Folding using cutting edge technology. The article ‘Folding using cutting edge technology’ that appeared in Nieuwsblad Transport on 28 May 2010 mentions a mysterious Staxxon team and its technology for a revolutionary collapsible container that, when folded, occupies eight times less volume than the current steel container. This innovation was supposedly due to be made public in May 2010. Up to now, nothing more has been heard from the team and the website only contains a message asking the visitor to come back at a later date.

Four developers, including Cargoshell, are a more advanced stage. Nieuwsblad Transport compared the four concepts. As well as Cargoshell, they are Holland Container Innovations (developed by students at the Delft University of Technology), SIMIT Four Pack Folding Container (Indian professors) and Compact Container Systems (space engineers).

The four systems were evaluated on four aspects. Cargoshell wins on all of them. With the other systems it can take up to 10 minutes to fold up or unfold a container; Cargoshell needs only 30 seconds. With the rival systems the folding and unfolding operation requires two persons or ‘one or two persons with a special hydraulic platform’. Cargoshell needs just one person for this operation. A further distinctive feature of Cargoshell is that it is made of composite. This material is lighter than steel, one of the reasons why it has environmental advantages (fewer CO2 emissions). The use of this material has benefits in other areas too, such as track & trace systems. In terms of the market introduction Cargoshell has the most concrete plans and is a step ahead of the other developers: Cargoshell expects to bring a certified container to the market in 2010 or at the beginning of 2011. And Cargoshell is the only one of the four that is trying to obtain an energy label.

Click here for the full article.
If you click here, you can see the comparison of the four systems for yourself.