History

History of Innovation

America’s impact on global trade has strong California roots.  Industrialist, inventors, and labor leaders through both conflict and cooperation forged and molded into what is today a $400 billion dollar a year global container shipping economy.  Challenges continue to force this struggling industry sector to evolve yet again where the private sector’s quest for economic growth collide with environmental imperatives.  GRID Logistics Inc., a California company, has identified an opportunity to repeat history in forging genuine 21st Century freight transportation infrastructure.

 

Father of the Container

In the early, 1950’s Malcom P. McLean, a North Carolina truck driver turned trucking company CEO, fundamentally transformed the centuries-old shipping industry – an industry that had long decided that it had no incentive to change.  By developing the first safe, reliable, and cost effective approach to transporting containerized cargo, McLean made a contribution to maritime trade so phenomenal that he has been compared to the father of the steam engine, Robert Fulton.mclean

 

 

Visionary Industrialist

Henry J. Kaiser was the Founder of Kaiser Shipping and was among the most accomplished American Industrialists of the 21st Century.  He is considered today, the father of modern American Shipbuilding.  He also founded Kaiser Industries, Kaiser Steel, Kaiser Permanente, and Kaiser Motors.
kaiser
Within only 15 years of the invention of Malcom Mclean’s ocean intermodal container’s, Kaiser immediately envisioned a future of vertically built container terminals to service the next generation of container ships.  Below is a patent image from an engineer from Kaiser Industries.  This was among the very first of many vertical container patented designs.  The next generation of container ships will ensure these systems will have a future.

kaiserpatent

 

Modernization and Mechanization

Harry Bridges was the first President of the International Longshoreman Warehouse Union (ILWU) and led the institution for nearly 40 years.

Bridges’ place in history was largely in part established when he crafted and boldly championed the Modernization and Mechanization  (M&M) Agreement in 1961.  The M&M agreements were a vital part of the economic scenario that has made globalization possible. It is perhaps ironic that agreements seen as visionary for American industry has today played a part in the movement of so much of that industry abroad. It is certainly ironic (however fortunate) that today the longshore division of the ILWU, rather than facing the continued shrinking of it’s workforce as feared in 1961, is expanding it’s membership to handle the ever increasing work in the west coast ports and beyond.
bridges
Today, ILWU’s membership numbers are quadruple the numbers they were in 1961 when this most controversial labor agreement was drafted.  Today’s Longshoremen are among the highest compensated blue collar transportation professionals in the nation.

“Men should not be forced to work as mules. It can break down the body and break down the spirit”.
- Harry Bridges

GRID Logistics Inc. believes that innovation will continue to benefit the men and women of the ILWU.  Their continued progressiveness in embracing American-led technologies in shipping and logistics will ensure their continued success and leading role for the future of containerized transport.

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