One trip, cargo worthy, wind and water tight, IICL — what each grade actually guarantees, and why a factory-new box is a different purchase from a used one.
A one trip container is a box that has been manufactured, loaded once with cargo for the voyage out of the factory's region, and then sold. It is not second-hand in any meaningful sense — it has made a single laden journey — and it is not factory-new either, because it has been in the system.
The term exists because it describes a real and distinct condition, and because "new" in the container trade has been used loosely enough that buyers stopped trusting it.
Worth knowing even if you are not buying one: it is the phrase that separates a box that has never carried cargo from one that has simply been repainted.
Below one trip, the trade grades boxes by condition rather than by age.
Cargo worthy (CW) means the box has been surveyed and is structurally fit to carry cargo internationally. It is the grade that matters if the box will ship; anything below it will not be accepted for international carriage.
Wind and water tight (WWT) means it keeps weather out. It does not mean it is fit to ship. WWT is the grade for storage, site accommodation and conversion — perfectly adequate for those, and not adequate for freight.
The gap between those two grades is where most container buying disputes live. If the box has to travel, ask for cargo worthy specifically and ask who surveyed it.
IICL is the inspection standard used by the leasing industry, and it is stricter than cargo worthy. A box maintained to IICL has been kept to a leasing fleet's standard rather than to the minimum required to carry cargo.
For a buyer that mostly matters as a signal about provenance: an IICL box has been in a managed fleet with a maintenance record behind it.
What none of these grades tell you is remaining life. A cargo worthy box could have twelve good years left or three, and the survey does not say which.
We are a manufacturer, not a trader. Every box we sell comes off our own line, has never carried cargo, and is plated to CSC before it leaves.
The used market is large and serves real needs, particularly for storage and conversion. If you want a graded second-hand box, a depot or a trader is the right supplier.
Buying from a factory gets you two things a graded box cannot: a specification you chose rather than inherited, and a known starting point for the life of the asset.
Shipping cargo internationally? Cargo worthy is the floor, and factory-new or one trip is what you buy if the box is going into your own fleet rather than through it once.
Storage on a site or yard? Wind and water tight does the job and costs a fraction as much. Paying for cargo worthy here is paying for a certification you will never use.
Conversion — office, accommodation, workshop? Condition matters more than grade. What you want is straight walls, a sound floor and doors that seal; a surveyor's classification tells you less than an inspection does.
Buying a fleet you will keep for a decade? Factory-new, specified once, is the only option that lets you standardise.
