Shipping Containers: The Box that Changed the World
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- Опубліковано 9 лип 2024
- By some estimates, there are as many as a half billion intermodal shipping containers in the world today, and they move virtually everything that can be moved for a fraction of the previous cost.
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Script by THG
#history #thehistoryguy #commerce
What do you call a shipping container full of snails?
Escargo.
BOOOOOOOO take my thumbs up.l
..good one.
What about a snail car?
That is a proper dad joke. My hat's off to you sir.
Boooo! Terrible! Just terrible! Thumbs up too! 👍🏿
I lived in a shipping container in Iraq. They were purpose built (I was told in Turkey) 40ft containers. The interior had a wall in the middle that created two 20ft sides. Everything was lined with an insulated wall material. Each side was designed for two people and came with bunk beds, 2 lockers, 2 desks, and 2 chairs. They were hard wired into a generator system and had lights and electrical outlets. On the door side was a traditional door and next to it a window AC/heater went through the wall. The main shipping door was still attached to allow for proper transportation.
There is a devise called a Motivator that can be attached to each end to enable movement of Containers without large lifting equipment.
I used to buy Containers in Port Areas and sell them in the Midwest.
It justified the return trip to pick up another load to deliver to the Coast.
In Vietnam my father-in-law, who was a Dentist/Oral Surgeon, put all that was needed for a mobile dental/surgery suite in a container. They then air lifted to different places in the jungle! He got many awards from the Army for this innovation. Another novel use of containers.
First time I experienced/saw was 29 Palms out in the field, CSSD-12. Had my teeth cleaned lol. Just weird, as I removed my combat kit, went from 112 degrees into in this beautiful air conditioned dentist office with a dental technician and dental officer and got my teeth cleaned. Turned around went right back out to the war games. And it was all in a box. Lol
Please add their name.
The Box getting a THG shoutout? Yeah, today's a good day.
Have you actual experience with these boxes? They bake in the sun until the temp inside one is intolerable! Not too mention the cam lever system for their doors has no doubt caused many fingers/nails to get mangled/blackened or other worse eventualities!
@@roberthevern6169and yet without them our modern world wouldn’t be possible
@@roberthevern6169, trafficked people die inside of these cargo containers.
How about a video on the history of the pallet? That's another standard shipping thing that I have no idea how it started.
The Europallet is Swedish! It was called the SJ pallet at first, because it was ordered by the Swedish railway company SJ. Statens Järnvägar, or State Railways in English. And it was designed, if I'm correct, by a local company here in my part of Sweden, BT, in the town of Mjölby. BT stands for Bygg och Transportekonomi (Building and transportation economy). They happen to also make very good fork-lift trucks. One of the world leaders in that market, actually. So the europallet was a natural thing to develop for them. Toyota bought the company a number of years ago, that's how good they are. If you can't beat them, buy them.
Oh, and if I understand right, the europallet doesn't fit nicely into a shipping container. It leaves unused space. But I'm told it fits perfectly into a standard Swedish cargo train car, and that was the mission, when designed.
Transportable military hospitals are CONEX based, specialized units are standardized for transport. We could have a completely functional operating room ready in less than 30 minutes.
There are also military ConEx vans designed as mobile aviation maintenance facilities.
It’s so amazing to me that the really important innovations are adopted SO FAST that people almost can forget the world before them. This seems like such a simple logistical improvement - but entirely upended the entire culture of every port town globally. Shipping containers are definitely a massively important part of our recent history.
@@FuncleChuck It's right up there with getting rid of telephone operators and the milkman. He should be as well known as Henry Ford or Edison.
Im retired military. Our daughter was born in 1993 in an Army Deployable Medical Unit, or DepMed - a CONEX box, basically, in the parking lot of the 121 Evacuation Hospital in Seoul. Surgery was temporarily using labor and delivery rooms because of construction, so they set up the DepMeds. There are lots of military brats running around now as adults who were literally born in a metal box in the parking lot. It has always been a great family story.
