Containerzation Case

Containerization has revolutionized the shipping world when it was introduced in 1956 by an American Trucking mogul from the South. The invention of shipping containers not only brought efficient loading practices to the logistics community but also cut the cost of loading by more than 90%. (All About Shipping Containers, N.d)

No matter what type of transportation method a shipping company uses, more than likely, that company has come into contact with a shipping container. This wonderful innovation has without a doubt brought standardization to an unorganized and inefficient business in the late 1950's. Malcolm Mc Lean invented and patented the standardized shipping container in 1956. Mc Lean, who operated the largest trucking company in the Southern portion of the United States, decided it was time to a change. "After observing this slow and inefficient process for 20 years, he finally decided to step back and develop some standardized way of loading cargo from trucks to ships and warehouses." (All About Shipping Containers, N.d) Mc Lean then purchased the Pan Atlantic Tanker Company which he then renamed Sea-Land Shipping. Mc Lean purchased the maritime shipping company to fine tune his containerization process. After trial and error, his final design is what we know now as the shipping container. The new shipping container was super strong, had a uniform design, was theft resistant, stackable, easy to load and unload onto truck, rail, and ship.

Although Mc Lean had his own system working quite well within the companies he owned, it took another major entity to "buy in" to make his innovation a standard; the United States Military. In the early 1970's, the United States Navy standardized Mc Lean's containers thus causing the containers to be globally accepted shortly after. The shipping container invention of Malcolm Mc Lean has certainly changed the world and thus, it has changed the lives of every human on the planet. (All About Shipping Containers, N.d)

In order for intermodal transportation to be successful, there must be a interoperable, standardized method of transportation that would allow for easy, on the fly, transfer of cargo to/from truck, ship, rail, or air. When Malcolm Mc Lean invented and successfully launched the shipping container, intermodal transportation was born. With Mc Mclean having a sturdy background in the trucking business, he knew the container he invented, must work on not only his tractor trailers, but also his container ships. By making the container work on all shipping platforms, he cornered the market for his invention.

In 1961, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) set standard sizes. The two most important, and most commonly used sizes even today, are the 20-foot and 40-foot lengths. (World Shipping Council, N.d) By having standard sizes of containers, the shipping customer can easily plan out how much cargo could be loaded into each container, thus making the shipping process on the customer side, more efficient as well. Basically, the USPS saying "If it fits, it ships" was born when containers were standardized.

Today, there are five common standard lengths, 20-ft, 40-ft, 45-ft, 48-ft and 53-ft. United States domestic standard containers are generally 48 ft and 53-ft (rail and truck). (Pacific Sea Air Cargo Services, N.d) Container capacity is often expressed in twenty-foot equivalent units TEU. Certain types of transportation methods can only handle certain container sizes. For example, most air freight shipping companies can't load or even fly with