Editing Containerization (section)

==== Mid-twentieth century ====
In April 1951, at [[Zürich Tiefenbrunnen railway station]], the Swiss Museum of Transport and ''[[Bureau International des Containers]]'' (BIC) held demonstrations of container systems, with the aim of selecting the best solution for Western Europe. Present were representatives from France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, Great Britain, Italy and the United States. The system chosen for Western Europe was based on the Netherlands' system for consumer goods and waste transportation called ''Laadkisten'' (literally, "loading bins"), in use since 1934. This system used [[roller container]]s that were moved by rail, truck and ship, in various configurations up to a capacity of {{convert|5500|kg|lb|abbr=on}}, and up to {{convert|3.1 x 2.3 x 2|m|ftin|frac=8}} size.<ref>{{cite journal |author=M.K. |title=Vorläufer der heutigen Container: pa, BT und B900 | trans-title=Predecessors of today's containers: pa, BT and B900 |language=de |url=http://s1gf.de/index.php?page=Attachment&attachmentID=15438&h=baff58dff7aacd89e3c5f73a93e2a6f668971165 |journal=MIBA |issue=Special 54 |pages=12–19 |access-date=23 July 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nicospilt.com/index_laadkisten.htm |title=Laadkistvervoer – Langs de rails |author=Nico Spilt |language=nl |trans-title=Loading bin transport |access-date=20 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150720180139/http://www.nicospilt.com/index_laadkisten.htm |archive-date=20 July 2015}}</ref> This became the first post World War&nbsp;II European railway standard [[International Union of Railways|UIC]] 590, known as "pa-Behälter." It was implemented in the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, West Germany, Switzerland, Sweden and Denmark.<ref name="PojazdySzynowe2015a"/>
With the popularization of the larger ISO containers, support for pa containers was phased out by the railways. In the 1970s they began to be widely used for transporting waste.<ref name="PojazdySzynowe2015a">{{Cite journal |first=Krzysztof |last=Lewandowski |title=Wymagania Organizacyjne Stosowania Systemu ACTS |language=pl |trans-title=Organizational Requirements Use the ACTS System |journal=Pojazdy Szynowe |volume=2 |year=2014 |pages=1–14 |issn=0138-0370 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/269251044}}</ref>

<!--On 1 November 1951 East countries of Europe signed an International Agreement on Direct International Goods Transport by Rail and Procedure Instruction (SMGS). In this document were the terms small and big containers. As small containers means container with volume from 1 to 3 cubic meters and total mass to 2.5 tons. As big containers means container with volume more than 3 cubic meters and total mass 2.5-5 tons. In East side of Europe was designed railways station for operation small and big containers<ref name="PrecCLC2013">{{cite journal |first=Krzysztof |last=Lewandowski |title=LONG WAY OF STANDARDIZATION CONTAINERS IN EUROPE |journal=CLC 2013: Carpathian Logistics Congress – Congress Proceedings |year=2013 |pages=57–64 |publisher=[[Wrocław University of Technology]] |ISBN=978-80-87294-50-5 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/289521656_LONG_WAY_OF_STANDARDIZATION_CONTAINERS_IN_EUROPE}}</ref> similarly as used on railways of the USSR.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://freespace.virgin.net/neil.worthington/baku.htm| title=Photos of containers in Baku| publisher=Freespace.virgin.net |date=1999-03-09 |access-date=2011-11-28}}</ref> -->
In 1952 the U.S. Army developed the Transporter into the CONtainer EXpress or [[CONEX box]] system. The size and capacity of the CONEXes were about the same as the Transporter,{{#tag:ref| (8’6" length, 6’3" width and 6’10½" height, and 9000 lbs capacity),<ref name=Heinsthesis>{{cite thesis |last=Heins |first=Matthew |date=2013 |title=The Shipping Container and the Globalization of American Infrastructure |type=dissertation |chapter=2 |publisher=[[University of Michigan]] |page=15 |chapter-url=http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/102480/mheins_1.pdf |access-date=21 July 2015}}</ref>{{sfn|Levinson|2006|p=127}}|group="nb"}} but the system was made ''modular'', by the addition of a smaller, half-size unit of {{convert|6|ft|3|in|m|2|abbr=on}} long, {{convert|4|ft|3|in|m|2|abbr=on}} wide and {{convert|6|ft|10+1/2|in|m|2|abbr=on}} high.<ref>{{Cite report |date=15 December 1970 |title=Logistic Support in the Vietnam Era |volume=7: Containerization |url=http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/877965.pdf |publisher=US DoD Joint Logistics Review Board |page=10 |access-date=22 July 2015 |quote=The dimensions of the CONEX II are 75 by 82½ by 102 in. The CONEX container is a metal reusable shipping box. The most common type has a 295-cu. ft. capacity, is about 8½ by 6 by 7 ft, and can carry 9,000 lbs. The dimensions of the Half-CONEX or CONEX I container are 75 by 82¼ by 51 in. |archive-date=21 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150721230641/http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/877965.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name=VanHam>Development of Containerization // J. van Ham, J. Rijsenbrij: [https://books.google.com/books?id=CgQmkTczzPwC&pg=PA8 Steel containers] (page 8)</ref>{{#tag:ref| Some sources also mention a 12-foot version.<ref>Falloff // Robert Flanagan: [https://books.google.com/books?id=nuTu4FIZdhoC&pg=PA7 Fleeing G.o.D.] (page 7)</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://everhartfamily.com/vietnam1970.html |title=My Vietnam Tour – 1970 |author=Michael J. Everhart |date=7 July 2014 |access-date=21 July 2015 |quote=.. CONEX ... container that ... was about 7' high by 8' wide and about 12' long...}}</ref> and a third version, the ''CONEX III'' of {{convert|8 x 8 x 6.5|ft|m|2}}, and a capacity of 13,000 lbs was being developed. Connecting devices were intended to join three CONEX-III containers together into one 20-feet long unit, a standard recommended by the American Standards Association, for use in commercial rail, highway, and water shipping.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=AD0831121 |title=Reusable Metal Shipping Container (Conex III) |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=1968 |publisher=[[Defense Technical Information Center]] |access-date=2015-07-27 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150727162017/http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=AD0831121 |archive-date=2015-07-27}}</ref>|group="nb"}} CONEXes could be stacked three high, and protected their contents from the elements.<ref name=Heinsthesis/>

