Containerisation
What is containerization and how did the innovative use of containers transform the distribution of goods?
“Containerisation is a method of distributing merchandise in a unitised form suitable for transportation by rail, road, air, canal and sea.” (Branch, 1996, p.194). The simple principle of the container has undoubtedly made the global economy grow, and brought the world closer together through ease of transportation (Wetherly & Otter, 2008, p.86-7).
To be able to use one single sized unit for the transportation of goods was the ultimate solution to transporting cargo, which was becoming larger part of global trade, and helped put shipping into the modern age. In 1956, Malcolm McLean used an innovative idea to transport 58 trailer trucks on a tanker, purely to avoid the busy road routes and cut the delays caused by the labour intensive process of loading and stowing small amounts of different types of cargo (Asteris, 2009). This led the world to take up the single sized unit of container for the ease of transport, primarily over water. Before Malcolm McLean’s innovative idea, boxes of differing sizes would be loaded with goods and transported. This created a number of problems.
The transporter, such as a cart or train, would be one rectangular size. Boxes of varying shapes had to be loaded onto this. Because of the difference in size, the entirety of the transporter could not be utilised fully. As the global economy grew after the Second World War, and shipping channels opened up across the world, greater amounts of cargo had to be shipped. To maximise the efficiency of the transporter, the standardised container was invented. This allowed loading into one ‘box’, transporting in one ‘box’ and delivery in one ‘box’. This notionally now allowed for ‘door-to-door’ delivery. So with McLean’s innovative use of containers, how has that transformed the distribution of goods?
Firstly, it has made it quicker. Before containerisation there was the
“Containerisation is a method of distributing merchandise in a unitised form suitable for transportation by rail, road, air, canal and sea.” (Branch, 1996, p.194). The simple principle of the container has undoubtedly made the global economy grow, and brought the world closer together through ease of transportation (Wetherly & Otter, 2008, p.86-7).
To be able to use one single sized unit for the transportation of goods was the ultimate solution to transporting cargo, which was becoming larger part of global trade, and helped put shipping into the modern age. In 1956, Malcolm McLean used an innovative idea to transport 58 trailer trucks on a tanker, purely to avoid the busy road routes and cut the delays caused by the labour intensive process of loading and stowing small amounts of different types of cargo (Asteris, 2009). This led the world to take up the single sized unit of container for the ease of transport, primarily over water. Before Malcolm McLean’s innovative idea, boxes of differing sizes would be loaded with goods and transported. This created a number of problems.
The transporter, such as a cart or train, would be one rectangular size. Boxes of varying shapes had to be loaded onto this. Because of the difference in size, the entirety of the transporter could not be utilised fully. As the global economy grew after the Second World War, and shipping channels opened up across the world, greater amounts of cargo had to be shipped. To maximise the efficiency of the transporter, the standardised container was invented. This allowed loading into one ‘box’, transporting in one ‘box’ and delivery in one ‘box’. This notionally now allowed for ‘door-to-door’ delivery. So with McLean’s innovative use of containers, how has that transformed the distribution of goods?
Firstly, it has made it quicker. Before containerisation there was the
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