In April 1956, a refitted oil tanker carried fifty-eight shipping containers from Newark to Houston. From that modest beginning, container shipping developed into a huge industry that made the boom in global trade possible. The Box tells the dramatic story of the container's creation, the decade of struggle before it was widely adopted, and the sweeping economic consequences of the sharp fall in transportation costs that containerization brought about.
Published on the fiftieth anniversary of the first container voyage, this is the first comprehensive history of the shipping container. It recounts how the drive and imagination of an iconoclastic entrepreneur, Malcom McLean, turned containerization from an impractical idea into a massive industry that slashed the cost of transporting goods around the world.
But the container didn't just happen. Its adoption required huge sums of money, both from private investors and from ports that aspired to be on the leading edge of a new technology. It required years of high-stakes bargaining with two of the titans of organized labor, Harry Bridges and Teddy Gleason, as well as delicate negotiations on standards that made it possible for almost any container to travel on any truck or train or ship. Ultimately, it took McLean's success in supplying U.S. forces in Vietnam to persuade the world of the container's potential.
Drawing on previously neglected sources, economist Marc Levinson shows how the container transformed economic geography, devastating traditional ports such as New York and London and fueling the growth of previously obscure ones, such as Oakland. By making shipping so cheap that industry could locate factories far from its customers, the container paved the way for Asia to become the world's workshop and brought consumers a previously unimaginable variety of low-cost products from around the globe.
Review:
... One of the most significant, yet least noticed, economic developments of the last few decades [was] the transformation of international shipping. . . . The idea of containerization was simple: to move trailer-size loads of goods seamlessly among trucks, trains and ships, without breaking bulk. . . . Along the way, even the most foresighted people made mistakes and lost millions. . . . [A] classic tale of trial and error, and of creative destruction. Virginia Postrel(The New York Times)
... [A] smart, engaging book. . . . Mr. Levinson makes a persuasive case that the container has been woefully underappreciated. . . . [T]he story he tells is that of a classic disruptive technology: the world worked in one fashion before the container came onto the scene, and in a completely different fashion after it took hold. Joe Nocera(The New York Times)
... Like much of today's international cargo, Marc Levinson's The Box arrives 'just in time.'. . . It is a tribute to the box itself that far-off places matter so much to us now: It has eased trade, sped up delivery, lowered prices and widened the offering of goods everywhere. Not bad for something so simple and self-contained. Tim W. Ferguson(The Wall Street Journal)
... Mr Levinson. . . . makes a strong case that it was McLean's thinking that led to modern-day containerisation. It altered the economics of shipping and with that the flow of world trade. Without the container, there would be no globalization. (The Economist)
... A fascinating new book. . . . [I]t shows vividly how resistance to technological change caused shipping movements to migrate away from the Hudson river to other East Coast ports. (Management Today)
... International trade . . . owes its exponential growth to something utterly ordinary and overlooked, says author Marc Levinson: the metal shipping container.... The Box makes a strong argument. . . . Levinson . . . spins yarns of the men who fought to retain the old On the Waterfront ways and of those who made the box ubiquitous. Michael Arndt(BusinessWeek)
... [An] enlightening new history. . . . [The shipping container] was the real-world equivalent of the Internet revolution. Justin Fox(Fortune)
... Marc Levinson's The Box is . . . broad-ranging and . . . readable. It describes not just the amazing course of the container-ship phenomenon but the turmoil of human affairs in its wake. Bob Simmons(The Seattle Times)
... Author and economist Marc Levinson recounts the little-known story of how the humble shipping container has revolutionized world commerce. He tells his tale using just the right blend of hard economic data and human interest. . . . Mr. Levinson's elegant weave of transportation economics, innovation, and geography is economic history at its accessible best. David K. Hurst(Strategy + Business)