The first major shipment of CONEXes, containing engineering supplies and spare parts, was made by rail from the Columbus General Depot in Georgia to the [[Port of San Francisco]], then by ship to Yokohama, Japan, and then to Korea, in late 1952. Transit times were almost halved. By the time of the [[Vietnam War]] the majority of supplies and materials were shipped by CONEX. By 1965 the U.S. military used some 100,000 CONEX boxes, and more than 200,000 in 1967.<ref name=VanHam/><ref name=JLRBreport>{{Cite report |date=15 December 1970 |title=Logistic Support in the Vietnam Era |volume=7: Containerization |url=http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/877965.pdf |publisher=US DoD Joint Logistics Review Board |pages=9–11 |access-date=22 July 2015 |archive-date=21 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150721230641/http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/877965.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> making this the first worldwide application of intermodal containers.<ref name=Heinsthesis/> After the [[United States Department of Defense|US Department of Defense]] standardized an {{convert|8 by 8|ft|m|2|adj=on}} cross section container in multiples of {{convert|10|ft|m|2|adj=on}} lengths for military use, it was rapidly adopted for shipping purposes.{{Citation needed|date=July 2015}}

In 1955, former trucking company owner [[Malcom McLean]] worked with engineer [[Keith Tantlinger]] to develop the modern [[intermodal container]].{{sfn|Levinson|2016|pp=64–69}} All the containerization pioneers who came before McLean had thought in terms of optimizing particular modes of transport. McLean's "fundamental insight" which made the intermodal container possible was that the core business of the shipping industry "was moving cargo, not sailing ships".{{sfn|Levinson|2016|pp=70–71}} He visualized and helped to bring about a world reoriented around that insight, which required not just standardization of the metal containers themselves, but drastic changes to ''every'' aspect of cargo handling.{{sfn|Levinson|2016|pp=70–71}}

In 1955, McLean and Tantlinger's immediate challenge was to design a [[shipping container]] that could efficiently be loaded onto ships and would hold securely on sea voyages. The result was an {{convert|8|ft|m|2}} tall by {{convert|8|ft|m|2|abbr=on}} wide box in {{convert|10|ft|m|2|abbr=on}}-long units constructed from {{convert|2.5|mm|in|abbr=on|frac=128}} thick corrugated steel. The design incorporated a [[twistlock]] mechanism atop each of the four corners, allowing the container to be [[spreader (container)|easily secured and lifted]] using cranes. Several years later, as a [[Fruehauf Trailer Corporation|Fruehauf]] executive, Tantlinger went back to McLean and convinced him to relinquish control of their design to help stimulate the container revolution. On January 29, 1963, McLean's company [[SeaLand]] released its patent rights, so that Tantlinger's inventions could become "the basis for a standard corner fitting and twist lock".{{sfn|Levinson|2016|p=188}} Tantlinger was deeply involved in the debates and negotiations which in back-to-back votes in September 1965 (on September 16 and 24, respectively) led to the adoption of a modified version of the Sea-Land design as the American and then the international standard for corner fittings for shipping containers.{{sfn|Levinson|2016|p=191}}  This began international standardization of shipping containers.<ref name="bbc-boxtcb">{{cite video|title=The Box that Changed Britain|people=McGough, Roger (Narrator), McAulay, Graeme (Director & Producer), Crossley-Holland, Dominic (Executive Producer)|medium=documentary|work=BBC4|publisher=BBC|date=2010}}</ref>