18 IBC totes in a 20 ft container

• A container for dangerous goods must be technically sound, clean and free of sharp parts that could damage the packaging.
• The container number must match the CSC plate and show no signs of re-stencilling; the plate shows a valid examination date or an ACEP mark.
• Cargo gross mass is about 18.2 t (18 × ~1010 kg) — within the 28.2 t payload of a 20' DC.
• The floor is dry, without holes or protruding nails; the doors close and the gaskets are intact.

Materials per container

• 100×100 mm bars — horizontal bars of the end and side shields (fitted first, against the wall), 2 bars of the top shield, stop bars (1250 mm long) and middle bars (350 mm long) of the stop structure;
• 25–50×150 mm boards — vertical shield boards, nailed on top of the bars;
• 50×150 mm boards — horizontal boards of the door shield;
• posts 25–150 mm thick, 100–150 mm wide, 1160 mm long — 4 pcs for the top shield;
• nails Ø3–4 mm, 70–100 mm long — shields; Ø4–6 mm, 120–200 mm long — top shield; two per connection;
• construction staples Ø6–8 mm, 170–250 mm long — stop structure;
• dense cardboard or plywood — side wall lining.

How to photograph

• shoot the plate close up, straight on, without glare — every character must be legible;
• the frame shows the packaging marking and the hazard label;
• a distant overall shot of the tote is not acceptable for checking the marking.

Stacking two high

Totes may be stacked only if the design type allows it: the marking shows the stacking test load and the stacking symbol on the tote is not crossed out. The load must be no less than the gross mass of the upper tote.

Assembly order

• Bars first. 3 horizontal bars 100×100 mm, tight against the end wall, at three levels: at the floor, at the tier joint and at the top of the load. Length — from one side-wall corrugation to the other: trim the ends so the bar fits tightly into the corrugations and cannot shift.
• Then boards. 4 vertical boards 25–50 mm thick and 150 mm wide on top of the bars, on the cargo side, over the full loading height, evenly across the container width. The boards take the cargo pressure and transfer it through the bars to the wall.
• Nails Ø3–4 mm, 70–100 mm long — two at every board-to-bar crossing. Drive them from the cargo side towards the wall so the point ends in the bar.
• Joints only where the boards cross the bars. No joints anywhere else.

Placement

• One tote of the row stands with its long side (1200 mm) along the wall — this is the wide side, the side shield goes here.
• The other tote faces the wall with its narrow side (1000 mm) — here the side wall is lined with dense cardboard or plywood.

Side shield — like the end shield

• Bars first. 3 horizontal bars 100×100 mm tight against the side wall, at the bottom, the tier joint and the top; length — the full depth of the row.
• Then boards. 2 vertical boards 150 mm wide on top of the bars, on the cargo side, at the row ends, over the full loading height.
• Choose the bar section and board thickness by the gap between the tote and the wall: the shield must take up the gap without play (here 100 + 44 mm for a 146 mm gap).
• Joints — 70–100 mm nails, 2 per crossing, only at the marked points.

Rows alternate in a bond pattern: after every two rows both columns are 2.2 m long, so a row cannot shift along the container.

• The totes go tight against the fourth-row cargo — no gap along the container.
• Each tote is pressed to its side wall through a sheet of cardboard or plywood.
• The valves of both totes face the doors — they stay accessible when the container is opened.

Assembly order

• Stop bars are laid on the floor in the gap between the totes, along the container — from the fourth-row cargo towards the doors.
• Middle bars go across, on top of the stop bars. Cut them to length on site so that each bar bears with its ends on the pallets of both totes without play (the model shows 3 middle bars: at the fourth row, in the middle and at the doors).
• Each middle bar is fastened to the stop bars with four construction staples — two per connection.
• The structure braces the totes against the side walls and keeps them from shifting to the middle of the container.

Assembly order

• Posts stand vertically tight against the second-tier totes of the fourth row, the height of a tote — 1160 mm, two per tote.
• Bars 100×100 mm go on top of the posts, on the door side: one at the bottom of the tier, one at the top. Length — the container width: trim the ends so the bar fits tightly into the side-wall corrugations.
• Choose the post thickness by the corrugation position: the bar sits in the corrugation and the post fills the whole distance from the bar to the cargo.
• Nail the posts to the bars with Ø4–6 mm nails, 120–200 mm long, two per connection.

• Horizontal boards first. 3 boards 50×150 mm tight against the fifth-row totes — at the bottom, in the middle and at the top. Length — from one side-wall corrugation to the other: trim the ends to fit tightly into the corrugations.
• Then vertical boards. 4 boards 25–50×150 mm on top of the horizontals, on the door side, over the full height of the cargo at the doors.
• Join the boards with Ø3–4 mm nails, 70–100 mm long, two per connection.

• Every package carries the hazard label of the cargo class (division); with a subsidiary hazard — a second label next to the primary one. The label is a square set at 45° (diamond), at least 100×100 mm.
• On the container the placard is a diamond of at least 250×250 mm on both side walls and both ends.
• A single dangerous substance (one UN number) over 4000 kg gross — the UN number is displayed on the container as well: black digits at least 65 mm high on an orange panel next to the placard (IMDG Code 5.3.2.1). Here: 18 totes of UN 1866, about 18 t.
• The container number on the door must match the CSC plate.

Loading documents

• photos of all stages (photo report below);
• packaging certificate — the marking matches the tote plates;
• shipper's dangerous goods declaration;
• for the sea leg — the Container Packing Certificate (IMDG Code 5.4.2), signed by the person responsible for packing.