Malcolm McLean

Intermodal container

Malcolm McLean’s intermodal container was not an invention but a system — built around a 35-foot steel box sized for Pennsylvania highways, secured by Tantlinger’s corner castings and twistlocks, and operated by Sea-Land’s vertically controlled ships and cranes. It cut port handling time to eight hours — but only on one ship, at one port, under one company’s control. The real innovation was enforcing standardisation through ownership, not designing a better box.