The Box: How the Shipping Container Made the World Smaller and the World Economy Bigger - Second Edition with a new chapter by the author
Marc Levinsonamazon.com
The Box: How the Shipping Container Made the World Smaller and the World Economy Bigger - Second Edition with a new chapter by the author
Whether containerships and containerports have reached their maximum efficient size, or even larger and costlier ships and ports could give rise to yet more economies of scale, making it still cheaper and easier to move goods around the globe, is a question of considerable consequence for the world economy.8
McLean had always preferred consolidation to competition; had the U.S. government not blocked him, he would have acquired Sea-Land’s sole East Coast competitor, Seatrain Lines, in 1959, and its main competitor to Puerto Rico, Bull Line, in 1962. Now, on Sea-Land’s behalf, he committed $1.2 billion of R. J. Reynolds’s money to an audacious deal with
... See moreThe container has enabled logistics centers such as these to prosper by adding value to global supply chains, capturing jobs that were once performed elsewhere, or not at all.
Low shipping costs helped make capital even more mobile, increasing the bargaining power of employers against their far less mobile workers. In this highly integrated world economy, the pay of workers in Shenzhen sets limits on wages in South Carolina, and when the French government ordered a shorter workweek with no cut in pay, it discovered that
... See moreMalcom McLean’s shareholding, representing 88 percent of McLean Industries’ common stock, was wiped out, and he and his son Malcom McLean Jr., a vice president, were ejected from the management. Thousands of people lost their jobs.23 “Malcom never got over the U.S. Lines bankruptcy,” a longtime associate said later. He went into seclusion, shunning
... See moreMany nonfreight costs undoubtedly fell with the growth of container shipping. Packing full containers at the factory eliminated the need for custom-made wooden crates to protect merchandise from theft or damage. The container itself served as a mobile warehouse, so the traditional costs of storage in transit warehouses fell away. Cargo theft droppe
... See moreAsked later whether he had considered ways to shelter some of his wealth from the risks of entering the maritime business, his answer was an unequivocal “No.” McLean explained: “You’ve got to be totally committed.”
The basic concept of the container was that cargo could move seamlessly among trains, trucks, and ships.
The railroads were in the happy situation of being able to pass their lower costs on to customers and still earn better profits than they did carrying freight the traditional way, in boxcars. Freight forwarders took advantage of the rate difference, arranging to consolidate smaller shipments into full carloads, for which they could demand lower rai
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