Musings tagged with "logistics"

Just finished “The Box” by Marc Levinson. Fascinating how something as simple as a standardized shipping container revolutionized global trade. Before containerization, loading cargo onto ships was labor-intensive and slow—taking days rather than hours. The economics are mind-boggling: it’s often cheaper to ship goods from Vietnam to Long Beach (~12,400 km) than from the Port of LA to Las Vegas (~435 km). This cost inversion has reshaped global manufacturing—factories can now be located anywhere with port access, allowing production to move to regions with lower labor costs while maintaining efficient global distribution. Containerization didn’t just improve logistics; it fundamentally rewired the global economy.