FreightWaves Classics/Pioneers: Malcom McLean changed the freight world with intermodal containers railpage.com.au - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from railpage.com.au Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
FreightWaves Classics/Pioneers: Malcom McLean changed the freight world with intermodal containers Malcom McLean and a sea of containers. (Photo: americanbusinesshistory.org)
Malcom P. McLean was born in Maxton, North Carolina in 1913. After finishing high school his family did not have the financial resources to send him to college. He worked for several years and in 1935, McLean bought a used truck.
That same year, McLean, his sister, Clara, and his brother, Jim, founded McLean Trucking Co. Based in Red Springs, North Carolina, McLean Trucking began transporting farmers’ harvests and supplies, as well as empty tobacco barrels. McLean was one of the drivers. Through hard work and resourcefulness, the company had grown to 30 trucks by 1940.