Frequently Asked Questions

CakeBoxx is an innovative new style of intermodal shipping container. It has a unique, two-piece design consisting of a deck and a lid.  Unlike conventional dry cargo containers, a CakeBoxx has the ability to be built with or without doors, greatly increasing the security of the cargo.

Most importantly, the key difference between CakeBoxx products and standard containers is the access point. The deck and lid design significantly improves loading and unloading operations and provides exceptional product security.  This design feature drives several key functional differences from standard containers with doors. These include easier access, greater security when closed, increased usable interior volume and the ability to carry more diverse cargo with multiple configurations.

CakeBoxx is built to the same ISO specifications as standard shipping containers.  It is certified to the same international CSC standard by the same certification and classification societies. In these ways it is dimensionally identical to conventional containers.  It has similar volume and weight capacity and is completely compatible with all standard container handling equipment including spreader bars, reach stackers, straddle carriers, gantry cranes and forklifts.

The CakeBoxx design significantly improves loading and unloading operations and provides exceptional product security.  The deck and lid design feature drives several of key functional differences from standard containers with doors:

• Access:  Immediate 360º access to the interior of the container from any direction for more efficient loading, unloading and inspection.
• Greater security:  Once locked, the CakeBoxx creates a safe haven for valuable products in transit through unsafe areas and deters criminal activity.
• Simplicity: The locking mechanism is simple and easy to use.  It cannot be defeated without significant level of effort or seriously damaging the container.
• Functionally more diverse: The CakeBoxx design easily carries many types of cargo that currently pose challenges for standard dry cargo containers.  Long, tall, awkward shaped and heavy cargos such as pipe, I-beams, heavy industrial machinery, mechanized equipment and other complex loads can be easily loaded onto a CakeBoxx deck because they do not have to be forklift loaded through access doors.  Once loaded, the lid is simply placed on top and secured.
• Efficiency: Due to its two piece construction, CakeBoxx has the ability to offer unique configurations that are well-suited to heavy and long cargos.  Many high gross weight/low cubic volume cargos will quickly max out the load capacity of a standard container but will consume only a small portion of the usable volume of the container.  A half-height CakeBoxx (ShortBoxx) has been designed to be fully loaded to its weight limit with heavy cargos using only half the vertical space of a standard container. Two half-height ShortBoxx containers can be shipped in the space of one standard container.  For these types of cargos, this results in two revenue paying loads in the space of one for the carrier and can cut storage space requirements in half.
• Cargo Security: The CakeBoxx tailored Perimeter Tie-Down System (PTS™) with up to 30 flush-mounted, heavy-duty tie-down points provides a wide array of lashing and securing options not available on standard containers. This allows any uniquely shaped or configured products to be safely secured, greatly reducing the chance of damage in transit. The thickness and strength of the TrusDek designed deck component allows the floor to be customized with countersunk, threaded attachment points for a variety of anchor fittings or through-bolts allowing cargos to be secured in ways that ordinary containers cannot.

For the cargo owner there are three primary value propositions:

• increased security of the shipment
• ease and efficiency of loading and unloading cargo
• enhanced safety of the cargo, the container and most importantly for the employees handling the cargo.

Secondary considerations that will develop with widespread usage over time will include the reduced risk of stoppage for customs search, reduced insurance costs, and greater terminal velocity resulting in reduced overall per trip costs.  The questions of terminal rate reductions and lower insurance costs are not theoretical.  The managers of the six largest terminal operators were asked if they would reduce their processing charges based on CakeBoxx getting off their property faster.  They all said yes.  Several insurance companies have committed to the concept of lower rates for containers that demonstrate a reduced risk of theft.

Vertical Locking System™.  The simple and efficient Vertical Locking System is another feature built into every CakeBoxx product. This easy to use twist lock feature secures and releases the lid and deck, and is a highly reliable, super strong advantage.  It consists of extremely rugged yet simple twist lock devices installed at each corner of the container that mates with a corner casting in the lid.

In the event of attempted unauthorized opening, the level of effort to remove the lid of  the CakeBoxx to extract merchandise would a daunting challenge that is virtually impossible to accomplish onboard ships, trains, trucks or in a storage pile – requiring equipment, manpower, time and privacy to accomplish.

