Shipping Containers History

Shipping containers are ubiquitous parts of the shipping industry. More recently, shipping containers are being used as storage, habitable buildings and even as building material for larger structures, like restaurants or hotels. But shipping containers were not always the omnipresent cargo boxes that dominate the dockyards as they do today.

In fact, shipping was handled entirely without them for most of oceanic shipping’s history. Shipping containers and the resulting “containerization” of the shipping industry were both relatively recent innovations that transformed the global economy and allowed for unprecedented development, low shipping costs, and a complete reinvention of oceanic shipping.

Let’s break down the history of shipping containers and examine the figures, developments, and decisions that led to the intermodal and worldwide containerized shipping system that all developed nations use to this day.

The First Transported Container

On 26th April 1956 the ‘Ideal X' was the first freighter to transport goods using McLean's new shipping containers. The ship transported 58 of shipping containers from Newark to Houston. Shortly afterwards the first ship designed purely for carrying shipping containers the ‘Maxton', which could carry 60 shipping containers as deck cargo, was put into service.

In order to ensure that's McLeans new shipping containers could travel across the globe, and be handled at every port, it was necessary for the containers to be built to a specific standard and that every container built the world over met this exact specification. Eventually after many negotiations, an international standard was agreed the ISO (International Organization for Standardization) which set the shipping containers at lengths of 10', 20', 30' and 40', a width of 8', and a height of 8'6”.

Early ISO Shipping Container Designs

Patented in 1956 after numerous tests, the first ISO container was born. It was stackable and built with steel. Reinforced corners made it possible to stack the containers without causing damage. They were uniform in size, theft-proof and easy to load.

Dockworkers at the time, known as longshoremen, went on strike. They realised loading containers onto ships would require a smaller workforce. It was this downtime that enable McLean to refine his designs.

McLeans big new idea was a success. He negotiated with the New York Port Authority to convert the New Jersey side of the harbour into a container port. The business would grow steadily over next ten years.

WHERE TO FIND SHIPPING CONTAINERS IN RICHMOND,VIRGINIA AREA?

A used conex container is all you need if you’re looking for extra storage! Used Conex provides different grades of containers for different needs, and since purchasing shipping containers is sight unseen, we try to provide enough information for our customers to shop confidently. You can read our reviews or check out some of our recent deliveries on our social media channels and choose the type of container that suits you best. After selecting the size and grade of your container, you can check the price and find out the delivery cost by entering your delivery ZIP code in our quoting tool. Our quoting tool will search our inventory of used shipping containers in Richmond, and will give you the total cost, including delivery to your location. For more information, Call us at 1-800-230-7764, and our sales team will be happy to help you choose the best option.

We are a leading retail company supplying and delivering secondhand shipping containers all over the United States.

We work directly with the shipping lines and shipping container manufacturers who bring thousands of containers in the country regularly.

We buy new and used shipping containers in bulk and we store them at some of the biggest depots around the country and that’s how we can provide the best quality shipping containers at the lowest prices in the industry.

Our team works so hard to provide inventory near your city so everyone has access to the best deals available in the market.

We work with owner-operator trucking companies that not only have the best delivery rates, but also know your local area very well, and have years of experience in delivering shipping containers.

All our containers have been inspected by certified personnel at the depot as well as our drivers who inspect the container before pick-up to ensure that the container matches the condition mentioned on Used Conex’s inspection sheet they have on hand.

We also back up our customers with our 2-year leak-free warranty and a 6-year structural warranty as well as discounted container relocation services in case they’d need to relocate their container to a new home in the future.

More: www.usedconex.com/delivery-guidelines