rolloff container The roller containers come in a larger variety for specific usages. For bulk waste a common type has additional impermeable doors on one side. There are low height containers that allow easy dumping of green care waste. There are squeeze containers that compress the garbage. Roller containers for construction waste need additional stability. The DIN standard does not define the height nor most of the other sizes - it concentrates on the hook for lifting the container and the wheels that allow sliding on the ground. According to Marrel they have invented hooklift trucks marketing them since 1969 in the USA. There have been various heights and sizes of the hook with the ACTS roller container system standardizing on (rounded to for the US market at Stellar Industries). Hook heights of 54" and 36" are also in common use.
ACTS intermodal transport system The ACTS (from German
Abrollcontainer Transportsystem / roller container transport system) offers a loading principle from a roller container truck directly on to a rail car. There is no additional installation required for the process as the level arm of the truck can push the container on to a transport frame that is mounted on the rail car. The transport frame consists of two U-profile rail bars and a central pivot - this allows the frame to swing out for loading and to swing back to be parallel with the rail car for distance travel by rail. The ACTS found wider usage first in Switzerland where rail transport to remote villages is often easier than running large trucks through narrow streets. Rail transport of roller containers is now prevalent in German-speaking countries and neighbouring countries like the Netherlands and the Czech Republic.
Containerized firefighting equipment Wechselladerfahrzeug crane with deployed pumping roller container The roller container standards have become the basis of containerized firefighting equipment throughout Europe. The permanent mounting of equipment creates a large number of specialized fire trucks while containerization allows the use of only one transport truck with a level arm - in Germany it is called WLF (German
Wechselladerfahrzeug / swap loader vehicle). In practical usage there are lighter specialized fire trucks for everyday usage while larger fire and catastrophic situations can be handled by using WLF in a shuttle operation bringing as much equipment to the scene as needed. The containers come in a great variety with national regulations to control common types, for example in Germany one may find • AB-Dekon (Abrollbehälter Umweltschutz/Strahlenschutz/Gefahrgut) contains steam cleaners and shower compartments • AB-MANV (Abrollbehälter Massenanfall von Verletzten) is mainly a stretcher carrier for a large number of injured • AB-Nachschub (Abrollbehälter Rüst) contains construction tools to handle complex scenes • AB-Schaum (Abrollbehälter Wasser/Schaum) a tank for remote areas with insufficient water supply (in the UK Foam Distribution Unit / foam pod) • AB-ELW (Abrollbehälter Einsatzleitung) coordination center where multiple ELW may be combined to handle larger scenes (in the UK Command and Control Unit / command pod) • AB-Schlauch (Abrollbehälter Schlauch) water hose extensions to attach to water supply in a larger distance (in the UK Hose Laying Unit / hose pod) For the most part the replacement of older fire trucks takes the form of new AB units in Germany. The AB units may be built from standard containers with equipment installed from different suppliers as required by the fire department. The WLF loader vehicle can be purchased independently with the availability of a wide variety of trucks on the market (that are not originally designed for firefighting) - the trucks are sent to specialized workshops that can convert them to WLF fire trucks by adding a hook lift, siren and communications. The AB units may be used far longer than the WLF trucks as the latter can be exchanged independently - this makes maintenance cheaper especially for special equipment that is only rarely needed. Additionally some firefighting equipment like the decontamination pod have advantages for military conversion dispatching them by standard NATO container transport.
Military In the US the
Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck (HEMTT) was produced in a version with a hooklift hoist gear named Load Handling System (LHS). The
M1120 HEMTT LHS is the basis of the
Palletized Load System using a flatbed platform to be mounted under ISO containers as a Container Handling Unit (CHU). This allows containers to be unloaded without the help of a forklift. Current NATO agreements require PLS to maintain interoperability with comparable British, German and French systems through the use of a common flatrack. DROPS vehicles with flat-racks The British Army has developed the
Demountable Rack Offload and Pickup System (DROPS) using the Medium Mobility Load Carrier (MMLC) as an all-terrain truck with a hook loader system. As in the Palletized Load System a flatrack can be used to transport ISO containers. After an evolutionary step with the Improved Medium Mobility Load Carrier (IMMLC) the British Army is now transitioning the Enhanced Pallet Load System (EPLS). In the ELPS there is a different Container Handling Unit that is not put under the container but it uses an H Frame that fits into the corner locks of an ISO container on the back side. ==Disadvantages==