US3606944A

US3606944A - Methods and means for packaging vehicles in land-sea containers

Info

Publication number: US3606944A
Application number: US831587A
Authority: US
Inventors: Robert T Cadillac
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1969-06-09
Filing date: 1969-06-09
Publication date: 1971-09-21
Anticipated expiration: 1988-09-21

Abstract

A PACKAGING SYSTEM FOR THE SHIPMENT OF DISASSEMBLED VEHICLES, SUCH AS BUSES AND TRUCKS, IS PROVIDED IN WHICH A PERMANENT, REUSEABLE LAND-SEA SHIPPING CONTAINER IS UTILIZED TO PACKAGE A PLURALITY OF DISASSEMBLED VEHICLES. PROVISION IS MADE FOR SECURING HEAVIER COMPONENTS IN LOAD-SUPPORTING RELATIONSHIP TO THE DECK OF THE CONTAINER. IN THE CASE OF FLAT-FACED COWL AND COWL-AND-WINDSHIELD TYPE VEHICLES, THERE IS SECURED TO THE DECK OF THE CONTAINER A STACKED ARRANGEMENT OF VEHICLE FRAMES OF SUFFICIENT HEIGHT TO PROVIDE A PROTECTIVE AREA INTO WHICH HEAVY COMPONENTS SUCH AS ENGINES, TRANSMISSIONS, DIFFERENTIALS AND THE LIKE, CAN BE COMPLETELY INSERTED AND SECURED. THE REMAINING SPACE WITHIN THE CONTAINER MAY BE UTILIZED TO SECURE LIGHTER COMPONENTS INCLUDING STACKER ARRANGEMENTS AND COWLS.

IN THE CASE OF TRUCKS WITH COMPLETE CABS, A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT FOR PACKAGING INCLUDES THE PACKAGING OF FOUR COMPLETE TRUCKS BY SECURING TWO PAIRS OF SUPERIMPOSED FRAMES IN SIDE-BY-SIDE RELATIONSHIP ON THE FLOOR OF THE CONTAINER. IN THIS INSTANCE, AT LEAST SOME OF THE HEAVIER COMPONENTS SUCH AS ENGINES, TRANSMISSIONS, DIFFERENTIALS AND THE LIKE, ARE MOUNTED WITHIN THE VEHICLE CABS AND THE CABS, IN TURN, ARE MOUNTED ON AND SECURED TO THE TRUCK FRAMES. OTHER PARTS OF THE DISASSEMBLED VEHICLES SUCH AS TIRES, FENDERS AND THE LIKE, ARE SECURED OR NESTED BETWEEN THE SIDE RAILS OF THE VEHICLE FRAMES AND IN REMAINING AREAS OF THE CONTAINER. BY UTILIZING THE ABOVE ARRANGEMENTS, A NUMBER OF COMPLETE VEHICLES CAN BE PACKAGED WITHIN A SINGLE LAND-SEA CONTAINER.

Description

3 Sheets-Sheet 1 yIN LAND-SEA CONTAINERS R. T. CADILLAC METHODS AND MEANS FOR PACKAGING VEHICLES Sept. 2l, 1971 Filed June 9, 1959 Sept. 21, 1971 n.1'. CADILLAC 3,606,944

METHODS AND HEANS FOR PACKAGING VEHICLES i IN LAND-SEA CONTAINERS med Junge, 1969 s sheets-sheet 2 A WOHNM Y Sept. 21, 1971 R 1'. CADILLAC 3,506,944

METHODS AND MEANS FOR PACKAGING VEHICLES IN LAND-SEA CONTAINERS 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed June 9, 1969 l-lllllnlzllllfll------ FIG. 5

United States Patent Ofice 3 606,944 METHODS AND MEANS FOR PACKAGING VEHICLES IN LAND-SEA CONTAINERS Robert T. Cadillac, 1110 E. 21st St., Brooklyn, N.Y. 11210 Filed June 9, 1969, Ser. No. 831,587 Int. Cl. B65d 85/68 U.S. Cl. 20G-65K 23 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A packaging system for the shipment of disassembled vehicles, such as buses and trucks, is provided in which a permanent, reuseable land-sea shipping container is utilized to package a plurality of disassembled vehicles. Provision is made for securing heavier components in load-supporting relationship to the deck of the container. In the case of hat-faced cowl and cowl-and-windshield type vehicles, there is secured to the deck of the container a stacked arrangement of vehicle frames of sufficient height to provide a protective area into which heavy components such as engines, transmissions, differentials and the like, can be completely inserted and secured. The remaining space within the container may be utilized to secure lighter components including stacked arrangements and cowls.

