Freight container, system, and method for shipping freight

Abstract

A freight transportation container can accept standard-sized pallets and is suitable for transportation by land, sea, or air. The size and construction of the container permits the loading and removal of freight by a conventional fork lift truck through the container, and allows placement of the container in standard-sized trucks, rail cars, sea vessels, and aircraft. The freight container also is part of a system and method for transportation whereby the freight can be loaded, inventoried, locked, and sealed at a customer's premise, and remain under the custody of one entity throughout shipment of the freight to the consignee. The containers can be linked together to assist in placing several of the containers on the truck, trailer, or rail car, where they can remain linked for transportation. The containers can be brought to a customer's premise on the truck, trailer, or rail car. The containers are then loaded. Afterwards, the containers can be taken to holding areas, other trucks, ships, aircraft, or directly to the ultimate destination. Transactional information regarding the freight and destination is stored in a computer, allowing a central system to track the freight and generate appropriate business and customer documentation.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A modular freight container for transporting and holding freight comprising: 
 a base;    a pair of opposed side walls, each side wall having a length of approximately 13 feet;    a pair of opposed end walls, each end wall having an opening for the loading and removal of freight, said openings being sufficiently large to permit the loading and removal of freight to and from the container by a conventional forklift;    a roof; and    doors to selectively close said openings and secure the freight in the freight container.    
     
     
         2 . The modular freight container according to    claim 1   , wherein said doors are roll-up doors.  
     
     
         3 . The modular freight container according to    claim 2   , further comprising a seal for securing the freight in the container.  
     
     
         4 . The modular freight container according to    claim 1   , wherein said base is sufficiently strong to support a conventional forklift.  
     
     
         5 . The modular freight container according to    claim 1   , wherein said container includes connecting elements, each of the connecting elements capable of cooperating with a device to temporarily join two adjacent containers together.  
     
     
         6 . The modular freight container according to    claim 1   , further comprising a support system connected to said side walls, and a plurality of load bearing members mounted in said support system, wherein said load bearing members are capable of supporting the freight.  
     
     
         7 . A modular freight container for transporting and holding freight comprising: 
 a base;    a pair of opposed side walls;    a pair of opposed end walls, wherein said side walls, end walls, and base defining at their respective intersections four bottom corners, each end wall having an opening for the loading and removal of freight, said openings being sufficiently large to permit the loading and removal of freight to and from the container by a conventional forklift;    a roof, wherein said side walls, end walls, and roof defining at their respective intersections four top corners; and    a plurality of connection elements for accepting a latching device that can securely hold two modular freight containers together.    
     
     
         8 . The modular freight container according to    claim 7   , further comprising doors to selectively close said openings and secure the freight in the freight container.  
     
     
         9 . The modular freight container according to    claim 8   , further comprising a seal for securing the freight in the container.  
     
     
         10 . A system for shipping freight from the premises of the shipper to the ultimate destination, the system comprising: 
 a plurality of freight containers for holding the freight to be shipped, each container including a base, a roof, a pair of opposed side walls, a pair of opposed end walls, each end wall having an opening for the loading and removal of freight, said openings being sufficiently large to permit the loading and removal of freight to and from the container by a conventional forklift, said container having a length of approximately thirteen feet;    a plurality of connection elements associated with each container;    plurality of latching devices that cooperate with one or more connection elements to temporarily join adjacent containers together at respective connection elements; and    at least one vehicle for transporting said plurality of containers from the shippers premises to the ultimate destination.    
     
     
         11 . The system according to    claim 10   , wherein three containers are joined together by said latching devices.  
     
     
         12 . The system according to    claim 11   , wherein said vehicle is a land vehicle capable of supporting the three containers.  
     
     
         13 . The system according to    claim 12   , wherein said land vehicle is capable of supporting an additional container, said additional container being separate from the three containers.  
     
     
         14 . The system according to    claim 10   , wherein said vehicle being an aircraft capable of transporting 9 or more of said plurality of containers.  
     
     
         15 . The system according to    claim 10   , wherein the system includes a first land vehicle and a second land vehicle, the system further including a sea vessel, wherein said first land vehicle is capable of transporting said plurality of containers to said sea vessel and said second land vehicle is capable of transporting said plurality of containers from said sea vessel to the ultimate destination.  
     
     
         16 . The system according to    claim 11   , wherein said latching devices space the adjacent, joined containers by a preselected distance between the adjacent end walls of each container.  
     
     
         17 . The system according to    claim 11   , wherein each of said latching device has a first latching portion and a second latching portion, said first latching portion capable of mechanically grasping one of said connector elements associated with one of the containers, and said second latching portion capable of mechanically grasping one of the connector elements of the adjacent container.  
     
