Malcom McLean

Maritime History Notes: Daniel K. Ludwig — father of the supertanker

FreightWaves Classics is sponsored by Old Dominion Freight Line – Helping the World Keep Promises®. Learn more here.

While Malcom McLean, founder of Sea-Land, is regarded as the father of the container ship, Daniel Keith Ludwig is recognized as the father of the supertanker.

Ludwig was born on June 24, 1897, in South Haven, Michigan, to a family involved in Great Lakes shipping. He quit school in the eighth grade and split his time between Michigan and Port Arthur, Texas, living with his...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/maritime-history-notes-daniel-k-ludwig-father-of-the-supertanker

FreightWaves Classics: Fairchild XC-120 was ahead of its time

The XC-120 in flight without a pod. (Photo: USAF/San Diego Air & Space Museum Archive)

FreightWaves Classics is sponsored by Sutton Transport, an LTL leader in the Midwest for more than 40 years. Sutton Transport proudly services Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri and Wisconsin. Request a quote here.

On August 11, 1950, the Fairchild XC-120 (also known as the Pack Plane) made its first flight. Without exaggeration, it was among the more unconventional airplanes built in the United States in the post-World War II era. Built by Fairchild Aircraft for the U.S. Air Force, the transport...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/freightwaves-classics-fairchild-xc-120-was-ahead-of-its-time

FreightWaves Classics: Malcom McDowell’s containership begins first journey in 1956

Malcom McLean in the foreground with a Sea-Land container behind him. (Photo: Maersk)

On this date in 1956 the first commercially successful container ship began its maiden voyage on a route from New Jersey to Texas. The Ideal X and its 58 intermodal containers began a revolution in shipping that is still echoing around the world today.

Background

A McLean Trucking Company patch. (Photo: NC Historic Sites)A McLean Trucking Company patch. (Photo: NC Historic Sites)

Malcom P. McLean recognized the potential to haul motor freight when he was just a teenager. The native of Maxton, North Carolina, purchased his first truck in 1934 and began...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/freightwaves-classics-malcom-mcdowells-containership-begins-first-journey-in-1956

FreightWaves Classics/Fallen Flags: Horizon Lines was largest Jones Act maritime logistics company

One of the Horizon Lines' ships. (Photo: uglyships.wordpress.com)

Horizon Lines, Inc. was the largest Jones Act maritime shipping and logistics company in the United States. During its corporate lifetime, it was responsible for about 37% of all U.S. container shipments linking the continental United States to Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico. 

Under the terms of the Jones Act, maritime shipments between U.S. ports are restricted to U.S.-built, owned, and flagged vessels that are operated by crews that are predominantly U.S. citizens. 

Headquartered in...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/freightwaves-classicsfallen-flags-horizon-lines-was-largest-jones-act-maritime-and-logistics-company

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 Long Beach celebrates 110 years of service

An aerial view of the Port of Long Beach. (Photo: Port of Long Beach)

The Port of Long Beach was founded 110 years ago today – June 24, 1911. According to the port’s website, it was “a wild dream scratched out of 800 acres of mudflats at the mouth of the Los Angeles River.”

Since then, the port has grown significantly; it is the second-busiest container port in the United States, trailing only the Port of Los Angeles (recently profiled here in FreightWaves Classics), which it adjoins in San Pedro Bay. 

Today, the Port of Long Beach encompasses more than 7,600 acres...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/freightwaves-classics-port-of-long-beach-celebrates-110-years-of-service

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

Shipping Containers, Setting the Benchmark

  • In the 1950s, trucking magnate Malcom McLean changed the world when he got frustrated enough with the speed of trucking and traffic.
  • He started a commercial shipping company in order to move goods up and down the eastern seaboard a little faster.
  • Within ten years, containers were standardized, and the first international container ship set sail in 1966.

A recent news article published in the Hackaday written by Kristina Panos speaks about field guide to shipping containers.

Container ship...

https://mfame.guru/shipping-containers-setting-the-benchmark/

FreightWaves Classics: A.P. Moller – Maersk is a world leader in transportation and logistics

More than 70% of the imports that reach the United States come by ship and enter the country through its ports. One of the largest shipping companies in the world – A.P. Moller – Maersk – carries a share of those imported goods. 

According to the company website, “A.P. Moller – Maersk is an integrated transport and logistics company with multiple brands and is a global leader in container shipping and ports. The company employs roughly 76,000 employees across operations in 130 countries.”

It is a...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/freightwaves-classics-ap-moller-maersk-is-a-world-leader-in-transportation-and-logistics

Join Our Newsletter
Enter your email to receive a weekly round-up of shipping news.
icon
By subscribing, you agree with our privacy policy and our terms of service.