Staxxon sees folding containers as supply chain helper

Montclair, New Jersey-based Staxxon LLC says it is accepting $100 deposits for its foldable shipping containers. The company says the 20-foot and 40-foot containers “fold upright, like an accordion,” allowing “up to five empty containers to be folded, bundled and moved together as a single container.”

Staxxon says it has developed, patented and certified via the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) its new design for shipping containers.

Says the company of its foldable or collapsible product, “The load-bearing strength of the upright design also allows the container to be placed anywhere from top to bottom in a shipboard stack. Whether fully loaded or bundled together when empty, the company anticipates that its containers will be 100 percent interchangeable with standard ISO container fleets.”

Continues the privately held company, “Container owners stand to benefit through substantially reduced operating costs and increased efficiency. Additionally, improved logistics in the handling of empties should materially mitigate global port congestion and environmental pollution.”

Bloomberg and Axios.com media coverage of the company in March quotes Jim Hagemann Snabe of Denmark-based global shipping line A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S as saying foldable containers are the “dream of the shipping industry.”

Staxxon began accepting pre-order deposits last November “on a first-come, first-served basis,” says the firm. It expects to complete those purchases and make its first deliveries of containers “once they become commercially available in 2022.”

Said Staxxon CEO said George Kochanowski in November, “Being able to take deposits for future container deliveries marks another milestone for Staxxon. It allows us to begin planning our commercial manufacturing targets and encourages interested customers to get in line and be the first to purchase containers when we launch.”

Added Kochanowski, “We want to make it as easy as possible for potential customers to signal to us that they’re interested in our technology. We hope to build momentum with this refundable deposit and get the industry excited about our container solution. More than ever with today’s shipping chaos, we believe our folding design offers huge advantages for customers moving empty containers.”

Staxxon says other “differentiating technologies” it is developing with outside partners include floor sensors that will allow a container to report the weight of its contents and an automated bundling or folding system targeting a timeframe of less than three minutes per folding or unfolding process.