My local hospital in Massachusetts rented a CONEX with a CAT scan machine in it while they were undergoing renovations and expansion.
All the hospital had to do was build a temporary enclosed entry 'bridge' and supply power, data connections and staff.
The simple CONEX was, as you said, one of the most versatile inventions of all time. We used them to store gear, as perimeter reinforcements, sentry posts, small offices and a myriad of other things. A great tool.
But very warm inside!
Very much a trend over the past few years of people turning them into tiny homes too.
Not in winter without being insulated & heated@@roberthevern6169
its not that versatile. Its just really good at filling a very specific function, while also being useful for other functions.
@@MrChickennugget360that is what versatile means, unless you mean the tractor
I used to be a mate on container ships, and I also drive tractor trailer trucks now and have done intermodal trucking. Containerization would be my pick for top invention of the 20th century.
In interesting side note in all of this is that one of the humble yet critical enabling technologies for containerized shipping is the corner blocks of the containers. Specifically, there design allows locking containers to each other or whatever else is needed with no moving parts on the container itself, thus making them the next thing to zero maintenance. This is important because the way containers are used (the vast majority of handling is done by someone who doesn't own them) makes enforcing any kind of maintenance schedule the next thing to impossible.
I was sorry to see this wasn't mentioned in the video. Thanks for sharing.
Domino Clamps
@@bbhrdzaz a little quick searching suggests that's the brand name for one style of the hardware that mates with the corner blocks. Those prices are a lot less of a problem to maintain (the owner is installing them for one thing) and thus the design of them is a lot less critical.
And then people put the wrong stickers in the wrong places. A locking stacker in the hatch can cause hours of delay or damage to two or more cans. Falling cans make a lot of noise and a big mess.
Only The History Guy could make a video about a steel, rectangular box absolutely fascinating. I had no idea about when and why they were invented. Excellent video, Lance!
Minor correction: TEU: Twenty-foot *equivalent* unit(s). Great content as always. And "The Box" is an amazing book.
I just love the way the guy went from a 58 container ship to 200.. From day 1 it was bigger/better
I worked in the Port of Oakland in the 1970's and 80's as a container crane mechanic. Best job I ever had.
I've worked with these so much. I'm ex military and worked in logistics in most parts of my career. It's shocking how few know about these!
I’m so glad that creators like you exist.
Science, history, earlier history need to be remembered & shared.
Also, you have a great narrative voice, and are as yet undiscovered by Hollywood.
I would have to say refrigeration has to be the most impactful invention of the 20th century.
Transistors.
Yeah, transistors. Watch his video on that.
Nothing had as much impact as the atomic bomb.
@@BlaBla-pf8mf I don't think that even makes the top 20
@@PaulRudd1941 yeah, even computers use refrigeration to cool themselves.
Now do the Jones Act so I can get another "better call Sal" episode from "What's going on in shipping"😂
I am working in a shop built from a sea container as I listen to this?
You know, I clicked on this going "how could you make a video about shipping containers entertaining?" and I'm happy to say I left pleasantly surprised
I bet the History Guy could make a compelling video about the history of paints drying.
A few years back THG did a video on the history of ketchup. One comment said, "Why do I need to know the history of ketchup; wait, what is the history of ketchup?"
You're the only UA-camr I know of who could induce me to click on a video about the history of shipping containers with the expectation of a good program. I was not disappointed. :)
I agree. I didn't even have to think whether I clicked or not. I just did. There's only two guys on here that are on automatic read. History guy and physics duck
Today I learned that SeaLand was founded by Malcolm McLean. When you said that he "built fast, fuel guzzling ships" right before the oil crisis I knew that had to be the SeaLand SL7 Class. When I joined the Maritime industry, there were still quite a few senior officers who sailed on those back in the day. They were legendary ships but also a really good example of unbelievably bad timing.