In the case of trucks with complete cabs, a preferred embodiment for packaging includes the packaging of four complete trucks by securing two pairs of superimposed frames in side-by-side relationship on the floor of the container. In this instance, at least some of the heavier components such as engines, transmissions, differentials and the like, are mounted within the vehicle cabs and the cabs, in turn, are mounted on and secured to the truck frames. Other parts of the disassembled vehicles such as tires, fenders and the like, are secured or nested between the side rails of the vehicle frames and in remaining areas of the container.

By utilizing the above arrangements, a number of complete vehicles can be packaged within a single land-sea container.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to the packaging of vehicles for shipment overseas as by ocean-going vessels and the like. More particularly, this invention is concerned with a method for packaging vehicles within so-called land-sea shipping containers.

A major revolution is taking place in the shipping industry with the development and increasing acceptance of a permanent and reusable type of shipping container herein referred to as a land-sea shipping container. These containers are comprised of strong structural elements that may be used and reused over a long period of time. While many sizes and shapes of these containers are now in use, a particularly common one is approximately 8 feet wide and 8 feet high in cross section. They may vary considerably in length, but the more common sizes are 20, 25, 30 and `4() feet. The container has doors at the rear end that open in a manner similar to those of a conventional semi-trailer. Others have no roofs, which provides ready access to the interior of the container from above. The container is, in fact, similar to a semi-trailer in its exterior appearance.

The land-sea containers are of great utility. Since they are of standard sizes, they are readily and efficiently loaded and unloaded onto sea-going vessels, and since they are of a shape and size similar to that of a semi-trailer, they may readily be placed on flat bed semi-trailers and transported thereon. Likewise, they may be loaded or unloaded from fiat bed railroad cars.

Fittings are usually provided at the various corners of 3,606,944 Patented Sept. 2l, 1971 the land-sea container. Fittings on the four lower corners are provided so that the container may be locked onto the flat bed of a truck, trailer or railroad car, and fixtures on the top four corners are provided to enable loading and unloading the containers by means of specially designed cranes. The fixtures also serve to facilitate nesting several containers on top of each other, as in the hold of a ship, and permit locking them in superimposed position with respect to one another.

The convenience of these land-sea containers is quite apparent. Their use makes it possible to load the container, to transport the container overland as by truck or railroad car, to load the container, with great simplicity, onto sea-going vessels, to unload the container at its destination and, if desired, to transport the container overland to its final destination by truck or railroad. In an ideal situation, a land-sea container may be packaged at the factory and transported by these several types of transportation to its final destination without ever disturbing the contents or removing them from the container. Not only will this reduce breakage. but it is also Van effective safeguard against pilferage. Since the containers are of regular size and shape, large high-speed cranes can be designed to load and unload them onto sea-going vessels and they can be packed with kgreat eficiency into the holds of seagoing vessels. Also, when desired, they conveniently may be secured topside, thus increasing the cargo-carrying capacity of a freighter. In practice, it has been found that the time to load and unload sea-going vessels adapted to carry these land-sea containers may be reduced by several days.

As mentioned above, the principal object of this invention is to provide methods for efficiently utilizing these land-sea containers for packaging trucks and other vehicles as for overseas shipment. It is a common practice known to the prior art to enclose certain vehicles, when disassembled, into protective crates or boxes for overseas shipment. Rates for the overseas shipment of these disassembled vehicles and other various goods are based not only upon the weight of the articles which are being shipped but also upon the volume occupied by the crates, commonly referred to as cubage As the cost of shipping vehicles overseas may represent a significant percentage of the final selling price of such vehicles, it has been important to improve upon crating and boxing techniques so that the shipping costs can be minimized. Since the weight of the vehicle is a substantially fixed quantity, a reduction in shipping costs can be achieved only by reducing the cubage of the crated vehicle.

