! Update: crime & justice update gives you option to check od flatbed fits desired vehicle. Click proper button in vehicle window.


Containers and vehicles have two properties: mass and dimentions(wide, height, lenght). They can be transported on flatbed trucks, open hull wagons, cargo helicopters and ships with ability to transport cars. Each vehicle has specified max load mass and unspecified dimentions which makes this topic super missleading. Please read whole guide to be sure which vehicle can transport which cargo.

Containers are used for storing breakbulk cargo like food or electronics (covered trucks) and they are designed for intermodal transport. There are mods enabling fuel and refrigerated containers as well but this tutorial is focusing on vanilla game. You can select to use 10f, 20f or 40f. 4x10f containers have same dimentions as 1x40f and so on. They can be stacked and mixed between each other.

Containers are able to be:
- transported
- packed
- unpacked
- stored
- exported
- sold

Unit of capacity for container carriers is TEU - Twenty-foot equivalent unit. It means:
10f = 0.5 TEU
20f = 1 TEU
40f = 2 TEU
This unit will be used below.

Nuclear flasks are a type of containers that cannot be stacked, packed and unpacked. They are sealed at the production site and opened automaticly.

Vehicles behaves same as containers in transport but vary on dimentions. It makes problems with exporting combine harvesters and transporting mechanisms. They can be loaded on transport ONLY WHEN NEW (it means they have price tag in their window). Assigning vehicle to route or sending to depot makes it USED, decreses value and DISABLES TRANSPORT.

First of all: Do you need containers?
- NO. They are totally optional and situational you don't have to bother with them. You can skip this paragraph but it's really cool :D

Use cases for containers:
- Exporting breakbulk cargo - you can double capacity of your Kmz trucks or cut in half traffic in customs using containers.
- Speeding up unloading in customs
- Utilizing open hull wagons - you can use your empty wagons (eg. importing steel) during the return trip to get some containers for export.
- Storing food
- Storing crops

Each vehicle capable to transport cars have max cargo weight. Here you can estimate weight of your cargo and how much cargo you can fit on the board. (2x20f gross weight is 10x too big, sorry for this but I won't reupload)

On this image you can see all vahicles capable of transporting containers.
Worth mention:
- Only 40f carrier - Kmz truck
- Some trucks are too narrow to fit any container like V3S or Rmn flatbed
- Open hull wagons can carry 4x10f or 6x10f
- Both cargo helis takes 3x10f
Eastern ships:
Ignatov: 88 TEU
Frida: 105 TEU
Container express: 652,5
Western:
Container ship: 1513+ ?? (I don't know. I could not fully loaded it due to tonnage limit)

Containers can be loaded in packing facility (storage window) and unloaded in unpacking facility.
They need 60 workers to be functional. Estimated speed of fully manned packing/unpacking is:
3x40f per day
4,5x20f per day
9x10f per day

Containers behave with direct connections similar to other cargo. Overflow works. Taking from storage works. You can load containers on trucks directly from container storage, packing, unpacking or road cargo station. On train directly from storage or from connected cargo station.

They CANNOT be moved with forklifts. There is nice looking stradle carrier mod but it works like normal truck.

Cargo packing station will take goods from connected storage but it takes some time and slows packing so the better setup is unloading cover trucks directly in packing building and taking containers from connected container storage.

Containers will be loaded on vehicles ONLY if destination accepts containers (border, harbour, storage) depot as endpoint don't work.

Strange behaviour of trucks waiting for other trucks to load with "wait until loaded" checked may be fixed in future updates.

Usage of containers for domestic cargo is limited due to lack of sorting and DO mechanics. You can store crops or food.

Containers packing building can store 1270t of food or 2032t of crops, connected storage double this value. It has 6 direct connections so it's a lot of goods. Consider loading speed with such big storage. I leave math and setup for you :D

In contrast to normal containers they are packed and unpacked automaticly. If you connect UF4 factory with nuclear fuel fabrication UF4 will be transfered directly. But if amount of UF4 will be higher than threshold it will be packed and stored on the yard. Same with nuclear fuel and nuclear wastes.
In power plant trucks will be unloading fuel and loading wastes. Wastes can be stored in storage or sell on border (with negative price for utilization). Wastes stored in casks are safe. If storage of nuclear power plant is overflown with wastes they will start dumping wastes and rise radioactivity level. It can be measured with environment station (citizens services). It is deadly for residential buildings.

Here is working setup for nuclear.

I will repeat: You can transport only new cars from factory

Common noob trap: buying harvester blueprint in 1960. There is no mean of transport except direct harbour that will transport them so you cannot sold them.

Here available transports:
CK-4 cannot be loaded even on 6x6. Don't produce it except domestic use.
They all don't fit on train wagons as well.

Other issue: construction mechanisms, here are available configurations:
One exception for helis: NATO one cannot load heavy excavator.
And bonus: how many beatles fits on the flatbed?

Container loading/unloading:
174 TEU
Container storage:
336 TEU
Harbour:
880 TEU