     
         18 . A method of shipping freight from the customer's premises to the ultimate the method comprising: 
 transporting at least two containers secured to a land vehicle to the customer's premises, wherein at least one container is empty, each of said containers comprising a base, a roof, a pair of opposed side walls, a pair of opposed end walls, wherein said side walls, end walls, and base define at their respective intersections four bottom corners, wherein said side walls, end walls, and roof define at their respective intersections four top corners, each of said top corners and said bottom corners having a corner fitting mounted thereto, each end wall having an opening for the loading and removal of freight, said openings being sufficiently large to permit the loading and removal of freight to and from the container by a conventional forklift, said container having a length of approximately thirteen feet, at least one container being empty;    at the customer's premises loading freight in at least one of the empty containers forming a loaded container and securing the freight in the loaded container; and    transporting said at least one loaded container to the ultimate destination.    
     
     
         19 . The method according to    claim 18   , wherein the step of transporting the at least two containers to the customer's premises includes transporting three containers, said containers being joined by a plurality of latching devices extending between adjacent corner fittings.  
     
     
         20 . The method according to    claim 19   , wherein said land vehicle includes a cab, and wherein the step of loading freight in at least one of the empty containers includes loading the freight into the empty container closest the cab through all remaining empty containers.  
     
     
         21 . The method according to    claim 18   , wherein the step of transporting the at least one loaded freight container to the ultimate destination includes transporting the loaded freight container to a consolidation site, removing the loaded freight containers from the land vehicle, and placing the loaded containers on a second vehicle heading towards the ultimate destination.  
     
     
         22 . The method according to    claim 21   , wherein said consolidation site is an airport and the second vehicle is an aircraft, the step of transporting the at least one loaded freight container to the ultimate destination includes placing the loaded containers on the air craft, flying the aircraft to another airport, removing the loaded freight container from the aircraft, and placing the loaded freight container on a third vehicle heading to the ultimate destination.  
     
     
         23 . The method according to    claim 21   , wherein said consolidation site is an a rail yard and the second vehicle is a rail car, the step of transporting the at least one loaded freight container to the ultimate destination includes placing the loaded containers on the rail car, transporting the rail car to another rail yard, removing the loaded freight container from the rail car, and placing the loaded freight container on a third vehicle heading to the ultimate destination.  
     
     
         24 . The method according to    claim 18   , wherein the step of transporting the at least one loaded freight container to the ultimate destination includes transporting the loaded freight container to a consolidation site, removing the loaded freight containers from the land vehicle, and placing the loaded containers on a vessel heading towards the ultimate destination.  
     
     
         25 . The method according to    claim 24   , wherein said consolidation site is a seaport and the vessel is a ship, the step of transporting the at least one loaded freight container to the ultimate destination includes placing the loaded containers on the ship, sailing the ship to another seaport, removing the loaded freight container from the ship, and placing the loaded freight container on a vehicle heading to the ultimate destination.  
     
     
         26 . A method of shipping freight from the customer's premises to the ultimate destination, the method comprising: 
 providing at least three empty freight containers, each of said containers comprising a base, a roof, a pair of opposed side walls, a pair of opposed end walls, wherein said side walls, end walls, and base define at their respective intersections four bottom corners, wherein said side walls, end walls, and roof define at their respective intersections four top corners, each of said top corners and said bottom corners having a corner fitting mounted thereto, each end wall having an opening for the loading and removal of freight, said openings being sufficiently large to permit the loading and removal of freight to and from the container by a conventional forklift, said container having a length of approximately thirteen feet;    providing a plurality of latching devices;    connecting three of the at least three containers together by linking the top corner fitting of one container to the adjacent corner fitting of another container with one of the latching devices, thereby forming a single unit;    transporting the containers to the customer's premises on a land vehicle;    at the customer's premises loading freight in at least one of the empty containers to form a loaded container and securing the freight in the loaded container; and    transporting said at least one loaded freight container to the ultimate destination.    
     
     
         27 . The method according to    claim 26   , wherein the step of transporting the at least one loaded freight container to the ultimate destination includes transporting the loaded freight container to a consolidation site, removing the loaded freight container from the land vehicle, and placing the loaded container on a vehicle heading towards the ultimate destination.  
     
     
         28 . The method according to    claim 27   , wherein all containers of the single unit are loaded, said steps of removing the loaded freight container and placing the loaded containers are done by connecting a conventional lift to top corner fittings on each end of the single unit of containers.  
     
     
         29 . The method according to    claim 26   , wherein the step of transporting the at least one loaded freight container to the ultimate destination includes transporting the loaded freight container to a consolidation site, removing the loaded freight containers from the land vehicle, and placing the loaded containers on a vessel heading towards the ultimate destination.  
     
     
         30 . The method according to    claim 29   , wherein all containers of the single unit are loaded, said steps of removing the loaded freight container and placing the loaded containers are done by connecting a conventional lift to top corner fittings on each end of the single unit of containers.  
     
     
         31 . The method according to    claim 26   , wherein the method includes providing a predetermined spacing between adjacent containers using the latching devices.  
     
     
         32 . The system according to    claim 31   , wherein each of said latching device has a first latching portion and a second latching portion, wherein the step of linking the top corner fitting of one container to the adjacent corner fitting of another container includes said first latching portion mechanically grasping one of said corner fittings associated with one of the containers, and said second latching portion mechanically grasping one of the corner fittings of the adjacent container.