This week, I talk about the birth of the container industry, and its constant struggle to remain profitable in a repeating cycle of larger ships cutting costs, leading to more larger ships, leading to excess capacity, leading to more large ships.

the container liners are a big departure from the tramp steamers they replaced, bringing speed and a schedule where there was none previously.

For a much more detailed history of the shipping container, I suggest reading Marc Levinson’s The Box.