Cargo is always exposed to the risk of damages by vibration, motion, shock, temperature and humidity changes, and other factors in transit.

When transporting overland, or storing in a container yard, the interior temperature of the container may be exposed to extensive fluctuations as a result of direct sunlight, or radiant heat from the ground. Also, when the transport of a container involves different altitudes, the interior temperature of the container can be affected by changes in the outside temperature. During ocean transport, the temperature of seawater can affect the interior temperature of a container; however these instances are virtually few, when compared to overland transport. However, if the container is subjected to direct sunlight, the temperature will manifest similar changes as those seen during land transport.

There are two forms of humidity, absolute humidity that manifests the amount of water vapor in the atmosphere, and relative humidity, which fluctuates according to changes in temperature. In a sealed space, such as a container, the relative humidity may fluctuate extensively, even when there is no change to absolute humidity. Absolute humidity in a container is determined by such factors as the exterior humidity at the time of loading and the moisture content of the cargo as well as the pallets and flooring material. Relative humidity fluctuates according to the atmospheric temperature.

Therefore, it is possible for water damage to occur to the cargo and for cardboard materials to deteriorate in strength. Countermeasures must be established to prevent such problems.

In road hauling, unevenness of a road surface and operation, such as a slam on the brake makes the big generation source of vibration or a shock. Although the handling work of a container is done carefully, there is a possibility of shock during loading/discharging at a port. In rail transport, the relatively large shocks and vibrations occur when the train passes the rail couplers and when the train jolts as it starts, stops, and is joined with other trains.

To minimize cargo damage due to changes in the transport environment, NYK MTI (Monohakobi Technology Institute) offers R&D services to help solve customers' technical problems or to provide customers with testing services on a commission basis. Their services include measurements of the transport environment and analyses of the measured data; reproduction of the transport environment at the request of customers so that the optimum transport method/system can be identified before actual carriage of cargo. Furthermore, this company also provides consultative services to find the cause of cargo damage during transport so that effective measures can be taken to prevent the recurrence of similar cargo damage.