockets are meant for empty boxes. Lifting a loaded container this way can bend the rails or damage the floor. A common mistake is to assume every container has pockets. Many 40 ft units do not. Another is to use a forklift too small for the job or tines too short. Tines must reach far enough across the box. Check the pockets for cracks and bent edges before each lift, and follow the maker's limits. Lifting by the corner castings is the other common method.
Read: Shipping container sizes and dimensions for rental fleets
Definition source: en.wikipedia.org
Related terms
bottom side rail
A bottom side rail is the long steel beam along the lower edge of each side of a container. It joins the corner castings and holds the cross members that support the floor. Each box has two. It is a main part of the base frame of the box.
container forklift
A container forklift is a forklift used to lift or load containers. It may lift an empty container by its forklift pockets, or it may drive into a container to load pallets. Heavy-duty container handlers are a different class of machine.
20 ft container
A 20 ft container is the standard short ISO shipping container. It is about 19 feet 10 1/2 inches long, 8 feet wide and 8 feet 6 inches tall on the outside. It is the most common size in portable storage and counts as one twenty-foot equivalent unit.
corner casting
A corner casting is a cast steel fitting at each corner of a container. Eight of them sit at the corners. Cranes, twistlocks and lashing gear grip them to lift, stack and secure the box. They are also called corner fittings.
tare weight
Tare weight is the weight of an empty container or vehicle. Subtract it from the gross weight to find the weight of the goods inside. On a shipping container, it is not set by the ISO standards. It depends on how the container was built.
ISO container
An ISO container is a freight container built to the ISO series 1 standards, such as ISO 668 for classification and dimensions and ISO 1496 for specification and testing. The standards let boxes fit the same ships, trucks and handling gear worldwide.
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