Transportation service provider ATS International has launched what the company calls the next generation in container shipping: a hybrid shipping container specially designed to handle breakbulk and oversize cargo.

Known as the Breakbulk Box, the specialty container recently completed a successful test shipment from the Port of Jacksonville to Puerto Rico.

The Breakbulk Box offers shippers the ability to have breakbulk and oversize cargo loaded directly onto a container bed, as the lid and walls lift off in a single top piece. Cargo is secured in place using special lashing hooks inside the container bed. The top is replaced by a stacker or crane, which then allows the unit to be secured and handled just like a standard shipping container.

According to ATS, the Breakbulk Box is designed to move seamlessly between trucks, rail and ship. The 53-foot Wide-Top Pick (WTP) container carries the seal of approval for ocean use by the International Convention for Safe Containers (CSC).

ATS is currently marketing the prototype container with plans to order at least 100 Breakbulk Box containers in the coming year.