Malcolm McLean, a former truck driver, is credited with inventing the shipping container. In 1956, he converted old oil tankers into the first container ships. The standardized steel containers he developed were stackable and theft-proof, revolutionizing cargo transport by reducing costs and speeding up loading times. The first container ship, SS Ideal X, carried 58 containers from New Jersey to Texas in April 1956. This innovation led to the modern container shipping industry and transformed global trade #shippingcontainer