Malcom McLean

Malcolm Purcell McLean (November 14, 1913 – May 25, 2001; later known as Malcolm McLean) was an American businessman. He was a transport entrepreneur who developed a modern intermodal transport container that revolutionized the field of transport and international trade in the second half of the twentieth century. Containerization has led to a significant reduction in the cost of cargo transportation by eliminating the need for re-processing of individual cargo units, as well as improving reliability, reducing cargo theft and reducing inventory costs by reducing transportation time.

Early life

McLean was born in 1913 in Maxton, North Carolina, . His name was originally spelled as Malcolm, although he later used it as Malcolm.

In 1935, when he graduated from Winston-Salem High School, his family didn't have enough money to send him to college, but Malcolm had enough to buy a used truck.

In the same year, McLean, his sister Clara McLean and brother Jim McLean founded the McLean Trucking Co. McLean Trucking, based in Red Springs, North Carolina, began transporting empty tobacco barrels, one of the drivers of which was Malcolm.