On April 26th, 1956, the retro-fitted WW2 era oil tanker, the "Ideal X" set sail from New Jersey to Texas, loaded with 58 intermodal shipping containers. This marked the first voyage where Malcom McLean's innovative approach to cargo transportation really started to change the mechanics of global trade.
In 1968, ISO 668 was introduced, which standardized the container size and functionality to the same standards we still use today. Today everything from our electronics, Christmas gifts, fruits and vegetables, and of course the cars we drive, are all transported around the world in shipping containers. It is not without reason the container has been termed "The box that changed the world".
As a company owing its sole existence to the advent of the shipping container, we would like to mark the occasion. In the same month as the shipping container celebrate its 65th anniversary, Kar-Tainer celebrates its 30th. Our equipment solutions have helped optimize container usage for nearly half the life-span of the shipping container, and in the spirit of Malcom McLean we will continue to optimize how cargo is moved around the world, in containers, for years to come still!
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