Understanding reefer containers and refrigerated shipments

General cargo containers are very useful when used in transportation of consumer goods that do not require special conditions.

You can use a 20ft dry container when transporting textiles from China to USA, 40ft dry container when transporting automobile spare parts from Japan to Holland or 45ft pallet wide dry container when transporting mobile phones from Tawian to UK.

But some goods require special conditions. 

For example you can not carry fresh fruits with a general cargo containers from Brazil to European Union countries.

The average transport time between a port of loading in Brazil to Port of discharge in Europe is 25-35 days.

If you ship fresh fruits with a general cargo containers from Brazil to Europe, the cargo turns into trash and lost its economical value during the transportation.


As a result you have to ship perishable goods via reefer or refrigerated containers.

Today I am going to explain the basics of reefer containers and refrigerated shipments.