In this lesson you learn

• about packaging of goods

• about goods insurance

Essential vocabulary

airtight consignor bag bale bear signs against box commodity consignment consolidation crate dimension display gross weight groupage handling operation label marshalling area measurement net weight pack packaging pallet payload refurbish repair rough handling stevedore stow strip stuff stuffing shed tare weight waterproof

герметичний вантажовідправник мішок тюк містити знаки від ящик товар вантаж об’єднання пакувальна клітка/ящик розміри показувати вага брутто об’єднання завантажувально-розвантажувальна операція етикетка, наклейка сортувальна станція розмір вага нетто упаковувати упаковка піддон корисне навантаження відшкодовувати ремонтувати грубе/необережне поводження навантажувати (розвантажувати) корабель вантажити, завантажувати розвантажувати, розбирати заповнювати завантажувальний ангар вага тари водонепроникний

1. Read and translate the text. Text a Packaging

One of the requirements for the safe transport of commodities is the packaging, which must be adapted to the specific goods, e.g. airtight or waterproof packaging. Different commodities may however be packed together if they are of the same type.

To make handling operations easier, goods tend to be more and more dispatched in unit loads, i.e. standardized parcels. Hence, the evolution has been towards the packaging of smaller parcels into pallets and crates, of liquid cargoes into drums, of such goods as cotton or flour into bales or bags, which are all much more convenient to handle and stow.

Some parcels must bear special signs indicating their contents or warning stevedores against rough handling. These signs may be stencilled directly on the parcel or displayed on a label, e.g. “D.G. Labels” (Dangerous Goods Labels), “to be kept dry”, “keep in a cool place”, “this side up/down”, “handle with care”, “no hooks”, etc.

The development of containers seems to have been the most striking feature of the evolution of packaging in recent years. Easy handling and stowing explain their rapid growth, but so does the range of possibilities they offer: standardized containers (20-footers, TEU’s) are available for goods of all types.

A single consignor may need a complete container (FLC/Full Container Load) or only part of it, in which case “groupage” will take place with several shipments (LCL/ Less than Container Load). Packing a consignment into a container is the stuffing operation, carried out in the stuffing shed. The opposite operation is referred to as stripping.

Labels placed on each container should indicate a number of information: measurements, payload, tare weight, gross weight and net weight. Each box should also bear a date plate as well as a CSC plate (Container Safety Certificate) to indicate it conforms to approved standards of safety.

On arrival in the terminal, containers are generally stored in the marshaling area, where they can be collected by consignees or transport operators. If a few containers prove to be in a bad state, they may have to be sent to a specialist firm in order to be repaired or refurbished.