IICL Extends Alternative Flooring Project for Second Year

Washington, DC— IICL President Steven R. Blust announced that The Institute of International Container Lessors (IICL) has extended its alternative flooring project for a second year. A 400 container trial fleet was recently built for the purpose of evaluating two unique floor designs that eliminate approximately 50% of the wood used in the standard containers built today. The containers were placed into a live test environment and based upon the encouraging results from the first year of field trials, the IICL has decided to extend the program for a second year to obtain additional experience in the serviceability and durability of the alternative designs.

This program initiated, by the IICL in 2006, was based upon the recognition that the success of container flooring in the future would be dependent upon the quality, sustainability and availability of products from environmentally acceptable sources. Traditional sourcing locations and the quality of available wood products had diminished over time; therefore the goal of a 50% reduction in the product used in a container floor would significantly contribute to increasing the sustainability of the wood sources for use in containers. It would also have the potential to increase the actual quality of the wood available for manufacturing, thereby improving the potential life expectancy of the containers with a resulting further reduction in demand for flooring material.

“The global demands on forest products are ever-increasing, and the availability of quality material, especially Asian hardwoods, is declining. The long term viability of wood flooring in containers is being threatened, unless steps are taken to bring supply and demand into a sustainable and long term balance” said IICL President, Steven Blust. “The IICL’s objective to reduce the wood content in containers by 50% should help to achieve the sustainability of the world’s hardwood forests.”

The containers in the test program were all built in 2008 and put into service with 11 major ocean carriers both in short and deep sea service throughout the world. The objective of the program is to evaluate the performance of the containers and the suitability for the ocean carriers and their cargo customers. The two designs, extended tunnel and omega sections, were selected and built after an extensive evaluation of IICL member customer’s needs and concerns. An ongoing review by the IICL and their program partners on performance is underway and will continue for the extent of the program. The IICL working group chairman, Tony Sowry of Textainer commented, “Whilst the beta trial continues, the working group is beginning to consider the next steps in the project. In particular how to move forward to large scale manufacturing at multiple container factories. The IICL is planning to hold a forum in the near future to consider this matter to which interested parties will be invited to join.”

Along with sustainability, serviceability goals, the IICL will also be working with container manufacturers to assure the selected design is equal or better in quality, have no additional financial burden but the same performance characteristics of current designs.

The IICL is also pursuing other initiatives to improve container flooring. Equally important to the quantity of wood used in the manufacturing of containers, is the quality of the plywood that is used in the floors. Container floors, under normal operating conditions, should not shorten the useful life of the container. If a container floor fails prematurely, the container floor or possibly the entire container must be replaced. The additional wood stock that is required in replacement of the failed floor will exert greater demands on the wood sourcing. Through high quality manufacturing of the plywood, maximum life of the plywood can be achieved while minimizing the quantity of wood actually used during the service life of a container.

The Institute of International Container Lessors, Ltd. (IICL) is a trade association, organized in 1971, representing lessors of maritime containers and intermodal chassis. Its member companies are CAI, Cronos, Flexi-Van, Florens, GE SeaCO, Gold, Seacastle Container Leasing, Textainer, TAL International and Triton. IICL members own or manage approximately 90 percent of the global leased container fleet, representing nearly half of the world container fleet and half of the U.S. chassis fleet operated by ocean carriers, railroads, and other companies. The IICL is active in governmental, regulatory, educational, technological, environmental and security issues. Besides its widely accepted publications and annual inspector certification examinations, the IICL offers a wide range of educational training courses.