Shipping Containers are currently in very high demand, and it’s easy to see why. As people are finding more and more great uses for them.
The standard shipping container is quite a new product. The first documented use of a standard shipping container was only 66 years ago in 1956. It was created by Malcolm P. McLean, who started his career as a truck driver. McLean recalled the idea coming to him when “I had to wait most of the day to deliver the bales, sitting there in my truck, watching stevedores load other cargo. It struck me that I was looking at a lot of wasted time and money. I watched them take each crate off the truck and slip it into a sling, which would then lift the crate into the hold of the ship.”
By the mid-1970s all shipping lines around the world, were using modern-day shipping containers. The containers cut down labour costs dramatically they allowed ships and vehicles to take more goods at a time. Which lowered transport costs, they also kept the good protected from the elements and theft.
Containers are now being used and repurposed in all kinds of industries. They have been used for:
- Bars,
- Cafes, food trucks and restaurants
- Events and festivals function space
- Retail shops,
- Housing
- Playgrounds
- Container pools
- Workshops, and offices
- Growing spaces for farming
- Emergency medical facilities and even building bridges.
Sources: https://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/the-truck-driver-who-reinvented-shipping
| Container Type | Internal Dimensions (L x W x H) |
Door Opening (W x H) |
Cubic Capacity |
 |
20FT General
5.9m x 2.39m x 2.35m |
2.34m x 2.28m |
33.2m3 |
| 20FT High Cube
5.96m x 2.69m x 2.35m |
2.34m x 2.58m |
37.4m3 |
|
 |
40FT General
12.03m x 2.39m x 2.35m |
2.34m x 2.28m |
67.6m3 |
| 40FT High Cube
12.03m x 2.69m x 2.35m |
2.34m x 2.58m |
76.4m3 |