History of The Shipping Container

You might be wondering invented these huge metal shipping boxes of which has significantly changed the way we transport goods, leading us to the mass gentrification of our world – and ultimately, to the rise of Giant Containers.

In 1956 an American named Malcolm Mc Lean invented and patented the first shipping container. He owned the largest trucking fleet in the South and the fifth largest trucking company in all the Untied States.

Malcom saved his money to purchase his first truck in 1934. During those years all cargo was loaded and unloaded in odd sized wooden crates. The process took a lot of time and wasn't exactly up to par with standards.

At this time, loose cargo cost $5.85 per ton to load. After 20 years Malcom recognized that odd sized wooden crates was probably not the most efficient, practical and standardized way of loading cargo from trucks to ships to warehouses. He then purchased a company of which owned a bunch of rusted tankers with the idea of transporting entire truck trailers with their cargo still inside. He experimented with different and better ways of loading and unloading transporters. His final design is what we now know as the shipping container. Now, using an ISO shipping container, the cost of shipping cargo is reduced to .16 cents per ton.