Are you an EPFL student looking for a semester project?
Work with us on data science and visualisation projects, and deploy your project as an app on top of Graph Search.
Concept
Swap body
Summary
A swap body, swop body, exchangeable container or interchangeable unit, is one of the types of standard freight containers for road and rail transport.
Based on and very similar to the more widespread shipping containers (ISO containers), swap bodies normally have the same external dimensions for the bottom corner fittings as ISO shipping containers so that they can be placed on the same kinds of trucks, trailers and railroad cars designed for shipping containers. However, ISO containers inner dimensions (2.33 m wide) are just a few centimetres too short to accommodate European-pool pallets () without leaving much empty space. To optimise the carriage of pallets, wide bodies are often scaled to the maximum width allowed for standard road trucks and railroad cars and to a different length without leaving empty space.
On the other hand, swap bodies do not have upper corner fittings, are not stackable and must be lifted by the bottom frame. Thus, they require special handling when transported by rail and are unsuitable for ship-based overseas transportation.
Swap bodies take advantage of the large number of trailers used to carry standard ISO containers. The design of swap bodies and roller containers is optimized to minimize empty weight, saving on trucking fuel cost (less dead weight to be transported) and the cost of building reloading terminals.
Due to security concerns, an increasing number of swap bodies have a hard surface instead of curtains and tarpaulins.
Swap bodies are typically more expensive than equivalent payload ISO containers. This is because the ISO containers used in Europe are typically manufactured in China, whereas swap bodies are made in Europe (central Europe and the UK). This extra cost is offset by the lighter weight of the body and increased cargo capacity, resulting in fuel savings during transport.
Many swap bodies are fitted with four up-folding legs under their frame. These legs make it possible to change, or swap, their body from one carriage to another, or to leave the swap body at a destination, without using extra equipment such as a crane or hoist.
Official source
About this result
This page is automatically generated and may contain information that is not correct, complete, up-to-date, or relevant to your search query. The same applies to every other page on this website. Please make sure to verify the information with EPFL's official sources.