Frank Lautenberg: “I rise in support of S. Res 454 honoring a true transportation pioneer, Malcom McLean. His use of the intermodal…”

“I rise in support of S. Res 454 honoring a true transportation pioneer, Malcom McLean. His use of the intermodal shipping container--first used successfully in the United States 50 years ago yesterday--streamlined the shipping process and set the stage for our modem globalized economy through containerization. Before the age of containerization, shipping raw materials and consumer goods was an extremely arduous process; to transfer goods from a ship to a train, or from a train to a truck, the merchandise first needed to be unloaded, sorted, and reloaded. As a truck driver in 1937, Malcom McLean realized that the goods could be shipped more cheaply, efficiently, and quickly if they didn't need to be unloaded and re- loaded into different shipping containers on each leg of a trip. He invented a type of container that was durable and versatile enough to be attached to a train, loaded onto a tractor-trailer, and secured to the deck of a ship; the revolutionary idea created efficiencies in the process by making loading and un-loading at each step of the intermodal shipping process obsolete. Mr. President, yesterday marked the 50th anniversary of the Ideal X setting sail from Port Newark, in my home State of New Jersey, and bound for Houston, TX. This historic trip marked the first successful implementation of Malcom McLean's grand idea: it was the first time a ship left U.S. loaded with intermodal containers, 58 in total.…”