Two-piece shipping container with vertical locking system

Apparatus comprising:

• an intermodal shipping deck,
• a frame with corners, side beams, end beams connected between ends of side beams and cross members connected to the side beams, and a floor connected to cross members of the frame, deck corner structures connected to the side beams and the end beams at the corners of the frame, the corner structures further comprising vertical lock casings at upper ends of the deck corner structures, twist locks permanently installed in the vertical lock casings adapted for connecting lower corner castings of lids to the vertical lock casings, and bottom corner castings at lower ends of the corner structures, and the bottom corner castings being connectable to carriers and to upper corner castings of intermodal shipping containers, further comprising:
• an intermodal shipping container lid having roof, side and end panels, corners between the side and end panels, and an open bottom,
• corner posts in the corners and connected to the side and end panels,
• side and end beams connected to the corner posts,
• the corner posts having tops and bottoms,
• upper corner castings connected to the tops of the corner posts,
• lower corner castings connected to the bottoms of the corner posts,
• the lower corner castings being connectable to the vertical lock housings of the intermodal shipping deck for providing a complete shipping container,
• wherein twist locks are permanently installed in the vertical lock housings of the deck for selectively moving between engaging and connecting and disengaging and disconnecting the lower corner castings of the lid with the vertical lock housings of the deck.

A method comprising:

• providing a lid,
• providing top, end and side panels on the lid,
• providing corner posts,
• connecting the roof, end and side panels to the corner posts,
• providing upper and lower corner castings at tops and bottoms of the corner posts,
• providing an open bottom of the lid,
• providing a deck with a frame,
• providing side beams and end beams and cross beams on the frame,
• connecting the end beams and cross beams to the side beams,
• providing a deck on the cross beams,
• providing vertical lock housings and bottom corner castings welded together and connected to the end and side beams,
• providing twist locks permanently installed in the vertical lock housings,
• connecting the permanently installed twist locks in the vertical lock housings to the lower corner housings in the lid,
• turning the twist locks into engaging positions, and
• securing the twist locks in the engaging positions.