Transport & space · 1968

ISO standard container

Standard container sizes let any box travel on any ship, train or truck worldwide.

The ISO adopted container dimension standards from 1968, fixing the 20 and 40 foot lengths and corner fittings. Interchangeability created a single global intermodal system. Container traffic exceeds 800 million TEU per year at world ports.

See it in the living tree Wikipedia

Arcs above join it to what it stood on, arcs below to what it led to. The bar places this stretch on the tree's whole timeline.

What it built on 1

Containerization 1956

What it led to 1

Ultra-large container ship 2006

Related measurements

The dashed line marks when it first worked.

Merchandise exports as a share of world GDP Latest: 24.2 % of GDP (2014) Source: Our World in Data

World trade as a share of GDP since 1500 Latest: 1950-now (PWT): 57.8 % of GDP (2023) Source: Our World in Data

World GDP Latest: 180T int.-$ (2021) (2025) Source: Our World in Data