... The Box is . . . an engrossing read. . . . The book is well-written, with detailed notes and an index. I found it absorbing and informative from the first page. Graham Williams(Sydney Morning Herald)
... This well-researched and highly readable book about the ubiquitous containers that carry so much of the world's freight will no doubt surprise most readers with its description of the immensity of the impact this simple rectangular steel box has had on global and regional economics, employment, labor relations, and the environment. . . . The Box makes for an excellent primer on innovation, risk taking, and strategic thinking. It's also a thoroughly good read. Craig B. Grossgart(Taiwan Business Topics)
... The ubiquitous shipping container . . . as Mark Levinson's multilayered study shows . . . has transformed the global economy. (The Australian)
... By artfully weaving together the nuts and bolts of what happened at which port with the grand sweep of economic history, Levinson has produced a marvelous read for anyone who cares about how the interconnected world economy came to be. Neil Irwin(Washington Post)
... Here's another item we see every day that had a revolutionary effect. The shipping container didn't just rearrange the shipping industry, or make winners of some ports (Seattle and Tacoma among them). It changed the dynamics and economics of where goods are made and shipped to. Bill Virgin(Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
... Excellent. J Bradford DeLong(The Edge Financial Daily)
... An engrossing read. . . . The book is well written, with detailed notes and an index. I found it absorbing and informative from the first page. (Sydney Morning Herald)
... Marc Levinson's concern is business history on a grand scale. He tells a moral tale. There are villains ... and there is one larger than life hero: Malcom McLean. . . . Levinson has produced a fascinating exposition of the romance of the steel container. I'll never look at a truck in the same way again. Howard Davies(The Times)
... A fascinating history of the shipping container. Richard N. Cooper(Foreign Affairs)
... For sheer originality . . . [this book] by Marc Levinson, is hard to beat. The Box explains how the modern era of globalization was made possible, not by politicians agreeing to cut trade tariffs and quotas, but by the humble shipping container. David Smith(The Sunday Times)
Table of contents:
Acknowledgments ix
Chapter 1: The World the Box Made 1
Chapter 2: Gridlock on the Docks 16
Chapter 3: The Trucker 36
Chapter 4: The System 54
Chapter 5: The Battle for New York's Port 76
Chapter 6: Union Disunion 101
Chapter 7: Setting the Standard 127
Chapter 8: Takeoff 150
Chapter 9: Vietnam 171
Chapter 10: Ports in a Storm 189
Chapter 11: Boom and Bust 212
Chapter 12: The Bigness Complex 231
Chapter 13: The Shippers' Revenge 245
Chapter 14: Just in Time 264
Abbreviations 279
Notes 281
Bibliography 343
Index 365
Published on the fiftieth anniversary of the first container voyage, this is the first comprehensive history of the shipping container. It recounts how the drive and imagination of an iconoclastic entrepreneur, Malcom McLean, turned containerization from an impractical idea into a massive industry that slashed the cost of transporting goods around the world.
But the container didn't just happen. Its adoption required huge sums of money, both from private investors and from ports that aspired to be on the leading edge of a new technology. It required years of high-stakes bargaining with two of the titans of organized labor, Harry Bridges and Teddy Gleason, as well as delicate negotiations on standards that made it possible for almost any container to travel on any truck or train or ship. Ultimately, it took McLean's success in supplying U.S. forces in Vietnam to persuade the world of the container's potential.
Drawing on previously neglected sources, economist Marc Levinson shows how the container transformed economic geography, devastating traditional ports such as New York and London and fueling the growth of previously obscure ones, such as Oakland. By making shipping so cheap that industry could locate factories far from its customers, the container paved the way for Asia to become the world's workshop and brought consumers a previously unimaginable variety of low-cost products from around the globe.
