"Container is one of the greatest inventions ever made, but little is known about its history."
Many people around the world know names like Edison, Henry Ford, and Bell, but as the globally recognized father of the container - Malcolm. Little is known about Malcolm McLean!
Since the first container was born in 1956, the global container transport has gone through 66 years of history, and in the next few minutes, we will take you to understand why the invention of the container is so important to the world.
Trade and transportation before the container
Before the invention of the container, world trade in goods was small and transport was slow and difficult.
In England in the 1780s, wooden boxes began to appear to be loaded on barges, driven on the country's rivers and canals, and then transferred to horse-drawn carriages. The same methods spread to continental Europe and the new United States of America. But these practices are small scale.
In centuries past, the loading and unloading of goods depended on a large number of porters, the docks were crowded from morning to night, the goods were piled up in port warehouses for long hours, and when the empty ships arrived, the workers began to move the mountain of goods into sacks, barrels, bales or crates, one by one to the ship.
Port delays and blockages are common, and sometimes it can take a whole week to load and unload a large ship.
Overland transportation before the birth of the container
This modest method of transportation was used for centuries, until Malcom McLean, the "father of the container," revolutionized it.
The father of the container: Malcolm MacLean
Malcolm McLean was born in 1913 in Maxton, North Carolina. After finishing school in 1931, he worked for a few years, saving up enough money to buy a used truck. In 1934, he started his transportation business. McLean soon expanded his transportation business and ran five trucks.
In 1937, during a routine shipment of cotton bales from North Carolina to New Jersey, McLean witnessed longshoremen loading and unloading cargo, which took several hours to complete. He thought what a waste of time and money.
From 1937 to early 1950, McLean focused on his haulage business, which had over 1,750 trucks and 37 haulage terminals. In fact, it is the fifth largest trucking company in the United States.
It was during this period that a number of weight restrictions and tolls were introduced for road transport. It's not uncommon for McLean drivers to be fined for carrying heavy cargo.
McLean was now looking for a more efficient way to transport his customers' goods, which reminded him of his 1937 experience in New Jersey. That's when he came up with the idea of building a standard-sized trailer that could be loaded onto ships in the United States.
Unlike his trucks, the numbers are not one or two, but hundreds. He envisions revolutionizing his transportation business by dismantling most of his trucks and using boats to transport goods to strategic freight hubs.
This means the trucks will only be used for short periods of intra-state transport, eliminating recently introduced weight limits and charges.
The birth of the first container: 1956
McLean, convinced by his idea of creating standardized shipping trailers or containers, sold his trucking business. In 1955, he took out a bank loan of $42 million. He used $7 million of the loan to buy the shipping company Pan-Atlantic.
Pan-Atlantic already has docking rights in many of the eastern port cities McLean is targeting.
McLean worked with engineer Keith Tantlinger to design, refine, and test variations of the container, ultimately determining the original form of the shipping container we know today. It is robust, standardized, stackable, easy to load and unload, and lockable, so it has anti-theft features.
The first container line made its maiden voyage
Once McLean had his container, the final step was to design a ship that could hold it.
In January 1956, he purchased two World War II-era oil tankers. They are modified to carry containers on and below deck. McLean is familiar with the Mechano deck, a wooden shelter deck that was used during the war to help transport oversized cargo, such as aircraft.
The refitting of the containers, construction and design of the trailer chassis took several months.
On April 26, 1956, one of the converted tankers, the SS Ideal X, departed from the Newark-Port Elizabeth Marine Terminal in New Jersey, bound for the Port of Houston. Its cargo includes 58 new containers and 15,000 tonnes of oil. These containers were 35 feet long and were called "trailer cars" (later simply containers).
The success of McLean's ideas and designs soon became apparent. Before the SS Ideal X docked in Houston, McLean Industries was taking return orders. The company is offering a 25% discount on current ship prices. Not only does it cost less than conventional shipping, lockable containers also prevent cargo theft.
McLean's containers revolutionized the industry. When the Ideal X sails, most of the cargo is loaded and unloaded by dockworkers at a cost of $5.86 per ton. With the new container, a ship can load and unload for 16 cents per ton - a 36x savings! Containerization not only costs less, but also greatly saves the time of loading and unloading ships.
The father of the container is also the founder of Sealand
Following the success of the Ideal X's maiden voyage, McLean ordered the first ship specifically designed to carry containers: Gateway City.
In April 1957, McLean's first true container ship, Gateway City, began regular service between New York, Florida and Texas.
McLean was convinced by his own idea of creating standardized shipping trailers, or containers, and sold his trucking business to do so. In 1955, he took out a bank loan of $42 million. He used $7 million of the loan to buy an established shipping company, Trans-Atlantic Lines. Pan-atlantic already has docking rights in many of the eastern port cities McLean is targeting. Soon after buying them, he changed the name of the company to SeaLand Industries.
▲ The father of the container, is also the founder of the famous shipping company Sealand
Sea-Land's revenues were very substantial in 1974 ($145 million), but fell sharply in 1975. The turmoil led McLean to resign from the board in 1977 and cut ties with the company he founded. RJ Reynolds Industries spun off Sea-Land Corporation to its shareholders in mid-1984, becoming an independent company listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
Coincidentally, Sea-Land's revenues and earnings are at an all-time high. A little over two years later (September 1986), Sea-Land Corporation merged with a subsidiary of railroad giant CSX Corporation. Then in 1999, Sea-Land's international division was sold to Danish shipping company Maersk. The new company is called Maersk Sealand; In 2006, the company was renamed Maersk Line.
Today's global container transportation industry
McLean's development of the modern intermodal container revolutionized transportation and international trade in the second half of the 20th century. His containerization concept significantly reduced freight costs by eliminating the repetitive handling of individual shipments. In addition, standardized intermodal containers improve shipping reliability, reduce cargo theft and reduce inventory costs by reducing transit times across the three modes of transport (sea, rail and truck).
McLean's containers have had the biggest impact on shipping. More than 80% of global trade is now transported in containers.
In addition to this achievement, McLean has created a system that goes beyond the container. Container ships now fly the flags of many countries and carry the brands of many companies. But they trace their heritage back to McLean's converted tanker. In addition, specialized rail cars and trucks are designed to transport containers by land.
In 1982, Fortune magazine inducted McLean into its Business Hall of Fame. In 1995, American Heritage magazine named McLean, the father of the container, as one of the 10 innovators of the past 40 years.
