Intermodal containers

FreightWaves Classics/Pioneers: August Fruehauf and his trailers changed trucking (Part 1)

The first Fruehauf "semi-trailer" was created in 1914 for a Detroit lumber merchant. (Photo: singingwheels.com)

Many people will call an 18-wheeler a “truck.” But it is actually a tractor-trailer, made up of the tractor (the power source) and a trailer of one kind or another.

The three most common types of trailers are dry vans, refrigerated trailers (reefers) and flatbeds. There are hundreds of thousands (perhaps millions) of trailers on roads and highways across the United States each and every day.

Trucks on the road. (Photo: saferoads.org)Tractor-trailers on the road. (Photo: saferoads.org)

But how were trailers first developed, and by whom?

Ea...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/freightwaves-classicspioneers-august-fruehauf-and-his-trailers-changed-trucking-part-1

FreightWaves Classics: Port of Portland helps serve the Pacific Northwest… and beyond

A liquid bulk container ship at Portland's Terminal 5. (Photo: Port of Portland)

Congestion at other West Coast ports has caused an increasing number of ships to use the Port of Portland in hopes of being unloaded quicker and being able to return to Asia for more goods during the 2021 peak season.

Portland is the leading port on the U.S. West Coast for exports. It is also the largest mineral bulk port on the West Coast. Annually, over 17 million tons of cargo move through the port. Of that amount, approximately 11 million tons of cargo moves through port-owned and...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/freightwaves-classics-port-of-portland-helps-serve-the-pacific-northwest-and-beyond

FreightWaves Classics: South Carolina Ports Authority contributes significantly to state economy

Tugs help a ship dock in Charleston's harbor. (Photo: SCPA)

The ports of Georgetown and Charleston are managed by the South Carolina Ports Authority (SCPA). The ports are key to the state’s economy; directly or indirectly the ports generate 10% of all the jobs in South Carolina (over 187,000), and those jobs offer wages that are 32% higher than the state average. The SCPA states that the “ports are the most important strategic asset of the state, driving $63 billion in annual economic impact.”

An average of five vessels sail into the state’s harbors...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/freightwaves-classics-south-carolina-ports-authority-contributes-significantly-to-state-economy

FreightWaves Classics: Panama Canal serves shipping and commerce for more than 100 years

An aerial view of the Panama Canal. (Photo: Panama Canal Authority)

As most people are aware, the Suez Canal was blocked earlier this year for six days (March 23-29). According to the Suez Canal Authority, which maintains and operates the waterway, the canal has closed five times since it opened for navigation in 1869. Interestingly, the Panama Canal has never been blocked, and has only been closed for a day. That occurred in 1989, when U.S. military forces staged an assault in Panama to depose the country’s leader, Manuel Noriega.

A shortcut to the Orient

The...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/freightwaves-classics-panama-canal-serves-shipping-and-commerce-for-more-than-100-years

J.B. Hunt says service recovery hinges on several factors

Network fluidity the main catalyst for back-half results

Management from J.B. Hunt Transport Services said dislocation throughout the supply chain remains in place but that there is now some “momentum” toward improvement. On a call with analysts Monday night, management said “demand for our trucks, containers and trailers far exceeds our capacity to serve.”

Many of J.B. Hunt’s (NASDAQ: JBHT) customers are struggling to get merchandise moved due to congestion in the ports and on the rails. Also, labor shortages at customer facilities have increased the...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/j-b-hunt-says-service-recovery-hinges-on-several-factors

FreightWaves Classics: Trailer Company of America combined two pioneering companies

A Trailmobile trailer is for sale. (Photo: mylittlesalesman.com)

A little more than 93 years ago (July 1, 1928), two of the largest truck trailer manufacturers in the United States merged, becoming the Trailer Company of America (TCA). 

TCA’s early years

The two companies that merged were the Trailmobile Company, which was headquartered in Cincinnati, and Lapeer Trailer Corporation, which was headquartered in Lapeer, Michigan (about 50 miles north of Detroit). The newly formed company was headquartered in Cincinnati. Both Trailmobile and Lapeer offered their...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/freightwaves-classics-trailer-company-of-america-combined-two-pioneering-companies

FreightWaves Classics: Port of Los Angeles is the nation’s busiest!

Cargo ships at the Port of Los Angeles. (Photo: Port of Los Angeles)

Together, the Port of Los Angeles and the neighboring Port of Long Beach comprise the San Pedro Bay port complex. The two ports handle more containers per ship call than any other port complex in the world. (The Port of Long Beach will also be profiled by FreightWaves Classics.)

The Port of Los Angeles markets itself as America’s Port®. It is the busiest seaport in the Western Hemisphere. 

Last Thursday, June 10, the Port of Los Angeles became the first port in the Western Hemisphere to process...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/freightwaves-classics-port-of-los-angeles-is-the-nations-busiest

Biden budget pumps $84 million into Virginia port deepening

The deepening and widening of Norfolk Harbor at the Port of Virginia was for the first time included in a federal budget with $83.7 million that will help ensure the project remains on course for completion in 2024.

The project funding from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was part of President Joe Biden’s 2022 budget proposal released on Friday. The $350 million project will deepen the port’s channels to 55 feet and widen the channels to allow two-way traffic for ultra-large container ships and...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/biden-budget-pumps-84-million-into-virginia-port-deepening

FreightWaves Classics/Pioneers: Malcom McLean changed the freight world with intermodal containers

Malcom McLean looks out at a sea of containers. (Photo: americanbusinesshistory.org)

Malcom P. McLean was born in Maxton, North Carolina in 1913. After finishing high school his family did not have the financial resources to send him to college. He worked for several years and in 1935, McLean bought a used truck. 

That same year, McLean, his sister, Clara, and his brother, Jim, founded McLean Trucking Co. Based in Red Springs, North Carolina, McLean Trucking began transporting farmers’ harvests and supplies, as well as empty tobacco barrels. McLean was one of the drivers....

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/freightwaves-classicspioneers-malcom-mclean-changed-the-freight-world-with-intermodal-containers

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