The interior dimensions of the intermodal container are 8 feet wide by 8.5 feet high by 40 feet long and can hold up to 44,000 pounds per loaded container (Murphy & Wood, 2011). The intermodal container could hold 2,560 style A lamp shades because it holds 2,720 cubic feet, however, the top six inches cannot be used. The style B shades can be stacked two packages high with the square foot on the bottom. Each column could hold 12 shades and there can be a total of 320 (8 x 40) columns of 12. In terms of style B, the intermodal container could hold 3,840 lamp shades without exceeding the weight. Style C shades can be stacked the same ways as style B and a container could hold 320 columns of 20, totaling 6,400 lamp shades. However, this would exceed the 44,000 pound weight limit. To stay under the weight limit, the number of lamp shades the container could hold is 4,356 lamp shades (10.1 the weight of one lamp shade divided by 44,000).
The total cost of delivering of each style of lamp shades can be calculated by adding the cost of the lamp shade being manufactured, packaged, shipped, insurance, and ocean freight rates. For style A lamp shade, the cost of 5,400 lamp shades to be manufactured is $21,600 ($4 x 5,400). Packaging style A lamp shades is $0.60 per lamp shade for a total of $3,240. The lamp shades will need to be shipped to the Port of Oakland, which will cost $3,000 ($1,000 per load).The
References: Murphy, P. R., & Wood, D. F. (2011). Contemporary Logistics. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall.