Bolt Seals

Bolt seals are used to secure intermodal containers and trailer doors as a barrier against opportunistic access to the contents. Typically bolt seals require a pulling force well in excess of 1 tonne to open them.

Bolt seals are quick to apply and the best bolt seals are marked with an auditable serial number on both bolt and bush, preventing the substitution of component parts. The seals should be tamper evident providing clear signs should any tampering be attempted.

Many bolt seals now have anti-spin features and the best seals align the serial numbers on bolt and bush for ease of checking.

Bolt seal authenticity:

Intermodal shipments are sent over long distances and timescales so there is a challenge to ensure that the seal arriving with the consignee is the same one that started out on the journey.

Controlling the numbering alone is often insufficient, as seals can be removed and replaced with one that is numbered alike.

Unisto recommend that a photograph of the seal is taken and a printed copy placed on the inside of the container door. The seal image should also be sent together with the manifest to the consignee to allow the seal to be checked in-situ prior to removal to verify that it is the same seal that was fitted by the consignor.

C-TPAT: Customs-Trade Partnership against Terrorism

As part of the drive against international terrorism The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has championed an international standard of quality for bolt seals and companies manufacturing and supplying them, ISO 17712:2013.

All shipments to the United States should be protected using an 'H' rated, ISO 17712:2013 standard barrier seal, or risk severe delays while extensive checks are carried out on the container and contents.

Bolt seal removal

Bolt seals are designed to be tough to remove and require specialist equipment, normally long handled bolt croppers which can cause injury to the user. Please visit our cutters page to view our recommended bolt seal removal device.

Please note these devices are only supplied to bona fide companies against an official company purchase order.