Bsi bs en 13044 1 2011 (2014)

BS EN 13044-1:2011
Incorporating
corrigendum April 2014
BS
EN 13044-1:2011

BSI Standards Publication

Intermodal Loading Units —
Marking
Part 1: Markings for identification


BS EN 13044-1:2011

BRITISH STANDARD
National foreword
This British Standard is the UK implementation of EN 13044-1:2011,
incorporating corrigendum April 2014. Together with
BS EN 13044-2:2011 and BS EN 13044-3:2011, it supersedes
BS EN 13044:2001 which is withdrawn.
The UK participation in its preparation was entrusted to Technical
Committee TW/1, Freight containers and swap bodies.
A list of organizations represented on this committee can be obtained
on request to its secretary.
This publication does not purport to include all the necessary provisions
of a contract. Users are responsible for its correct application.
© The British Standards Institution 2014.
Published by BSI Standards Limited 2014
ISBN 978 0 580 86839 9
ICS 35.240.60; 55.180.10

Compliance with a British Standard cannot confer immunity from
legal obligations.
This British Standard was published under the authority of the Standards
Policy and Strategy Committee on 28 February 2011.

Amendments/corrigenda issued since publication
Date

Text affected

Implementation of CEN corrigendum April 2014:
Subclause 5.2.3 (first paragraph) and Clause A.2 (title)
updated


BS EN 13044-1:2011

EN 13044-1

EUROPEAN STANDARD
NORME EUROPÉENNE
EUROPÄISCHE NORM

January 2011
Incorporating
corrigendum
April 2014
Supersedes
EN 13044:2000

ICS 55.180.10; 35.240.60

English Version

Intermodal Loading Units - Marking - Part 1: Markings for
identification
Unités de chargement intermodales - Marquage - Partie 1:
Marquages d'identification

Intermodale Ladeeinheiten - Kennzeichnung - Teil 1:
Kennzeichnungen für die Identifizierung

This European Standard was approved by CEN on 30 November 2010.
CEN members are bound to comply with the CEN/CENELEC Internal Regulations which stipulate the conditions for giving this European
Standard the status of a national standard without any alteration. Up-to-date lists and bibliographical references concerning such national
standards may be obtained on application to the CEN-CENELEC Management Centre or to any CEN member.
This European Standard exists in three official versions (English, French, German). A version in any other language made by translation
under the responsibility of a CEN member into its own language and notified to the CEN-CENELEC Management Centre has the same
status as the official versions.
CEN members are the national standards bodies of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia,
Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland,
Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and United Kingdom.

EUROPEAN COMMITTEE FOR STANDARDIZATION
COMITÉ EUROPÉEN DE NORMALISATION
EUROPÄISCHES KOMITEE FÜR NORMUNG

Management Centre: Avenue Marnix 17, B-1000 Brussels

© 2011 CEN

All rights of exploitation in any form and by any means reserved
worldwide for CEN national Members.

Ref. No. EN 13044-1:2011: E


BS EN 13044-1:2011
EN 13044-1:2011 (E)

Contents

Page

Foreword ..............................................................................................................................................................3
Introduction .........................................................................................................................................................4
1

Scope ......................................................................................................................................................5

2

Normative references ............................................................................................................................5

3

Terms and definitions ...........................................................................................................................6

4

4.1
4.2
4.3
4.4

Identification system and its associated marks .................................................................................6
Identification system .............................................................................................................................6
Identification of the owner ....................................................................................................................6
Serial number .........................................................................................................................................7
Check digit ..............................................................................................................................................7

5
5.1
5.2
5.2.1
5.2.2
5.2.3

Physical display of marks .....................................................................................................................7
Size and colour of marks ......................................................................................................................7
Layout and location of marks ...............................................................................................................7
General ....................................................................................................................................................7
Layout of marks .....................................................................................................................................7
Location of marks ..................................................................................................................................7

Annex
A.1
A.2
A.3
A.4

A.5
A.6

A (normative) Determination of check digit .........................................................................................9
General ....................................................................................................................................................9
Numerical equivalents of ILU identification
system,
serial........................................................
number .........................................9
owner code, and
serialand
number
Weighting factor.....................................................................................................................................9
Modulus ..................................................................................................................................................9
Value of check digit ............................................................................................................................ 10
Example calculation of the check digit ............................................................................................ 10

Bibliography ..................................................................................................................................................... 11

2


BS EN 13044-1:2011
EN 13044-1:2011 (E)

Foreword
This document (EN 13044-1:2011) has been prepared by Technical Committee CEN/TC 119 “Swap bodies for
combined goods transport”, the secretariat of which is held by DIN.
This European Standard shall be given the status of a national standard, either by publication of an identical
text or by endorsement, at the latest by July 2011, and conflicting national standards shall be withdrawn at the

latest by July 2011.
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of patent
rights. CEN [and/or CENELEC] shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.
This document supersedes EN 13044:2000.
According to the CEN/CENELEC Internal Regulations, the national standards organizations of the following
countries are bound to implement this European Standard: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech
Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia,
Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain,
Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

