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Malcom McLean
Also Known As Father of Containerization · Malcolm McLean His birth name was spelled Malcolm; he dropped the second l from his own working spelling, so both spellings are found in sources.
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American trucking entrepreneur who pioneered modern containerized shipping. In April 1956 his converted tanker, the Ideal X, carried 58 truck trailer bodies as standardized containers from Newark, New Jersey to Houston, Texas, showing that freight could move between truck and ship without being unloaded and repacked at each stage. The idea became the basis of the modern global container shipping industry.
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1. Wikipedia: Malcom McLean
1. Wikipedia: Malcom McLean
WikipediaContainerization sectionQuote, Containerization section
On April 26, 1956, with 100 invited dignitaries present, one of the converted tankers, the SS Ideal-X, was loaded and sailed from the Port Newark-Elizabeth Marine Terminal, New Jersey, for the Port of Houston, Texas, carrying 58 35-foot (11 m) Trailer Vans
1. Wikipedia: Malcom McLean
WikipediaEconomic impactQuote, Economic impact
Hand-loading a ship cost $5.86 a ton at that time. Using containers, it cost only 16 cents a ton to load a ship, 36-fold savings.
Wikipedia: SS Ideal X
Wikipedia: SS Ideal X
WikipediaInvented: Container Ship, IntroductionQuote, Invented: Container Ship, Introduction
SS Ideal X, a converted World War II T-2 oil tanker, was the first commercially successful container ship.
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