The 50th anniversary of the simple metal box that changed the world

Fifty years ago, on 26-April-1956, the cargo ship Ideal-X left left the port of Newark, New Jersey on a six day voyage to the port of Houston, Texas. What made this ship and voyage remarkable is what it what was onboard. It was hauling 58 35-foot containers. The containers were simple large metal boxes with cargo inside of them. It was the first container ship.

The ship and containers belonged to Malcom McLean of North Carolina. What he did that day revolutionized the shipping industry world wide. It was his creation that created the mass-consumer market of today... the Wal-Marts, Ikeas, and Targets. It is what allowed the Asian counties to become the economic tigers of today.

His idea now allows products to moved almost anywhere on the planet cheaply and quickly. What used take a week and 200 men now takes less than 10 hours and 20 men. It reduced the shipping expense of the average product from 15% to 1%. It has almost eliminated theft and breakage in shipping, which used to be serious problems. It allows fresh produce to be grown in one part of the planet, and shipped and consumed in another part of the planet.

It may not seem like much. But the containerization and intermodal ability of freight transport has had an enormous impact on the world and our lives over the last 50 years. I think it ranks up there with the telephone, computers, airplanes, the Interstate Highway System, the Internet, and Global Positioning Satellites. These are things that make the modern world work, and difficult to imagine life without them.

Malcom McLean died in 2001. He certainly deserves a toast. At the age of 42, he sold his successful trucking company that took him 20 years to build. He took a gamble on his idea. The world shrank that day, and made us all a part of a global economy.

Here are a couple of good articles about the revolution that was launched that day.

• Spiegel
• Wired