While heretofore the problem was to package a vehicle in a carton that would occupy the smallest possible cubage, the problem is significantly different when a landsea container is used. Since the cubage is now a fixed item (that is, fixed by the size and shape of the land-sea container), the problem is not to reduce this cubage, but rather to include the greatest possible tonnage within this given cubage. It is no longer possible to build a container of most efficient shape about a disassembled vehicle, but rather it is necessary to find ways to include the maximum number of disassembled vehicles within a container of given shape and volume.

Summarizing, then, utilization of the new land-sea containers has completely changed the perspective of packaging vehicles for overseas shipment. Now, rather than trying to get a fixed tonnage in the smallest cubage, the problem is one of getting the most tonnage packed into a fixed cubage.

In addition to attempting to get the maximum tonnage into a fixed cubage, it can be understood that it is extremely desirable to arrange the packaging so that complete units are included within a single container. If a single container includes a complete inventory of all of the parts of one or more disassembled vehicles, these vehicles may be assembled at their destination even though other companion containers have gone astray. Thus, to achieve maximum economy, convenience and utility in the use of land-sea containers, not only should the tonnage packed within a given container be maximized, but also each container should include a whole number of complete vehicle assemblies.

Several major problems arise when attempting to include a plurality of complete vehicle units within a single container, the primary one being that there is a single load-supporting bed or deck to the container upon which the heavy components can be secured. Since many portions of the vehicle, such as the cab, fenders and hood, cannot support heavy weights, they must be positioned above the heavier elements and, conversely, all of the heavier elements must be secured below them. This gives rise to serious diiculties since the square feet of deck space available generally is not sufficient to serve as a load-bearing surface for all of the heavy elements of the disassembled vehicles.

This problem becom'es particularly acute when trucks with complete cabs, as opposed to cowl and cowl-andwindshield assemblies, are packaged within the land-sea container. A problem imposed by the cab assemblies is that it uses a fair portion of the head room within the land-sea container so that not only is the load-supporting deck of the container at a premium, but also there is a serious limitation as to the height that heavy components can be stacked over the load-supporting deck while still leaving suflcient head rom for the insertion of a cab.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide methods for packaging disassembled vehicles within landsea containers.

Another object of this invention is to maximize the number of complete disassembled vehicles that can be packaged within a single land-sea container.

Another object of this invention is to provide methods for packaging disassembled vehicles within land-sea containers in a manner that will protect the more fragile elements of the vehicles such as the cab, fenders and hood, from damage.

Another object of this invention is to provide methods for packaging and shipping disassembled vehicles in landsea containers, which method will maximize the utilization of the cubage of the container, will facilitate the loading and unloading of the vehicles from the containers, will permit neater and more eHicient packaging, and will reduce breakage of the contents of the container during shipment.

Another object of this invention is to provide methods for packaging and shipping disassembled vehicles in landsea containers which enables pre-packaging of certain components to facilitate the final packaging by arranging the pre-package units within the containers at the same or later at other loading sites and which further facilitates storage of the pre-packaged units prior to nal packaging.

Briey, these and other objects of this invention are achieved by careful arrangement of the heavy and light components of the vehicle within the container so that all of the heavy components are secured directly or indirectly to the deck of the container. In the case of vehicles having complete cabs, it is preferred to include four vehicles within a single container. Here, in the preferred embodiment of this invention, two stacked pairs of elongated frame members are secured in side-by-side relationship to each other on the deck of the container. The frame members form a rst support to engage the support-bearing members of the cab. The support-bearing members of the cab are, in turn, utilized to support at least Some of the heavier components of the vehicle such as the engine, transmission, differential and the like. By so arranging the heavy elements within the container, essentially all of the weight of the heavy elements is transmitted by strong load-bearing members to the deck of the container, and the spaces which remain can be utilized for packaging other lighter parts such as wheels, fenders, tires, steering wheels, hoods and the like.

In the case of vehicles of the type that have Hat-faced cowls and cowl-and-windshields, a slightly different arrangement is used. Here the problem is somewhat different since there is no cab oor to mount heavy components on and since it is unnecessary to conserve head room since the cowl and cowl-and-windshield arrangements can be nested together either at one end of the container or laid out flat on top of the heavier components. Accordingly, with vehicles of this type it is preferred to secure a stack of frames to the deck of the container which stack is suciently high to permit all of the heavier components of the vehicle such as engine, differential, transmission and the like, to be nested down and secured between the side members of the frames. The lighter components, including the cowls, can be positioned in the remaining space within the container.

