Wall Street Journal
How a Steel Box Changed the World: A Brief History of Shipping
We live in a fast-changing world where industries are constantly having to adapt to new trends and technologies. This Wall Street Journal brief history series helps explain the now, by looking back at how we got here.
As the container shipping industry continues to boom, companies are adopting new technologies to move cargo faster and shifting to crewless ships. But it’s not all been smooth sailing and the future will see fewer players stay above water.
—-
Malcom Purcell McLean (November 14, 1913– May 25, 2001) was an American businessman. He was a transport entrepreneur who developed the modern intermodal shipping container, which revolutionized transport and international trade in the second half of the twentieth century. Containerization led to a significant reduction in the cost of freight transportation by eliminating the need for repeated handling of individual pieces of cargo, and also improved reliability, reduced cargo theft, and cut inventory costs by shortening transit time.