The Box That Shrank the World

Before containerization, loading a cargo ship cost several dollars per ton and took weeks. Malcom McLean loaded the first modern sea containers in 1956, and ISO 668 fixed the dimensions and corner fittings in 1968.

The twenty foot box became the TEU, the unit global trade counts in. Cranes, trucks, trains and warehouses were rebuilt around one box, cutting port time from weeks to hours and making offshore manufacturing practical.

The standard container is arguably the most economically important artifact of the twentieth century.