Container cargo

I am old enough to have seen cargo containers coming into existence and become the dominant form of global maritime transportation. At one point in the 1970s I even bought two cargo containers and used one of them, with modification, as a tea house.

When I was in the military in the early 1960s, the military had a well-developed cargo container system. I saw it in frequent use at the Oakland naval base.

By the late 60s, I was already seeing cargo containers of standard dimensions in commercial use. By the end of the 60s standardization was common and the format was 8’ x 8’ x 20’ or some multiple of the 20 feet. The hooks and connectors on the top had become standardized and were universal on the planet.

This entire process evolved slowly but by the end of the 1970s it had begun to have a significant and beneficial effect on commerce.

I do not give any individual or entity credit for this development. But we all owe a great debt of gratitude for the development and evolution of the containerized cargo. It has dramatically reduce the costs of everything in our lives.