It’s hard to believe that shipping containers didn’t even exist until just a few decades ago.
- They have quickly become very important to the world economy.
They’ve also transformed from strictly transporting goods to being used as building materials. Shipping containers were originally created to solve the issue of moving products quickly and safely across land and see. Manufacturer’s were looking for a more economical and efficient means of transportation. Shipping containers need to be large enough to hold several thousand cubic feet of goods yet compact enough to fit on a truck and driven on highways. The also need to be durable enough to handle severe weather extremes and long journeys at sea, while still being light enough to be hauled with cranes and forklifts. Modern shipping containers are quite uniform so that any truck or ship is able to support and hold any container. They are flexible so that they can be used to transport dry goods, bulk liquids, refrigerated goods and heavy machinery. In the matter of just a few short years, the world’s shipping needs have been answered and transformed. Goods are now able to be effectively and quite easily transported to distant countries without waste or damage. Considering that very few countries use the same type of currency, speak the same language, use the same type of electrical plug or follow the same safety regulations, it’s amazing that shipping containers are used and are the same all over the world. This level of standardization has opened up a wide range of possibilities across numerous industries.