In addition to permitting maximum utilization of the cubage of the land-sea container by packaging disassembled vehicles in this manner, several other advantages are gained. One particular advantage is that various vehicle components can be pre-packaged to facilitate loading of the land-sea container. For example, stacked pairs of frame members and the components secured within their rails can be pre-packaged as by securing them to a skid or pallet` The skid may be made from plywood sheets or any other suitable material of light weight that has suicient strength to support the parts. The skid will function variously to provide a bottom surface so that the parts may readily be slid into and out of the container. It also provides a platform to which the parts may be anchored and it prevents smaller parts from falling out of the package. Depending upon the nature of the parts mounted on the skid, it may be desirable to encase them in a wrapping paper or paper board to protect them from damage, pilferage, or becoming detached from the container.

In the case of vehicles having complete cabs, another pre-package can be made by securing elements within the vehicle cab, and still other pre-packages can be made to contain other miscellaneous parts.

A number of benets are gained by pre-packaging the various components. First, they greatly facilitate loading and unloading operations since only two or three basic units need be handled to pack the container rather than a plurality of smaller parts or elements. In addition to facilitating loading and unloading of the container, the design of a neat and reproducible packaging arrangement is made possible. This results from the fact that if the various elements are pre-packaged prior to insertion into the container, the manner in which the container is packaged will not vary, from time to time, for a given rig, but will always be packed in the identical efficient and secure manner. The shipper may program by predesign the exact manner in which he wishes the container to be packed without depending upon the vagaries of the employees doing the packing. This insures efficient utilization of the container at all times, both with respect to cubage and also with respect to packaging efficiently and securely in a manner that will minimize breakage. Minimizing breakage is quite significant since, in addition to avoiding loss and necessitating replacement of broken goods, insurance rates may be materially reduced if breakage experience is low.

Pre-packaging of the components also permits remote loading of containers. The Various pre-packages can be prepared, shipped and/or stored, then eciently inserted into the container at the point of final packaging. In addition to the above advantages, this type of pre-packaging` facilitates loading of the container at remote locations by relatively unskilled or untrained labor while still maintaining maximum efficiency.

DESCRIPTION oF THE DRAWINGS The invention can be better understood from the following description of the drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is an isometric view of a container packed with truck parts in accordance with the present invention, a portion of the container being broken out to disclose the packaging arrangement of certain parts within the container;

FIG. 2 is a somewhat diagrammatic transverse sectional view through a container, with some of the truck parts to be packaged positioned therein;

FIG. 3 is a view of the container of FIG. 2 but illustrating the manner of packaging most of the principal components according to the invention;

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3 but illustrating an alternative packaging arrangement according to the invention;

FIG. 5 is a somewhat schematic illustration in plan illustrating a system for packaging cabs having at-faced cowls either with or without windshields; and

FIG. 6 is an elevational view taken along lines 6-6 of FIG. 5.

In considering the arrangement of `the invention, it is `lirst pointed out that in a typical embodiment of the invention, it is contemplated to package or pack trucks having a main frame made up of side channels 5 5 interconnected by cross braces or beams 6. When assembled, the truck frame here illustrated is adapted to carry a cab 7, the cab having a downwardly open well indicated at 8 in which the frame is received when the truck is assembled. Inspection of FIGS. 1 and 3 will clarify the general shape and arrangement of a typical cab of a truck of the kind here being considered, being conventional with respect to the rear view window 9, side doors 10 and windshield 1l.

The frame and the cab are some of the principal disassembled parts required to be packaged. In addition, the motor 12 comprises another major component requiring packaging, and it is here noted that in accordance with the present invention, the motor for each truck is preferably mounted within the cab in the general manner disclosed more fully in the Cadillac et al. Pat. 3,286,827. Other components of the disassembled trucks which are contemplated for storage within the container along with the the frame, cab and motor, include fenders, wheels, drive shaft, radiator, hood, etc., and herebelow it will be pointed out where in the container such additional components are stowed or packaged in accordance with the invention.