3


BS EN 13044-1:2011
EN 13044-1:2011 (E)

Introduction
This European Standard contains the recommended method of marking Intermodal Loading Units (ILU) to
meet current and future requirements.
The European Standard follows the format used in EN ISO 6346, the world wide accepted standard for
marking and coding of marine freight containers. As the above standard can be applied, without alteration, to
an ILU, the standard is not directly interchangeable with the ISO standard. However since the ILU are handled
and transported in Europe in the same environment as ISO freight containers, the two standards are
compatible.

4


BS EN 13044-1:2011
EN 13044-1:2011 (E)

1

Scope

This European Standard provides a system for the identification and presentation of information about the ILU.
The identification system is intended for general application, for example in documentation, control and
communications (including automatic data processing systems), as well as for display on an ILU and other
non ISO containers (i.e. which dimensions and testing parameters differ from those defined by the applicable
ISO standards) used in European transport.
The methods of displaying identification and certain other data (including operational data) on ILUs by means
of permanent marks are included.
This European Standard specifies:
a)

an ILU identification system with an associated system for verifying the accuracy of its use, having
mandatory marks for the presentation of the identification system for visual interpretation;

b)

a coding system for data on ILU size and type, with corresponding marks for their display;

c)

mandatory operational marks;

d)

physical presentation of the marks on the ILU.

This part of EN 13044 specifies a system to identify the owner of the ILU, which includes an associated
system for verifying the accuracy of its use.
This European Standard does not cover temporary operational marks of any kind, permanent marks, data
plates, etc. which may be required by intergovernmental agreements, national legislation or non-governmental
organisations other than CEN.
NOTE
Some of the major international conventions whose container-marking requirements are not covered in this
European Standard are as follows:


International Convention for Safe Containers (UN/IMO 1992); the CSC convention, of which some approval plates
are borne by swap bodies which are not designed for international maritime transport, is likely to evolve in the near
future in a way that its implementation field will be restricted to containers for maritime use for which only the BIC is
entrusted with the registration of the owner code (code ISO Alpha and code BIC) in the context of the standard
EN ISO 6346;



Customs Convention on Containers 1956 and 1972;



Customs Convention on International Movement of Goods under Cover of TIR Carnets (TIR-Convention) 1959 and
1975.

It should not to be assumed that this list is exhaustive.

This European Standard does not cover the display of technical data on Swap tanks (see EN 1432) nor does
it, in any way, include identification marks or safety signs for items of cargo which may be carried in ILU.

2

Normative references

The following referenced documents are indispensable for the application of this document. For dated
references, only the edition cited applies. For undated references, the latest edition of the referenced
document (including any amendments) applies.
EN ISO 6346, Freight containers  Coding, identification and marking (ISO 6346:1995)

5


BS EN 13044-1:2011
EN 13044-1:2011 (E)

3

Terms and definitions

For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply.
3.1
Intermodal Loading Unit
ILU
loading unit suitable for European intermodal transport on road, rail, inland waterway and sea, which is not an
ISO-container according to ISO 830
EXAMPLE

Among others swap body, semi trailer.

3.2

owner code
four-letter code indicating the owner or the principal operator

4

Identification system and its associated marks

4.1

Identification system

The identification system for swap bodies and semi-trailers shall consist only of the following elements, all of
which shall be included:

4.2

− owner code:

four letters

− serial number:

six numerals

− check digit:

one numeral

Identification of the owner

4.2.1 The identification of the owner of the ILU shall be achieved by using the owner code. The
identification of the owner shall be unique and therefore it is necessary for all codes to be registered with the
International Union of Combined road rail transport companies (UIRR). The assigned owner codes will be
maintained and checked by UIRR1).
4.2.2 The owner code for ILU shall consist of four capital letters where the last letter also identifies the unit
as an ILU and shall consist of one of the five capital letters A, B, D, E or K.
4.2.3

The usage of this owner code is limited to the ILU that are circulating in the European region only.

4.2.4 The following letters as fourth letter of the owner code are reserved for international worldwide use
according to EN ISO 6346 and assigned by BIC2):


U for all freight containers;



J for detachable freight container-related equipment;



Z for trailers and chassis.

1) UIRR International Union of combined transport companies road rail (www.UIRR.com ; E-mail:
).
2)

6

BIC: Bureau International des Containers et du transport intermodal (www.bic-code.org; E-mail: ).