After the locks or seals are removed, the handles on each of vertical locking mechanisms at all four corners are simply rotated outward to the open/unlocked position and then the top is released from the deck and ready for lifting.

CakeBoxx lids are easily lifted by equipment commonly found in warehouses, shipping companies and port facilities. This equipment includes forklifts or overhead cranes with appropriate spreader bar attachments. They can be used to lift and secure the lid while the cargo is removed or loaded.  In addition, CakeBoxx variants can be ordered with a set of forklift tubes in the top frame line of the lid or with forklift lifting rings attached to the exterior top of the lid.

Yes. The CakeBoxx has different loading and unloading protocols because of its “two piece” design. It hasn’t been designed to replace the standard container, rather to provide a better option for shippers of cargos with special requirements not best served with traditional end-loading cargo operations. CakeBoxx is most effectively used on side-loaded or top-loaded cargos in locations with sufficient lateral room to allow room for equipment to remove the lid, or directly in warehouse or assembly room floors, where it can optimize the ease of access and efficiency characteristics.

Large scale users of CakeBoxx can easily optimize their dock operations to adapt to the CakeBoxx. Top and side loaded cargos can be loaded directly to the deck of the CakeBoxx while it is mounted to the transport chassis saving two moves of the container during the process.

During transportation a CakeBoxx is handled in the exact same way a standard containers. In the terminal, container storage yards, onboard ship, railcars or chassis, a CakeBoxx is designed to be moved and stacked like any other container.  Routine yard storage will be synonymous with conventional container storage.  Only while loading and unloading will any infrastructure or process change be needed.  In all operational scenarios, this need will be offset by the speed at which the CakeBoxx can be loaded or unloaded.  The operational result will be a faster, safer, more reliable logistics chain.

Like all inbound cargo, CakeBoxx will be subject to random, risk-based inspections and agricultural inspections.  CakeBoxx is completely compatible with all normal visual, physical and non-intrusive inspection protocols including x-ray scanning, radiation detection, as well as chemical trace detection for explosives and narcotics.

Most customs authorities contract with local service providers to support the physical inspection process and any required unloading of goods.  These service providers will have access to any material handling equipment required for the handling of the CakeBoxx lid.

CakeBoxx carrying cold-chain goods can be transferred to refrigerated in-bond storage facilities for processing. To facilitate familiarization with the CakeBoxx, explanatory information packages and training materials will be distributed to customs and other regulatory authorities. Once customs authorities become familiarized with CakeBoxx’s highly secure design features, CakeBoxx will be assigned risk scores that will reduce the likelihood of risk-based inspections, further increasing their velocity through ports of entry.

Customers include the full spectrum of global container users and transporters, and more. These include ocean carriers, freight forwarders and container leasing companies responding to the needs of their customers whose shipping needs cannot be solved by standard containers.  Containerized transport has quickly become the method of choice for all shippers due to its cost, availability and dependability. Shippers and manufacturers are constantly revising their products to fit into shipping containers.  CakeBoxx provides a new and unique ability to solve transportation problems for shippers adapting their goods to containerized transport.

CakeBoxx is a unique, premium, special container.  Our prices are very comparable to other special containers (flat racks, open tops, side-curtain, etc.) in this market space and in many cases will cost less for a similar function with our added capabilities.

The cargos and supply chains that will develop the most value from CakeBoxx are:

1. High-value and high-consequence goods with the greatest potential for theft. These include pharmaceuticals, tobacco products, alcohol, and electronics.
2. High-density, heavy cargos that do not need the full vertical capacity of standard containers such as I-beams, steel, scrap, and heavy ores.
3. Long cargos that cannot be easily loaded into a standard container with doors such as pipe, timber, and building materials.
4. Industrial equipment, machinery, heavy wheeled or tracked equipment and assemblies that are typically shipped in flat racks or require disassembly prior to being packed in a standard container.
5. Material typically shipped in drums or on pallets that, due to their nature, cannot be stacked, such as chemicals and petroleum products.
6. Military materials such as ammunition and supplies.
7. Closed-loop supply chains where the shipper controls the movement of goods in both directions. These can be piece-parts to finish assembly, farm to processing or distribution plants, and other scenarios.