The SL7s still survive as US Navy roll on roll off fast transports
@u686st7 Yes, but they've very old now, and don't do much anymore as I understand it. Hell, when I was shipping, they mostly just sat in port and that was 10 years ago.
Learning about the history of shipping containers wasn't on my radar today. I enjoyed the video as I always do. Keep up the good work THG.
The pallet is soooooo important! The 🇺🇸 military is a logistics organization that dabbles in combat, they perfer pallets. Any shipment smaller than shipping containers. The pallet is definitely the foundation of modern logistics.
Exactly, perfectly said. Which is why Amazon hires so many of us military vets to manage their logistics.
Pallets fit nicely in standard shipping containers.
Jeff Bezos sees vets as duty bound, loyal, and willing to take a beating to complete the task.
No time for hydration/pee breaks!
Thank you for your service!
I would love to learn about the history of pallets. I have no idea how they became standard but they are everywhere.
I lived in a twenty foot Conex box for several months in Viet Nam, along with several other Marines.
Retired ILWU Longshoreman here. In 43 years on the waterfront, I saw a lot of changes. Cans were the biggest. From ships full of men working, to automated yard operations. Companies made plenty of money when we had hundreds of men on the docks. Now the same companies cry poverty with only a few souls on the job.
I hear you brother. 42 years on the beach ,the last 15 as a reeferman. Watch out for the wire!
@@Vexation4632 profit margins are far lower than yrs ago when employers with massive # of workers to load & unload could demand what they wanted to have their contracted workers work
In many tropical islands there is a lot of inbound traffic with virtually no outbound traffic. This results in many containers remaining in the islands. I have seen entire strip malls made from them. Some even had multiple levels.
Every time I watch a video from THG, I leave a bit more educated. Thank you THG. Keep it up.
Like kids on Christmas, enjoying the box more than what was in it.
Shipping containers were a brilliant invention. But another very important invention is the backhoe.
I work on the freeways and bridges on the West Coast and I see hundreds, if not, thousands of those things every day
We have a 40' one that changed our lives. Best shed ever.
50 years ago, we used'ta call these "Conex" containers in the Army...I still do..
I spent three days aboard a small containership as a passenger. One of my favorite vacations - the Captain was really cool, let me hang out with him on the Bridge for as long as I liked, even let me drive it for a while.
This doesn't seem llke such a good idea when you consider what happened to the bridge in Baltimore harbor!
@@goodun2974 Actually I agree - we were well clear of any channels, bridges or other vessel traffic before he made the offer, and I wouldn't have accepted if we were near any of that.
I knew who McLean was because I am from Winston-Salem and remember when the company closed.
On average food moves from field to plate X miles.
If every vehicle stopped right now we have Y number of days of food in grocery stores within walking distance.
The entire system is held together by this commodity?
Scroll down for the answers.
X is 1500 miles produce comes from Mexico and California in the winter and Midwest and east coast in the fall. Livestock the Midwest. Seafood?
Y is three days... if the population doesn't panic and loot
The commodity is OIL, nothing and I mean nothing is planted or reared fertilized or fed, harvested, refined, packaged or transported without oil. How did you get to the store?
Now take a metal auto/truck part and trace the logistics from scrap yard to in your hand and it could be twice as far. A plastic part?
Remember this when someone has a grand scheme of life without oil.
In 1968 in Vietnam, I saw more than one "appropriated" CONEX containers just outside of Tan Son Nhut airport that had been repurposed into a houses for a families of four or more people.
The 20 foot MILVAN/CONEX is the most hated object by the members of the military!!! Constantly having to empty them to inventory them, then put everything back.
"Just in time" is easily converted into "just too late" by a snag anywhere along the line.
Mobile has bounced back quite nicely, btw. One of America’s largest ports now. Containers are also made into homes and stores across the globe.
