I've got your inflatable boat tail right here.
 

http://www.yankodesign.com/images/de.../chameleon.jpg
http://www.yankodesign.com/images/de...chameleon3.jpg
The Bionic Chameleon Truck | Yanko Design
They mention the articulated driver position, but not the loading ramp that rolls out like a giant tongue.

The same designer has a dump truck as well:

http://www.yankodesign.com/images/de...ppertruck2.jpg
http://www.yankodesign.com/2008/02/04/move-over-tonka/

How wide is this supposed to be?

How wide do you want it?

The truck is likely ≤8ft. The excavator doesn't have the same limitation.

Last time I looked up the sizes of International Shipping Containers they were smaller all the way around than a truck trailer.

However even the smaller ones only a foot narrower than a 8-foor wide trailer.

Leaving one with less than six inches each side to play with.

My opinion, this level of design being expressed here is of toy design quality, perhaps Sci-Fi prop design quality, and that includes both examples shown.

You are not seeing "form follows function" or "economy of design approach" so favored by profit seeking businesses.

This differs from actual problem solving and improving existing products.

In the "arts" there is room for such ventures/outreaches, and without them things would stagnate.

I have never seen a woman walking down the street in some of the more wild fashions seen on Paris fashion runways. However, that's not to say they don't have an influence on trends and serve no purpose.

If I were to look to nature for inspiration for an animal or plant that envelops another, a snake swallowing a rat whole comes to mind, and then you have the Venus fly trap.

Caterpillars and beetles, not so much.

EDIT:

I went to the website, and must add centipedes.......not so much.

The next part says "Standard containers are 8-foot (2.44 m) wide"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intermodal_container

Shouldn't it say "8 feet wide?"

The super singles are outside of the conex and there is a gap between them. Super singles are 17.5 inches wide. If there is 8.5 inches of gap, body, and fruit roll-up storage on each side, that makes this abomination 12 feet wide.
http://ecomodder.com/forum/attachmen...1&d=1506613714

I'll grant you the use cases.

Agreed. Thread title points to the variable-wheelbase, articulated body part. aerohead always speaks highly of the inflatable boat tail. Recast it as a motor home with a balcony and screened porch. Better?

Here's another example of an articulated body:

Armadillo solar moped concept looks like a hard shelled bug on wheels

https://i1.wp.com/www.greendiary.com...770.jpg?w=1170https://i0.wp.com/www.greendiary.com...770.jpg?w=1170

A year ago I never used Wikipedia for shipping container information, I used multiple other sources until I got matching information.

Almost a year ago I looked into using them in an architecture application, but found them to be smaller than a jail cell.

7'-6" may have been the internal dimension I recalled, this graphic below says 2.35 meters which converts to around 7'-8.52" using an online calculator. I was 2.5" off Wiki is 1.5" off, the design concept is flawed either way.


https://www.movinglabor.com/moving-o...ping-container
https://www.movinglabor.com/images/s...iner-specs.jpg

If I were to grade it as college work, it would score high points for creativity. Low points in the nuts and bolts catagory.

Current legal LOAD width is 8'6" or 102" wide. I suspect vehicle width matches. Anywhere anytime wide load unescorted in California is under 10ft which gives you a foot on each side of a standard traffic lane but not many use those.

Well, I guess the implausibility of swallowing a shipping container falsifies the notion of an articulated spine and flexible membranes. :( I thought we might speculate on whether the flexible part is solid or a semipermeable membrane, like trampoline mesh.

I'm not sorry though, because the next time I need to find that solar moped again, I can just come here.

Maybe we need Sheppard77 to chime in.

I always thought there were restrictions on anything over 8'-0" wide.

Meaning you can go with 8'-6" wide but you have to stay on the highway and perhaps not travel at all at night. At least that's what I remember when I looked into it over 30 years ago.

I'm not sure how you can deliver anything, and anything on time with those sorts of restrictions.

Here is my state Michigan.

http://www.michigan.gov/documents/Loads_dim_87014_7.pdf
This paper has good graphics, says 8'-6" width, and I'm not seeing the Interstate Highway only restriction.

http://www.idot.illinois.gov/Assets/...OPER%20753.pdf