
How Shipping Containers Changed the World - dnetesn
http://nautil.us/issue/29/scaling/the-box-that-built-the-modern-world-rp
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nickpsecurity
Nice article. The other end of this equation are ubiquitous shipping pallets:

[http://www.slate.com/articles/business/transport/2012/08/pal...](http://www.slate.com/articles/business/transport/2012/08/pallets_the_single_most_important_object_in_the_global_economy_.html)

Optimizing what to put on a pallet and in what order to maximize use of space
is also a nice intellectual challenge for anyone wanting one. In real-world
scenarios (esp Walmart-style retail), you have to factor in boxes of varying
sizes at varying distances from where they must be loaded. Travel distance,
fork-lift or walking, counts too. Then, it has to be fast enough and easy to
follow to be used in a fast-paced, production environment.

Just remember to release it under Apache or GPL if you build a good one. You
might benefit the economy in many ways. ;)

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koenigdavidmj
99% Invisible's episode on refrigerated containers is relevant:
[http://99percentinvisible.org/episode/reefer-
madness/](http://99percentinvisible.org/episode/reefer-madness/)

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js2
Read "The Box" for more history and details - [http://www.amazon.com/The-Box-
Shipping-Container-Smaller/dp/...](http://www.amazon.com/The-Box-Shipping-
Container-Smaller/dp/0691136408)

I think this story has been on HN before, but I can't find it.

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gertef
There's this:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3014516](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3014516)

Nautilus seems good at rehashing Hacker News favorite stories.

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hchenji
The Wire (season 2) gives an excellent insight into how docks are run
(Baltimore). There's even a scene where some Dutch company wants to bring
Rotterdam's automation to Baltimore.

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dghughes
I like things like this standardization I find it interesting almost insect-
like how uniformity and simplifying tasks improves efficiency.

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mozumder
I'm surprised cranes and ships aren't fully automated yet.

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notable_user
The dockworker union is too strong.

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nickpsecurity
Exactly. At the pallet level, the equipment to stack, wrap, or receive them
are way too expensive. So, humans it is on both parts.

I'll also note for shipping that it's useful to have people to deal with
problems caused by port regulators, pirates, and other odd situations.

