Since when did shipping containers become so important then?

Here is a bit of history about shipping as we know it today and the extraordinary influence the modern shipping container has had on our lives:

Although the transport of goods in containers has happened since the 1780's, the introduction of standard sized shipping containers in 1952 revolutionised the shipping industry. Standardising shipping container sizes into multiples of 10' lengths may have seemed like the obvious thing to do, but it was only when the US military instigated this that the industry began to rapidly expand. Containerization, as it is known, has helped cargo shipping become the lifeblood of the modern world with 18 million containers making 200 million trips per year!

Click here to find out more about containerization...