With the foregoing general description of the major components in mind, attention is now directed to the packaging system provided in accordance wtih the present invention. In FIGS. l, 2 and 3, a container is utilized having a bottom wall 13, side walls 14 and 15, and a top wall 16. Although both ends of the container may be provided with doors for access, this is not necessary land it is here assumed that at the end of the container remote from the viewer, the container of FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 is provided with a plain end wall permanently closing that end. As viewed in FIG. l, the near end of the container is adapted to be closed by a pair of doors, one of which is shown at 17 and is hinged at 18, and the other of which 19 is largely broken away so as to disclose interior packaging arrangements. Any suitable door-fastening devices such as the lock rod 20 may be provided.

In accordance with the present invention, a container of the kind above described is used for the packaging of four disassembled trucks of the kind described. In effecting this packaging in accordance with the embodiment of FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, a pair of truck frames, each including the longitudinal channels 5 and cross braces 6, are stacked one upon another and are mounted on a pallet 21, preferably being secured to a skid by means of straps 22. This initial assembly of disassembled parts of the four trucks to be packaged is placed in the container by introduction through the open end and positioned in the container as shown in FIG. 2, with the frames extended lengthwise substantially throughout the length of the container and with the stacked pair of frames positioned adjacent the side wall 14.

A second pair of truck frames is then similarly assembled with a skid 21 and this assembly is inserted through the open end of the container in side-by-side relationship to the frames of the rst assembly, as is clearly seen in FIGS. 1 and 3. While not illustrated in the drawing, it can be understood that the two pairs of truck frames should be securely tied down to the bed of the container as by means of straps, blocks or the like.

The chambers or spaces lying between the side channels 55 and between the transverse members 6 of the frames provide for the stowage of numerous components including, for example, the wheels of the trucks.

The four cabs of the four trucks are then assembled onto skids or platforms 23. The cabs may be mounted onto four indivdiual skids or, for convenience in loading two, three or four cabs, may be mounted on the same skid preferably in back-to-back and head-to-head relationship. In order to strengthen the bottom wall of the cab so as to carry the load of the motor to be mounted therein, filler pieces, for instance in the form of wood strips 24, are inserted at the sides of the downwardly open wells 8 of the cabs, in the manner described in Pat. No. 3,286,827 above identified. Each skid 23 with one or more cabs and motors carried thereby is then fork-lifted into the end of the container and slid along the top of the frame assemblies until the four cabs are positioned within the container in a series alternately facing in the two opposite directions throughout the series. These skids, cab and motor assemblies may advantageously be supported on the truck frames in a position adjacent the side wall 14 of the container, as appears in FIG. 2. It will be seen that this positioning of the series of cabs provides a large packaging volume between the cabs and the opposite side wall 1S of the containers. This space is of such size and shape that it may be effectively utilized in the packaging of such items as engine hoods, fenders, etc., which in turn may be arranged and inserted in a pre-packaged condition. Each motor is desirably fastened upon a supporting deck 25 by means of which the motor is mounted within the cab, the assemblies of motor and cab being retained by suitable fastening means such as straps, one of which appears at 26 in FIG. 3.

The cab and motor assemblies, together with the skid 23 provided for the cabs, are fastened in place within the container as by straps 27. It is also within the scope of this invention to package the cab and motor assemblies without relying on the skid 23. In this instance, the motor and cab assemblies are secured directly t0 the truck frames so that the sub-frame of the cab is directly supported by the chassis.

It will further be observed that the mounting of the rnotor and cab assemblies Within the container effectively carries the weight of these parts because these assemblies are mounted upon the truck frames which themselves are structural parts easily capable of carrying heavy loads without distortion or damage. The practical effect of this arrangement is to double the load-bearing space available within the land-sea container.

In accordance with the foregoing, the packaging system 0f the present invention provides for the packaging of all of the parts of four disassembled trucks into a single container, the parts being readily inserted into and removed from the openable end of the container. Effective use of the container volume and adequate structural mounting of heavy parts are both achieved, notwithstanding the fact that various of the truck parts considered individually do not readily lend themselves to efcient utilization of packaging volume.

The modification of FIG. 4 provides for a similar packaging arrangement in a container having a bottom Wall 28,

side walls

29 and 30, and having an open top adapted to be covered, for instance by a tarpaulin indicated at 31. In this container, both end walls `could be permanent without doors.

In packaging the disassembled parts of the trucks in the container of FIG. 4, it is contemplated that pairs of stacked frames be assembled and fastened together, but without necessarily employing a skid such as indicated at 21 in the first embodiment. The assembled stacked pairs of frames are let down into the container through the open top, and then the assemblies of one or more cabs and motors, mounted on a skid or platform, are then also let down into the container through the open top and positioned in the same general position as described above with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3.

