Lightweight Containers Pass the Test

By Michael Babb -- Logistics Management, 3/1/1999

Copenhagen--At the opening of its new Copenhagen aircargo terminal, SAS engineer Stig Sondergaard pulled the wraps off his company's new lightweight cargo container, which he said was the "first major development in cargo containers in the last 25 years."

The containers are made of a high-strength fiber called "Twaron." They weigh about 40 pounds--about 88 pounds less than standard aluminum and polycarbon containers. The new containers have the same gross weight capacity (5,388 pounds) as aluminum containers.

After extensive testing, SAS last year contracted with Ron Von Riemsdijk in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, to produce 182 Twaron containers at a cost of about US $3,100 each. Sondergaard expects the units to increase capacity on some flights. "For SAS Cargo, the problem with tonnage of freight is most acute on its long routes to the Far East," he said during a press conference to unveil the new equipment. The units' light weight will help because more cargo weight can be loaded in the same space. Even if the cargo configuration on a particular flight does not allow for loading additional cargo, he pointed out, the aircraft still will realize savings in fuel for the trip.

In response to criticisms of previous experiments with lightweight airfreight containers, SAS announced that its new containers would be inspected for structural wear each time they pass through the Copenhagen base. But Sondergaard says he already has convincing proof the new containers will be successful. "We tested them for six months, running them through the Newark (N.J.) airport," he says. "Newark is the worst station for handling of equipment. All the airlines complain about the service and equipment there, so we thought it would be the best place to test our new containers."

After six months of testing, Sondergaard reports, the lightweight containers were still in good shape. As a result, SAS Cargo will take delivery of another 500 of the containers this year.