I’m so disappointed that this didn’t end with “Malcolm McClain was packed, shipped and buried in one of his ubiquitous boxes”
I love conexes. We use them for material and tool storage at work, as well as fixing them up as a break area complete with ac, fridges, and microwaves. We had a very large job finish one time and I managed to get a conex dropped off to my house almost free, so I bought a second and set them 25 feet apart and used them to build a nice covered workspace and used them as sheds.
I'm always amazed at some of the topics you cover on this channel. So many things we take for granted everyday have a fascinating history behind them.
At our military boarding home during deployment animal rescue, most of our dog and cat pins, is made out of 20' containers. Then we have all the fencing for huge runs to play! At 9400ft in altitude, these things do the job, hold up in the weather and provide safety bear couldn't break through! thanks Lance, this was truly interesting and shared! All the best.
Huh I never thought about how well they would work to be bear resistant, would make a good Alaskan shed
Serendipitous timing... I've been curious about this lately after seeing a model railway that used lift vans for slate.
I loved this episode! Since I was a young lad I'd thought of how cool intermoadal transport is. Yes, I'm a dork.
In wide open ocean. Ships happen upon 1 of more of these containers floating. It’s like a bonus a gift like a kid Christmas morning.
@@Houndini- You can also follow shipping lanes, under water, by following the boxes lining the sea floor. That is, also, how invasive species, bacteria & other transmittable stuff, get from one place to another.
In the 60’s, a container ship sank in the gulf of Alaska. Its entire cargo was Nike shoes. The containers deteriorated, releasing the contents into the Pacific. The boxes could not withstand sea water, the all-synthetic shoes survived. Beach combers from Canada to Baja collected and cleaned the shoes, and displayed them at swap meets. Collectors perused the meets searching for certain models, in certain colors and sizes for several decades.
Thank you for the lesson.
I know so many people that have turned them into storage sheds.
1).I saw a vid where a guy took a container and sunk it in the ground for a disaster shelter/wine cellar. 2) \As a trucker,Ive had to haul my share of these containers. 3) Ive been binge watching *Jack Ryan* T V show. They had an episode where Ryan had to break into one of these things at a terrorist training site. 4) Theyre expanding the Panama Canal to accomidate these monterous cargo ships. Finally,another vid well worth my time to watch. Well done,History Guy !!
The White Pass and Yukon RR played a part in this revolution. They started carrying open top containers filled with ore from mines in the Yukon down to ships at the port of Skagway, Alaska. They eventually started carrying containers filled with other goods.
I honestly look forward for new content from THG. Specially during these very tough times. Still my favorite is Taffy Holden wild ride in the British Lighting.
Hi Lance, Thank you for this informative version of THG. We use these shipping containers to store and secure tools and supplies on construction sites. I have always wondered why they are called "Con-Ex". Now I know and am free to use the moniker myself.
They rarely send the containers back to china and so they wind up sitting in a port stack,or some receivers yard for long periods until they can sell them or get them hauled off... almost all containers that arrive in America these days are brand new and only a day or two older than the cargo shipped within it...
They make great storage sheds, tiny or off grid homes,barns,stables,bunkers if one does the needed modifications for intended purpose...
While in Vietnam, my dad's office was a conex box. Then he was a navy recruiter in Mississippi. He went back to the same post in Vietnam Nam. He was back in the same conex box, same desk, same chair.
Logistics nerds like me will certainly love this one. Thank you History Guy and team.
Shipping containers assist monster trucks in doing backflips 👍
This history presentation describes our present condition better than a rehash of wartime battles.
I have 5 twenty foot shipping containers. Two for a guest house, 3 for storage. I also have 2 ten foot shipping containers for storage. They are fantastic. I would not want a forty footer as they are too long.
nothing less than 40 foot high cube reefers this end
Got a 40ft high cube 1 tripper back when they were dirt cheep. Only mistake was not buying more.
No telling how many of the things are resting on the ocean floor.
I thought the current problem is that lots of goods are shipped to the US but the US doesn't make much of anything to send back, and no one wants to pay to ship back empty containers.
