Container damage can be a very frustrating issue, no matter if you’re managing inventory in your area, or shipping goods halfway across the world. There could be leaks and dents, and these can also cause financial losses and delay operations.
When you understand the most common causes of container damage and how to prevent them, you gain an edge over your competitors by having an efficient business.
Let’s explore some of the most common risks and how to prevent and fix them if they happen.
Damages during transport
Containers are often roughly handled when they’re being loaded and unloaded. Transportation can also be rough since most of the containers are transported by ships and weather conditions affect them.
Several things can lead to container damage, like dents, scratches, and even significant structural issues.
Main causes of physical impact
Unfortunately, one of the most common causes of damage is because they’re often stacked improperly. Around 11 billion tons of goods are transported by ship each year.
When these containers are stacked unevenly, and even when they’re overloaded, they can tip over or simply collapse. Weather conditions as we mentioned before, such as storms, winds, or badly maintained roads can result in damage.
Other accidents, like collisions with other machinery, are frequently to blame for container damage as well.
How do you prevent physical impact?
- Make sure that the containers are stacked correctly
- Don’t allow people to overload them
- Use protective padding.
You could also secure them with straps, especially if you’re gonna transport them by sea.
Set up and enforce strict guidelines for the people who will load and unload them. This way, you’ll minimize accidents too.
Rough weather conditions
Difficult or downright bad weather can cause container damage as we said before, and this, unfortunately, happens the most for goods that are shipped across the world.
Causes of weather-related damage
The majority of goods, around 80 percent, are transported by ships. They’re simply exposed to everything: high and low temperatures, humidity, rain, snow – everything you can think of.
It takes a bit of time, of course, but containers end up with rust, corrosion, or a weak structure that can lead to accidents and damage. There can even be internal damage because the moisture inside the containers can freeze over.
How to prevent weather-related damage
If you want to minimize weather-related damage, you should invest in waterproof containers. If that’s not an option, you could add weather-resistant paint to the ones you have.
Also, it’s good to have a maintenance routine for your containers. Inspect them regularly and repair issues as soon as they appear. You can also invest in temperature-control methods, especially for temperature-sensitive goods.
Inadequate monitoring and remote access controls
This problem isn’t as obvious, but it’s equally important. Many companies simply don’t invest in proper monitoring and remote access controls.
Improper monitoring and damage
There are tracking systems for modern containers that give you real-time data, monitoring conditions like humidity, temperature, and even security breaches.
If you don’t invest in this, you can lose or experience significant damage to your goods and containers.
Secure monitoring as prevention
When you want to ensure your system is reliable, you need to use secure connections. For example, you can use a VPN for static IP to maintain a secure connection to your tracking systems, so that nobody can access it and steal information (or even money) from you.
Besides, this allows you to quickly identify and respond to issues that could potentially damage your container, like tampering or the weather, as we said before.
Integrate technology to your company and you’ll have a more secure way to deliver goods wherever you want, without damage.
Final thoughts
Container damage is costly, and dealing with it, is bothersome. If you pair the industry knowledge with tech solutions and precautions, you can mostly avoid it. This, of course, doesn’t mean that you’ll never need to repair your containers.
Understand how they get damaged, and take steps to prevent it from happening. You can’t control everything, but there’s a lot that you can do. Don’t forget modern solutions, like a VPN for remote access and monitoring systems.
When you develop a prevention routine, you’ll rarely have a serious emergency to deal with.