Review:
... One of the most significant, yet least noticed, economic developments of the last few decades [was] the transformation of international shipping. . . . The idea of containerization was simple: to move trailer-size loads of goods seamlessly among trucks, trains and ships, without breaking bulk. . . . Along the way, even the most foresighted people made mistakes and lost millions. . . . [A] classic tale of trial and error, and of creative destruction. Virginia Postrel(The New York Times)
... [A] smart, engaging book. . . . Mr. Levinson makes a persuasive case that the container has been woefully underappreciated. . . . [T]he story he tells is that of a classic disruptive technology: the world worked in one fashion before the container came onto the scene, and in a completely different fashion after it took hold. Joe Nocera(The New York Times)
... Like much of today's international cargo, Marc Levinson's The Box arrives 'just in time.'. . . It is a tribute to the box itself that far-off places matter so much to us now: It has eased trade, sped up delivery, lowered prices and widened the offering of goods everywhere. Not bad for something so simple and self-contained. Tim W. Ferguson(The Wall Street Journal)
... Mr Levinson. . . . makes a strong case that it was McLean's thinking that led to modern-day containerisation. It altered the economics of shipping and with that the flow of world trade. Without the container, there would be no globalization. (The Economist)
... A fascinating new book. . . . [I]t shows vividly how resistance to technological change caused shipping movements to migrate away from the Hudson river to other East Coast ports. (Management Today)
... International trade . . . owes its exponential growth to something utterly ordinary and overlooked, says author Marc Levinson: the metal shipping container.... The Box makes a strong argument. . . . Levinson . . . spins yarns of the men who fought to retain the old On the Waterfront ways and of those who made the box ubiquitous. Michael Arndt(BusinessWeek)
... [An] enlightening new history. . . . [The shipping container] was the real-world equivalent of the Internet revolution. Justin Fox(Fortune)
... Marc Levinson's The Box is . . . broad-ranging and . . . readable. It describes not just the amazing course of the container-ship phenomenon but the turmoil of human affairs in its wake. Bob Simmons(The Seattle Times)
... Author and economist Marc Levinson recounts the little-known story of how the humble shipping container has revolutionized world commerce. He tells his tale using just the right blend of hard economic data and human interest. . . . Mr. Levinson's elegant weave of transportation economics, innovation, and geography is economic history at its accessible best. David K. Hurst(Strategy + Business)
... The Box is . . . an engrossing read. . . . The book is well-written, with detailed notes and an index. I found it absorbing and informative from the first page. Graham Williams(Sydney Morning Herald)
... This well-researched and highly readable book about the ubiquitous containers that carry so much of the world's freight will no doubt surprise most readers with its description of the immensity of the impact this simple rectangular steel box has had on global and regional economics, employment, labor relations, and the environment. . . . The Box makes for an excellent primer on innovation, risk taking, and strategic thinking. It's also a thoroughly good read. Craig B. Grossgart(Taiwan Business Topics)
... The ubiquitous shipping container . . . as Mark Levinson's multilayered study shows . . . has transformed the global economy. (The Australian)
... By artfully weaving together the nuts and bolts of what happened at which port with the grand sweep of economic history, Levinson has produced a marvelous read for anyone who cares about how the interconnected world economy came to be. Neil Irwin(Washington Post)
... Here's another item we see every day that had a revolutionary effect. The shipping container didn't just rearrange the shipping industry, or make winners of some ports (Seattle and Tacoma among them). It changed the dynamics and economics of where goods are made and shipped to. Bill Virgin(Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
... Excellent. J Bradford DeLong(The Edge Financial Daily)
... An engrossing read. . . . The book is well written, with detailed notes and an index. I found it absorbing and informative from the first page. (Sydney Morning Herald)
... Marc Levinson's concern is business history on a grand scale. He tells a moral tale. There are villains ... and there is one larger than life hero: Malcom McLean. . . . Levinson has produced a fascinating exposition of the romance of the steel container. I'll never look at a truck in the same way again. Howard Davies(The Times)
... A fascinating history of the shipping container. Richard N. Cooper(Foreign Affairs)
... For sheer originality . . . [this book] by Marc Levinson, is hard to beat. The Box explains how the modern era of globalization was made possible, not by politicians agreeing to cut trade tariffs and quotas, but by the humble shipping container. David Smith(The Sunday Times)
Table of contents:
Acknowledgments ix
Chapter 1: The World the Box Made 1
Chapter 2: Gridlock on the Docks 16
Chapter 3: The Trucker 36
Chapter 4: The System 54
Chapter 5: The Battle for New York's Port 76
Chapter 6: Union Disunion 101
Chapter 7: Setting the Standard 127
Chapter 8: Takeoff 150
Chapter 9: Vietnam 171
Chapter 10: Ports in a Storm 189
Chapter 11: Boom and Bust 212
Chapter 12: The Bigness Complex 231
Chapter 13: The Shippers' Revenge 245
Chapter 14: Just in Time 264
Abbreviations 279
Notes 281
Bibliography 343
Index 365