That's not accurate. America's business model has changed. The World does not want but our consumer goods. The want our Boeing planes. Our Weapons. Our bio and pharmaceutical products. Our agriculture. Our entertainment and intellectual property. They don't want Philco TVs, GE light bulbs, or stuff from Bethlehem Steel anymore....
The shipping containr is a cousin to the railroad box car.
9:40 -- One of your most brilliant videos, THG! Instantly played it and was enthralled the whole time!
I'm wondering what happened to McLean's prototype container ship SS Ideal X? Surely that is a piece of history that deserves to be turned into a museum?
And using the same line of thinking: what happened to the first Conex box?
Proves that if you have it, a truck brought it.
Such wonderful, detailed coverage of shipping!! Thoroughly enjoyed it as my father was a longshoreman :) He was a member of ILWU Local 19 and retired under the Mechanization and Modernization (M&M) plan about one month before it was sunsetted.
The world would come to a grinding halt if international shipping ceased.
Covid sort of came close. Many of those guys were stacked on ships for months.
@ LazyLifeIFreak
That might not be so far in
the future. It is beginning to
happen and will continue as
countries begin to re-home
some of their essential
product manufacturing from
China. Due to China's
internal politics.
(Xi has become an
absolute tyrant ...
After him?)
Yeah no ship
An example we already see as the Houthi have effectively blocked access to the Suez Canal and forced ships to navigate around Africa.
@@MrTeff999
Container ships do not do well in
rough water such as the Straight
of Good Hope and the Straits of
Magellan.
I remember hearing that a major driver of the post pandemic supply chain problem was because there are, in fact, a finite this many and not one more, number of shipping containers on earth.
If there were, they'd get hauled back to China for reloading, instead of atacked up and sold for a little more than scrap price.
Most of it was caused by california shutting down the ports for so long.
Calum also did a video on this a few months ago. Interestingly, containerization was considered "automation" back then, accdg to a Reader digest article from the 1960's . This was due to all the longshoremen put out of a job. Featherbedding was also a practice them.
I don't know if it was just in Seattle/ West coast or all coastal cities, but in the 1960's the Longshoremen and Teamsters fought each other as to who should handle the containers. The Longshore claimed the containers were a maritime thing and they should be the ones to unloaded the ships and move them around to their end users. The Teamsters said they were just trucks with out wheels and they should be handling them start to finish. Both parties finally came to an agreement. Longshore unlash them on the ship and crane them to the pier where the Teamsters drive them around the container yards.
During lead up to the Gulf War, the "oh, crap" moment that killed my cockiness (19 year old jarhead, MOS 0331) was when I asked what all the refrigerated conex boxes stored on base were for. Never needed as it tuned out, but I avoided that area anyway.
I work by BWI in Baltimore and the Dali really screwed up some of our work but most of our work is air transport but we have a lot of containers around the yard here
Lol, Dali was a patsy. Unedited footage clearly shows the flash of shape charges at the proper weak points.
Good job on this one .
I worked with a bunch of military guys and they talked about the containerized shipping was invented during Vietnam war. So many great points . Ur show in so basic and yet always relevant.
Yesterday I watched a video of Brian Green and Sean Carroll discussing quantum mechanics. Today it's a history of shipping containers. And they were both really interesting. The internet is weird.
Very interesting, Thank you THG.
People even live in these things now.
Have you ever thought of doing a video about Ellis Island?
The statue of Hekate, on Liberty island, is more interesting.
Titian have a blue hue, botanist use a memoir, guardian of crossroads, guided Demeter through the under world using a torch.
I appreciate you and thank you for making content.
Very interesting viewer comments/ info on this video.
Smart man. Do the guy who invented the reefer next , Good story, When you play with them few years there like big .. Lego Blocks . Great History as usual. Cheers
We bought 3 in the last year. It's $2000 plus $700 shipping where I live. Used Conex insists on a video of the approach where you want delivery. They don't want to get stuck in the hills or West Virginia.
