01 Aug 2006 : How the 'box' changed our lives

http://www.cbn.co.za/index.php?Page=daily&id=1603

Cape Business News
August 2006

THIS year the transport industry celebrates the 50th anniversary of the shipping container, introduced in April 1956.

According to Safmarine’s Africa region executive, Alan Jones, the introduction of containerisation represents one of the most significant – and probably one of the most overlooked - economic developments of the past few decades.

“Sadly, too few people outside of the transportation industry realise just how the container – the brainchild of an American trucking entrepreneur - has revolutionised the flow of goods and transformed international shipping,” he says.

According to Jones, containerisation has brought innumerable benefits, particularly to developing regions such as Africa.

“Today’s consumers often don’t realise the role the ‘box’ has played in giving them access to an ever increasing selection of goods from around the world.”

He says if one considers the fairly limited transportation infrastructure that exists in certain countries in Africa, it is doubtful whether these countries would have been able to be competitive and achieve the current growth rates of around 5% had containerisation not been introduced.

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