DHL Global Forwarding, the air and ocean freight specialist within Deutsche Post DHL, is the first company that has tested a new container solution. The so called Tworty Box enables a standard 40ft container to be created from two 20ft containers. The innovative solution helps ensure highly cost effective container management. It also offers several operational advantages by reducing the empty positioning caused by the imbalanced supply and demand of 20ft and 40ft containers.

The Tworty Box is a very attractive solution which ensures flexible container management and cost efficiency by eliminating empty positioning due to structural imbalances in the general cargo flow or seasonal fluctuations in the dominant commodities in specific sectors. It is an excellent alternative for customers who see strong ups and downs in supply and demand of different container sizes in certain areas, says Andreas Boedeker, Global Head Ocean Freight, DHL Global Forwarding.

What makes the solution so special is the fact that each 20ft box has doors at each end. The second door opens to the inside and if two Tworty Boxes are coupled to a 40ft box, the additional doors are opened and fixed to the container ceiling to create the full 40ft of space. The system does not require any additional components. When connected, the boxes remain watertight. The Tworty Box prototypes fulfill all ISO requirements for containers. They have also received CSC certification for both single and combined operation.

The container was developed by Tworty Box GmbH & Co. KG in Hamburg. The prototypes of the Tworty Box were tested on their ˜maiden voyage' from Hamburg to Montreal, when two combined Tworty Boxes were filled with 20 tons of break bulk cargo including car parts and granules for Canadian consignees.