Malcom McLean facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Malcom McLean
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McLean at railing, Port Newark, 1957
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| Born |
Malcolm Purcell McLean
November 14, 1913 |
| Died | May 25, 2001 (aged 87) New York City, US
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| Other names | "The Father of Containerization" |
| Occupation | Inventor and Entrepreneur |
| Years active | 1935-2001 |
| Known for |
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| Spouse(s) |
Sarah McLean
(m. 1959–1992)Irena McLean
(m. 1993–2001) |
| Children | 3 (with first wife) |
Malcom Purcell McLean (November 14, 1913 – May 25, 2001) was an American businessman. He invented the modern shipping container. This invention completely changed how goods were transported around the world. It made shipping much cheaper and faster.
Before containers, workers had to load and unload each item by hand. This was slow and expensive. McLean's containers made it possible to move huge amounts of goods easily. This change helped connect countries and boost globalization.
Contents
Early Life and First Business
Malcom McLean was born in Maxton, North Carolina in 1913. His first name was originally spelled Malcolm, but he later used Malcom.
In 1935, after finishing high school, his family didn't have money for college. Instead, McLean bought a used truck.
That same year, McLean, his sister Clara, and his brother Jim started McLean Trucking Co. They began by hauling empty tobacco barrels. McLean himself was one of the drivers.
The Container Revolution
The idea of putting trucks on ships existed before World War II. But McLean wanted to use containers in a big way for business.
In the early 1950s, he planned to carry his company's trucks on ships along the U.S. Atlantic coast. However, he soon realized that carrying whole trucks was not efficient. It wasted too much space on the ship.
So, McLean changed his idea. He decided to load only the containers, not the truck chassis, onto the ships. This led to the creation of the container ship.
Building the First Container Ships
McLean got a bank loan for $22 million. In January 1956, he bought two old World War II oil tankers. He had them changed to carry containers both on and under the deck.
It took several months to rebuild the ships. They also had to build special containers and design truck chassis that could easily drop off the containers.
On April 26, 1956, one of these converted tankers, the SS Ideal-X, made its first trip. It sailed from Port Newark-Elizabeth Marine Terminal in New Jersey to the Port of Houston, Texas. The ship carried 58 large containers, along with its usual liquid cargo.
Huge Savings and Efficiency
In 1956, loading a ship by hand cost about $5.86 per ton. With McLean's containers, it cost only 16 cents per ton. This was a massive saving!
Containerization also greatly reduced the time it took to load and unload ships. McLean knew that "A ship earns money only when she's at sea." His business was built on this idea of speed and efficiency.
Sea-Land Service, Inc.
In April 1957, the first true container ship, the Gateway City, started regular service. It traveled between New York, Florida, and Texas.
By 1958, McLean's company, then called Pan-Atlantic Steamship Corporation, began container service to San Juan, Puerto Rico. In April 1960, the company officially changed its name to Sea-Land Service, Inc.. By 1961, McLean's operation was making a profit, and he kept adding new routes and buying bigger ships.
In August 1963, McLean opened a huge new port facility in Port Newark-Elizabeth Marine Terminal. It was designed to handle even more container traffic.
Expanding Globally
The container market grew slowly at first. Many ports didn't have the special cranes needed to lift containers. Also, labor unions worried about losing jobs.
But things changed. In April 1966, Sea-Land started service between New York and Europe. This included Rotterdam, Netherlands; Bremen, Germany; and Grangemouth, Scotland.
In 1967, the U.S. government asked Sea-Land to start a container service to South Vietnam. This service brought in a lot of money for the company.
By the late 1960s, commercial container ship service began from the Far East to the United States. This expanded to Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Thailand, and the Philippines.
Standardizing Containers
To make things even more efficient, McLean worked to standardize container designs. This meant all containers would be the same size and shape. He even shared his container patents (rights to his invention) freely with the International Organization for Standardization. This helped the container system spread worldwide.
By the end of the 1960s, Sea-Land Industries had 27,000 containers and 36 container ships. They could reach over 30 port cities.
Selling Sea-Land
As McLean's system became popular, other companies started building bigger ships and cranes. Sea-Land needed more money to stay competitive.
In 1969, R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company bought Sea-Land for $530 million. McLean personally made $160 million from the sale. Under Reynolds, Sea-Land continued to grow, ordering some of the largest and fastest container ships in the world.
However, Sea-Land's biggest cost was fuel. So, Reynolds bought an oil company called Aminoil. But after a few years, both Sea-Land's and Aminoil's earnings dropped. McLean left the company in 1977.
Later, in 1984, Sea-Land became an independent company again. In 1986, it merged with CSX Corporation. Finally, in 1999, Sea-Land's international services were sold to Maersk, a large shipping company. Today, it's known as Maersk Line.
Later Business Ventures
After Sea-Land, McLean continued to be an entrepreneur. In 1978, McLean bought United States Lines. He built a fleet of very large container ships for this company. These ships were designed to save fuel, but they were also slow. This made it hard for them to compete when oil prices dropped. United States Lines went bankrupt in 1986.
In 1991, at 78 years old, McLean founded Trailer Bridge, Inc.. This company still operates today, shipping goods between the U.S. mainland, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic.
McLean also invented things outside of shipping. For example, he created a way to easily lift a patient from a stretcher onto a hospital bed.
Death and Legacy
Malcom McLean died at his home in New York City on May 25, 2001, at the age of 87. He died of heart failure.
After his death, Norman Y. Mineta, a government official, said that McLean "revolutionized the maritime industry." He added that McLean's idea led to safer, cheaper, and faster transport of goods.
Forbes Magazine called McLean "one of the few men who changed the world." On the morning of his funeral, container ships around the world blew their whistles to honor him.
Honors and Awards
McLean received many honors for his groundbreaking work:
- In 1982, Fortune magazine put McLean in its Business Hall of Fame.
- In 1995, American Heritage named him one of the top ten innovators of the past 40 years.
- In 2000, he was named Man of the Century by the International Maritime Hall of Fame.
- He received an honorary degree from the United States Merchant Marine Academy in 2000.
- McLean is the only person to found three companies that were later listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
- Trailer Bridge, Inc., the company he founded in 1991, gives out the Malcom P. McLean Innovative Spirit Award every year.
- In 2006, McLean was inducted into the North Carolina Transportation Hall of Fame.