There are entrepreneurs that have made houses out of shipping containers. They even built an apartment house from them.
The best designs using containers generally require a great deal of modification. Modular systems designed for making buildings are a better solution.
You mention that TEU is a unit of measurement and that the largest ship can carry 24,000 TEUs - all container ships loading capacity is taken from this, it is then up to the freight forwarding personnel and those of the shipping companies to work out the loading of each ship as 20, 40 and 45ft boxes are loaded, both its capacity and to keep the ship trimmed but also that 20ft boxes should not be placed on top of 40/45ft singularly and when they are on the beam side of the ship. Interestingly, what a shipping company say about the TEU capacity of their ship is sometimes different to what the IMO (International Maritime Organization) state.
I can recall as a child growing up in 1950s and 60s Chicago, that being a Longshoreman was a fairly common occupation.
It was quite the topic of conversation around our dinner table when the upheaval of change began. Like the eventual closing of the stockyards, the impact on the job market was huge.
Welcome to Let's Make a Deal. Do you want door number 1, door number 2, or the box? 👏
The story in my wife’s family is her Grandfather was the inventor the modern day shipping container. He was in the military and saw the problems with unloading trains to trucks and the military asked for ideas. His last name was Mackey and he drew up a plan for a container. The military bought his idea for $10k, and started fabricating a few of them.
I love that the first test was something as simple as unbolting the running gear and hauling the boxes
Building a container home, and use one for storage currently. We'll be getting another for our livestock's permanent home. We fully appreciate the wonders of containers!
The rounded top design never gained favor among shippers, but it was so cute! One would presume that the ubiquitous Thermo-King semi trailer refer adaptation for maintaining temps didn't work well for containerization due to the protrusion from one end?
THG, this was a very informative post, but where is your kitty? Did she/he get shipped off?
Thanks, THG!
What about the ' invention' of the drum kit...that had a profound impact on music...
It was in the 1930's when acetate 'skins' ,and metal rings were added...
...that's when Rock & Roll was born,...or came ' of age' ...
Great job thank you 👍
As a retired military member, I never knew the history of the (or why it was named) conex. Honestly, never thought about it before. Thank you for making me a little more educated on the subject 👍
My husband and I live in a 55+ community that has a yearly yard sale to make $$ for Park residents activities. We bought an old shipping container about 5 years ago in which to store the items residents donate. The container cost us $3000+ to buy it and have it delivered. It was promptly named The Beast due to it's size, obvious years of hard labor and the hideous noise the doors make when opened and closed. We're very fond of it.
'Intermodals' are commonly referred to as 'Sealand' containers in the environmental restoration field. Older units that have outlived their original shipping usefulness have recently gained popularity in the housing industry as robust modular structures that are safe, livable, and easily modified and moved. The cradle to grave utility of sealands is truly a wonderment to behold.
Excellent. Thank you
Perhaps the first attempt was the steamer trunk into which many Americans put their entire worldly possessions as they immigrated to the new world. It also had a rounded top, and for the same reason: to keep it from being stacked. Until the modern intermodal shipping container, few containers were strong enough to support their own load horizontally and an additional load or loads vertically.
Shipping containers are everywhere now. I have seen them used for housing, work site offices, and storerooms for small businesses .I have seen very few things in my lifetime that are as actually useful as the humble shipping container.
An episode of memorable history efficiently packaged and shipped to us all!
Great video!
Quite interesting for such a mondaine, humble shipping container.👍
Love the Eddie Van Halen Bow Tie!
Around the end of the twentieth century, when I was a tourist bus driver in Seattle, I would tell my riders that the container boxes (so visible from my bus passing by the Seattle seaport) were invented by the T.O.T.E. company to speed up the shipping process. Well, my worldview was rather small. Seldom is a world-changing invention like container boxes invented by a single source. However, the story did fit the short amount of time that I had to interact with my customers.