This alternative packaging system also, as above, provides space within the stacked pairs of frames to receive various other disassembled parts of the trucks, such as wheels, and the cabs can be nested over the frames and their contents in the most eicient configuration. As in the embodiment of FIGS. l-3, a large and efficiently proportioned volume is provided between the cabs and the wall 30 of the container for the mounting of various other disassembled parts of the trucks.

In the above description, the trucks that were packaged had chassis that were slightly shorter than 3() feet and cabs less than 8 feet in depth, which provided for optimum utilization of a land-sea container 8 feet square and 30 feet long. It can be understood that the proper length of the container should be selected with regard to the length of the chassis and the size of the cab.

Referring to FIGS. and 6, a diierent packaging method is illustrated. Here the vehicles being packaged in the land-sea container, rather than having a cab, are of the Hat-faced cowl or cowl-and-windshield type, neither of which have any cab structure behind the fire wall or windshield. This necessitates a different arrangement for packaging than described above with respect to vehicles having cabs since there is no oor upon which to anchor heavy vehicle components. On the other hand, packaging problems are somewhat simplified since there is no need to preserve suicient head room above the frames for the insertion of a complete cab.

As illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6, a plurality of frames 5 5 are mounted on skids 21 21. The frames 5 5 are stacked suticiently high so that engines (or other heavy vehicle components) may be nested down between the side members of the frames 5 5. A considerable space 36 is present over the frames which is suitable for receiving other pre-packaged components. If desired. a divider or platform (not shown) may be rested on the top of the frame members 5 5.

As illustrated in FIG. 5, flat-faced cowls 35- 35 are nested together and stood upright at one end of the container. In order to utilize such an arrangement, it can be seen that the container must be somewhat longer than the frames of the vehicle. This arrangement is particularly desirable if the cowls are of the cowl-and-windshield type as it may be advantageous to stand them upright and utilize the height of the container.

Another method of packaging the cowls which is particularly useful with flat-faced cowls that do not have windshields is to nest the cowls in one or more packages and lay them in a horizontal position in the space 36 above the stacked frames 5 5. It will be understood that, depending upon the exact type of vehicle and the dimensions of the container, either the cowl or cowl-and-windshield assemblies may be stored vertically or horizontally.

Other types of vehicles are assembled at the factory without any lire wall whatsoever. Typical of this type of vehicle are buses which are shipped overseas and the body is fabricated and attached at the destination. In this instance it may also be convenient to utilize the arrangement shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 wherein the heavier engine components are nested between the side members of the frames.

From the foregoing description of the drawings, it can be understood that the methods of the instant invention provide a method whereby vehicles such as trucks, buses and the like, can efficiently be packaged within land-sea containers` The methods not only enable achieving maximum utilization of the cubage of the land-sea container but also provide additional benefits. As noted above, these packaging arrangements ideally lend themselves to the preparation of pre-packaged units that are designed to t within the land-sea container in a pre-planned fixed relationship to each other. By utilization of these pre-packages, the containers may be packaged at locations remote 'from those where the pre-packages were prepared. Thus, if convenient, the pre-package units can be delivered to a dock or warehouse and, at a later desired time, the prepackaged units can readily be inserted into a land-sea contamer in the most economical and efficient manner even though trained help is not available.

I claim:

1. A package of disassembled vehicles comprised of an elongated container, vehicle frames positioned in sideby-side relationship extended lengthwise of the container and supported by and secured to the bottom portion of the container. vehicle cabs aligned lengthwise in the conta1ner with the vehicle frames supporting the sub frame of thej cabs, and a heavy vehicle component mounted in each ca 2. A package according to claim l wherein remaining components of the vehicles are positioned within the frames, in the space between the cabs and the side walls and top of the container, and in the cabs.

3. A package according to claim 2 wherein two stacked pairs of vehicle frames are positioned in side-by-side relationship.

4. A package according to claim 3 wherein the container is openable at an end and in which the pairs of frames are mounted on skids.

5. A package according to claim 4 wherein the vehicle cabs are mounted on one or more skids.

6. Packaged disassembled vehicles comprising an elongated container. two stacked pairs of vehicle frames positioned in side-by-side relationship and extended lengthwise of the container in the bottom portion thereof, four vehicle cabs arranged in a series lengthwise of the contamer in a position above the frames along one side wall of the container, and a vehicle motor mounted in each cab, the pairs of cabs being mounted on separate pallets positioned end-to-end along the vehicle frames.

