Plastic Shipping Containers

The 20^th century brought new innovations, in the 1780’s containers were used to transport coal to different continents. Loose boxes were used to containerize and carry coal on and off barges. In the 1830’s, railroads transferred containers from trucks to ships. Then in the 1840’s wooden boxes as well as iron boxes were used to transport goods around the world.

In the 1900’s the closed container boxes were designed to move cargo from the road to the train. The solid fiber shipping container was developed in 1904 by the Illinois Fibre Box Co. They were made from 3 or 4 sheets of flax or jute board pasted together with animal glue. The first ones were made with wood frames because the containers were hard to crease. In 1909 George Swift developed a solution to making the folds with the creasing machine.

During the early 1900’s the corrugated shipping container was also invented. The Fibre Box Co. joined the corrugated manufactures to make a shipping box that has developed over the years and is still used today.  Many years later an American by the name of Malcolm McLean patented the first shipping container in 1956, this container was made of metal and was theft resistant and had a uniform design.

The industry of shipping containers has come a long way, and the development of plastic shipping containers has just been around the past few years. Shipping containers made of plastic are durable and weigh less, which helps with shipping costs. You can have these containers personalized with the companies name or logo, and they come in sizes from 6x4x4 to 96x48x52. The shipping containers have different styles, colors and prices. Knowing what size container and what needs to be shipped will help in deciding what type of storage container is needed.

Plastic shipping containers come with many accessories like covers, dividers, foam cushioning, insulation, security ties, placards, pallets, ESD accessories and tracking cards. With all of these accessories whatever needs to be shipped will most likely make it without any damage to the merchandise inside.

Shipping containers have been used for storage sheds, workshops and even a place to sleep for some. From 1780 to 2010, shipping containers have been useful to so many different people. From coal to grandma’s favorite rocking chair, shipping and the containers have become safer and more reliable. The next time you see a shipping container; remember what it had to go through to get here today.