Ask anyone what the greatest invention of the 20th century was, and you will be told that it was the car, the aeroplane or some other item. What most people do not understand is that the world as we know it would not have been possible without the simple and underappreciated shipping container. It was this amazing invention that gave humanity its first great ability to carry out trade and commerce, despite the vastness of the distances that exist between countries.
The Invention of shipping containers
Before shipping containers, there were ships and stevedores; hordes of men and women who were tasked with loading and offloading various goods from ships onto trucks of trains. Although the work could be done, it took such a long time that ships often spend weeks in a dock. Although this was mostly alright at the time, it turned out to be rather limiting as trade became much more widespread.
Malcom Mc Lean
This is where Malcom Mc Lean comes into the picture. This man, who owned one of the largest fleets of trucks in the South of the United States, recognised the need for a standardised way of moving goods between land and sea. In 1956, he invented the first shipping container and the world was never the same again.
Standardisation
The humble shipping container does not, at first glance, appear to be that revolutionary in design and function. There are no fantastic engines and wings, as is the case with aeroplanes, and shipping containers mostly come in a rather drab brown colour. The revolutionary thing about them, however, is their standardisation.
The shipping container largely did away with the stevedore and replaced them with cranes that were used to move cargo from sea to land. By introducing truly intermodal shipping, these humble containers allowed goods to be easily transferred from rail to truck to ship. What’s more, this could be done quickly, which made trade and commerce much more efficient. Shipping containers are designed to fit precisely on truck-bed or a train.
Shipping Containers Today
Today, a staggering amount of 17 million shipping containers are floating around out there somewhere. The world indeed owes a lot to these amazing inventions. Estimates put the amount of trade that takes place through the use of shipping containers at 90%. Without them, the world would, therefore, largely be lost at sea.
Besides the standard sizes like the 20ft shipping container and the 40ft shipping container, there are also, today, custom shipping containers. These include the refrigerated containers that are used to transport perishable goods around the globe. Shipping containers have also found uses beyond their design parameters. Some are now being used as homes, schools, swimming pools and on many more imaginative uses.