BS EN 13044-1:2011
EN 13044-1:2011 (E)

4.3

Serial number

The serial number for a swap body shall consist of six Arabic numerals. If the series of significant numerals
does not total six, they shall be preceded by sufficient zeros to make up six numerals.
EXAMPLE

4.4

The series of significant numerals is 1234, the serial number is 001234.

Check digit

The check digit provides a means of validating the transmission accuracy of the owner code and serial
number and shall be determined as in Annex A. The check digit shall validate the owner code and serial
number of the ILU.

5

Physical display of marks

5.1

Size and colour of marks

The letters and numerals of the owner code, serial number and check digit shall not be less than 100 mm high.
All characters shall be of proportionate height and width. They shall be durable and in a colour contrasting
with that of the ILU.

5.2
5.2.1

Layout and location of marks
General

The requirements of this clause are applicable particularly to the "closed box" type of ILU. For other ILU types,
all possible practicable steps should be taken to follow the marking layout and location given for the "closed
box" type.
NOTE

5.2.2

If not practicable to follow the requirements of this clause, the requirements from EN ISO 6346 may be used.

Layout of marks

The layout of the owner code serial number and check digit on the ILU shall be one single horizontal line.
Where constructional features of the ILU dictate otherwise, the layout may differ from the horizontal.
The owner code shall be joined together and shall be separated from the serial number by at least one
character space. The serial number shall be separated from the check digit also by one character space and
the check digit shall be displayed in a box.
An ILU, having a unique registered identification of its owner "ABCA" and a serial number "001234" and the
check digit "2" shall be marked as in Figure 1:

Figure 1 — Layout of marks
5.2.3

Location of marks

The mandatory identification marks of Clause 3,
4, which are the owner code, check digit, serial number, shall be
positioned on the ILU as far as practicable as shown in Figure 2. It shall be present at least on both side walls
and on the roof. Optionally the marks may be presented at the rear
front end
and wall
rear(door
end wall.
wall).

7


BS EN 13044-1:2011
EN 13044-1:2011 (E)

Key
1

end wall

2
3

right side wall
roof

4
5

rear end wall (door end)
left side wall

Figure 2 — Location of markings

8


BS EN 13044-1:2011
EN 13044-1:2011 (E)

Annex A
(normative)
Determination of check digit

A.1 General
The check digit of the ILU identification system is determined by following the procedure outlined in A.1 to A.5.
An example calculation is presented in A.6.

A.2 
code, and
serialand
number
A.2 Numerical equivalents of ILU owner

identification
system,
serial number
Each letter of the owner code and each numeral of the serial number shall be consecutively allocated a
numeral value in accordance with Table A.1.

A.3 Weighting factor
Each numeral equivalent, determined in accordance with Table A.2, shall be multiplied by a weighting factor in
0
9
0
the range of 2 to 2 . The weighting factor 2 is applied to the first letter of the owner code, and then in
9
increasing powers of 2, rising to 2 for the last digit of the serial number.

A.4 Modulus
The sum of the products obtained in accordance with A.3 shall be divided by a modulus of value eleven.
Table A.1 — Equivalent values
Letter
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K

L
M
NOTE
a

Owner code
Equivalent value
Letter
10
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
23
24

N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U

V
W
X
Y
Z

Equivalent value
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
34
35
36
37
38

Serial number
a
Numeral or equivalent value
0
1
2
3
4
5

6
7
8
9

The equivalent values 11, 22 and 33 are omitted as they are multiples of the modulus (see A.3).

Serial number and its equivalent value are identical.

9


BS EN 13044-1:2011
EN 13044-1:2011 (E)

A.5 Value of check digit
Table A.2 indicates the check digit value corresponding to the remainder value of the division effected in
conformity with A.4.
Table A.2 — Check digit value
Remainder

Check digit

10
0
9
9
8
8
7

7
6
6
5
5
4
4
3
3
2
2
1
1
0
0
NOTE Where it is required to avoid the duplication resulting from the value zero being
assigned as a remainder of both 10 and 0 is recommended that serial numbers resulting in
remainders of 10 should not be used.

A.6 Example calculation of the check digit
Stage
I

Calculation

Owners identification
A

II

A

0

0

1

2

3

4

12

0

1

2

3

4

13

10

0

4

8

16

32

64

128

256

512

0

0

64

256

768

2048

Weighting factors
1

IV

C

Equivalent factors
10

III

B

serial number

2

Product of columns in lines II and III
10

24

52

80

The sum of all products in line IV = 3302.
The sum divided by the modulus 11: 3302/11 = 300 + 2/11.
That is to say: 3302 modulus 11 = 2.

The remainder is "2" and, by referring to Table A.2, it is found that the check digit is 2 in this case.

10


BS EN 13044-1:2011
EN 13044-1:2011 (E)

Bibliography

UIC 596-6, Conveyance of road vehicles on wagons  Technical organisation  Conditions for coding
combined-transport load units and combined-transport lines

11


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