7. A package of disassembled vehicle comprised of a plurality of prepackaged vehicle subassemblies including:

a reusable elongated container of regular cross section that is provided with access means;

a tirst prepackage of assemblies including chassis frames and miscellaneous components secured between the side frames of such chassis;

a second prepackaged group of assemblies including at least one vehicle cab into which a heavy vehicle component has been secured along the load-supporting subframe of the cab; and

the first prepackage of assemblies being supported by and secured to the bottom deck of the container and the second prepackage being secured in supporting relationship along the load-bearing surfaces of the subframe of the cab onto the rst subassembly.

8. A package according to claim 7 wherein the first prepackaged assembly is secured to a skid and the skid is secured to the deck of the container.

9. A package according to claim 7 wherein the cab is mounted on a skid and the skid is secured to the chassis.

10. A package according to claim 7 wherein additional prepackages containing additional vehicle subassemblies are prepared and secured within the container in predetermined relationship to the cabs and the chassis.

11. A package according to claim 7 wherein four complete vehicle units are included within the container.

12. A method for packaging disassembled vehicles for overseas shipment in reusable land-seat containers of given dimensions including the steps of:

securing vehicle chassis to the deck of the container and packaging various vehicle components between the side frames of the chassis;

securing a relatively heavy vehicle component within the vehicle cab by supporting the heavy component upon the load-bearing elements of the sub frame of the cab; inserting the cab and its contents into the container and securing the cab in nesting relationship along the loadbearing surfaces of its sub frame onto the chassis;

securing additional vehicle components in the container in spaces between the cab and the side wall of the container.

13. A method according to claim 12 wherein two pairs of nested chassis are mounted on the deck of the container and four cabs are secured over the four chassis whereby the components of four complete vehicles are included within the container.

14. A method according to claim 13 wherein the chassis are mounted on a pallet and the components are packaged therein to form a first prepackage before introducing the rst prepackage into the container.

1S. A method according to claim 13 wherein the cab and heavy components are first mounted on a skid to form a second prepackage before introducing the second prepackage into the container and securing it to the chassis.

16. A method according to claim 13 wherein the remaining components are prepared in a third prepackaged unit before insertion into the container.

17. A package comprising a container and articles packed within the container;

the container being a reusable rectilinear device of a xed standardized dimension having at least a deck and four walls and means providing access to its interior;

the articles of the container including a plurality of complete truck assemblies wherein the body portion of the trucks is comprised only of a cab, at least one heavy component of the truck is mounted within the cab and is supported at those points where cab Cil support members are drilled for attachment to the truck frames, the cab containing the heavy components is supported on a stacked arrangement of truck frames and the truck frames are supported by and secured to the deck of the container, whereby the heavier assemblies 0f the trucks are mounted in load bearing relationship to the deck of the container.

18. A package according to claim 17 wherein four complete truck assemblies are packaged within the container by securing two pairs of superimposed frames in side-byside relationship to each other and mounting four cabs along the lengthwise dimension of the top of the stacked frames.

19. A package according to claim 18 wherein the coniponents of the trucks are prepared for insertion into the container in prepackaged units, at least one group of prepackaged units including truck frames, another group of prepackaged units including the cabs and their contents and a third group of prepackaged units including those truck components not included in the first and second groups.

20. A package according to claim 17 wherein the truck is of the flat-faced cowl type and no body is attached to the truck wherein the frames of the truck are secured to the deck of the container in stacked relationship to each other, and heavy components of the truck are nested within the side members of the frames of the truck.

21. A package according to claim 20 wherein at least three frames are stacked on top of each other.

22. A package according to claim 2l wherein the truck is of the cowl-and-windshield type and a plurality of cowls and windshields are nested together'.

23. A package according to claim 20 wherein the heavy components nested within the frames include engines and transmissions.

References Cited U NITED STATES PATENTS 2,953,848 9/1960 Cadillac et al. 206-46(MACH) 3,286,827 ll/l966 Cadillac et al 206-47 3,456,830 7/1969 Golder 220-15 WILLIAM DIXSON, JR., Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 220-l.5