Editing Intermodal container (section)

===Mid 20th century innovations===
In April 1951 at [[Zürich Tiefenbrunnen railway station]], the [[Swiss Museum of Transport]] and the ''Bureau International des Containers'' (BIC) held demonstrations of container systems for representatives from a number of European countries, and from the United States. A system was selected for Western Europe, based on the Netherlands' system for consumer goods and waste transportation called ''Laadkisten'' (lit. "Loading chests"), in use since 1934. This system used [[roller container]]s for transport by rail, truck and ship, in various configurations up to {{convert|5500|kg|lb|order=flip}} capacity, and up to {{cvt|3.1|x|2.3|x|2|m|ftin|frac=8|order=flip}} in 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 of the [[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" >{{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>

The use of standardized steel [[shipping container]]s began during the late 1940s and early 1950s, when commercial shipping operators and the US military started developing such units.<ref>Intermodal Marine Container Transportation: Impediments and Opportunities, Issue 236 // [[United States National Research Council|National Research Council]]: [https://books.google.com/books?id=FmZsxfFs-zIC&pg=PA18 The container revolution] (page 18): "This [Army] box in turn served as a model for the small containers that most major ship operators began using during the late 1940s and early 1950s. These however, were mainly loaded and unloaded at the docks, and not used intermodally."</ref> In 1948 the [[United States Army|U.S. Army]] [[Transportation Corps]] developed the "Transporter", a rigid, corrugated steel container, able to carry {{convert|9000|lb|kg}}. It was {{cvt|8|ft|6|in|1}} long, {{cvt|6|ft|3|in|1}} wide, and {{cvt|6|ft|10|in|1}} high, with double doors on one end, was mounted on skids, and had lifting rings on the top four corners.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.transportation.army.mil/museum/transportation%20museum/CONEX.htm |title=History & Development of the Container – The 'Transporter', predecessor to the CONEX |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=15 May 2013 |website=transportation.army.mil |publisher=[[U.S. Army Transportation Museum]] |access-date=20 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150720104152/http://www.transportation.army.mil/museum/transportation%20museum/CONEX.htm |archive-date=20 July 2015}}</ref> After proving successful in Korea, the Transporter was developed into the Container Express [[Conex box|(CONEX) box]] system in late 1952. Based on the Transporter, the size and capacity of the Conex were about the same,{{#tag:ref|8&nbsp;ft 6&nbsp;in length, 6&nbsp;ft 3&nbsp;in width and 6&nbsp;ft {{frac|10|1|2}}&nbsp;in height, and 9000&nbsp;lb 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><ref>{{cite book |last=Levinson |first=Marc |date=2006 |title=The Box: How the Shipping Container Made the World Smaller and the World Economy Bigger |location=Princeton, New Jersey |publisher=Princeton University Press |chapter=Chapter 7: Setting the Standard |page=[https://archive.org/details/boxhowshippin00levi/page/127 127] |isbn=978-0-691-12324-0 |access-date=21 July 2015 |chapter-url-access=registration |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/boxhowshippin00levi/page/127 }}</ref>|group="nb"}} but the system was made modular, by the addition of a smaller, half-size unit of {{cvt|6|ft|3|in|1}} long, {{cvt|4|ft|3|in|1}} wide and {{cvt|6|ft|10+1/2|in|1}} high.{{sfnp|van Ham|van Ham|Rijsenbrij|2012|p=8}}{{sfnp|Monograph 7: Containerization|1970|p=10|ps=, "The dimensions of the CONEX II are 75 by {{frac|82|1|2}} by 102 in. The CONEX container is a metal reusable shipping box. The most common type has a 295-cu. ft. capacity, is about {{frac|8|2|2}} by 6 by 7 ft, and can carry 9,000 lbs. The dimensions of the Half-CONEX or CONEX I container are 75 by {{frac|82|1|2}} by 51 in."}}{{#tag:ref| Some sources also mention a 12-foot version.<ref>{{cite book|title=Falloff|first=Robert|last=Flanagan|chapter-url= https://books.google.com/books?id=nuTu4FIZdhoC&pg=PA7|chapter=Fleeing G.o.D.|page=7|date=2011|publisher=AuthorHouse |isbn=978-1-4670-7295-3}}</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>|group="nb"}} Conexes could be stacked three high, and protected their contents from the elements.<ref name=Heinsthesis/> By 1965 the US military used some 100,000 Conex boxes, and more than 200,000 in 1967,{{sfnp|van Ham|van Ham|Rijsenbrij|2012|p=8}}{{sfnp|Monograph 7: Containerization|1970|pp=9–11}} making this the first worldwide application of intermodal containers.<ref name=Heinsthesis/> Their invention made a major contribution to the [[globalization]] of commerce in the second half of the 20th century, dramatically reducing the cost of transporting goods and hence of long-distance trade.<ref>{{cite book|chapter-url=http://press.princeton.edu/chapters/s9383.html|last=Levinson|first=Marc|title=[[The Box: How the Shipping Container Made the World Smaller and the World Economy Bigger]]|chapter=Chapter 1: The World the Box Made |publisher=Princeton University Press|access-date=17 February 2013|url-status = dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130122131825/http://press.princeton.edu/chapters/s9383.html|archive-date=22 January 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/business/how-the-invention-of-a-box-changed-our-world/2006/06/11/1149964409162.html|title=How the invention of a box changed our world |last=Gittins|first=Ross|work=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]]|date=12 June 2006|access-date=17 February 2013}}</ref>

From 1949 onward, engineer [[Keith Tantlinger]] repeatedly contributed to the development of containers, as well as their handling and transportation equipment. In 1949, while at Brown Trailers Inc. of [[Spokane, Washington]], he modified the design of their [[Semi-monocoque|stressed skin]] aluminum 30-foot trailer, to fulfil an order of two-hundred {{convert|30|x|8|x|8.5|ft|m|1|adj=on}} containers that could be stacked two high, for Alaska-based ''Ocean Van Lines''. Steel castings on the top corners provided lifting and securing points.{{sfnp|van Ham|van Ham|Rijsenbrij|2012|p=14}}

In 1955, trucking magnate [[Malcom McLean]] bought [[Pan-Atlantic Steamship Company]], to form a container shipping enterprise, later known as [[Sea-Land Service|Sea-Land]]. The first containers were supplied by Brown Trailers Inc, where McLean met [[Keith Tantlinger]], and hired him as vice-president of engineering and research.{{sfnp|van Ham|van Ham|Rijsenbrij|2012|p=18}} Under the supervision of Tantlinger, a new {{cvt|35|x|8|x|8.5|ft|1}} <!-- {{convert|8|x|8.5|x|35|ft|m|2|abbr=on}} --> Sea-Land container was developed, the length determined by the maximum length of trailers then allowed on Pennsylvanian highways. Each container had a frame with eight corner castings that could withstand stacking loads.{{sfnp|van Ham|van Ham|Rijsenbrij|2012|p=20}} Tantlinger also designed automatic [[Spreader (container)|spreaders]] for handling the containers, as well as the [[twistlock]] mechanism that connects with the corner castings.