Malcolm McLean

Malcom Purcell McLean (born "Malcolm", but later changed to its traditional Scottish spelling), born in 1913 in Maxton, North Carolina, was an American transport entrepreneur who developed the modern intermodal shipping container, which revolutionized transport and international trade in the second half of the twentieth century. Containerization led to a significant reduction in the cost of freight transportation by eliminating the need for repeated handling of individual pieces of cargo, and also improved reliability, reduced cargo theft, and cut inventory costs by shortening transit time. Modern international supply chains are a consequence of the intermodal development McLean set in motion.