A VC in Vacationland

Image via Wikipedia

When Malcolm McLean, trucking executive guru and the "godfather" of the ubiquitous global shipping container needed to solve the problem of how to stack the containers, he turned to Keith Tantlinger, an engineer at a truck trailer manufacturer in Washington to design a way to solve the problem. Keith developed a lock that connected the containers at the corners and allowed the crane operators to release or close the lock without leaving their cabs.

The lock, patented and introduced in the mid 1950's, presaged the birth of the container revolution over the next two decades. Instead of manually unloading pallets or boxes of cargo from ships and reloading them into rail cars or trucks, a container could be easily lifted off the vessel and placed on a truck chassis for transport to the final destination.  Not only were cost efficiencies realized with the new technology, but security was enhanced and valuable cargo could now be sealed incognito inside look-alike containers.

We all know the rest of the story–global trade exploded as did the standard of living in many third world countries where goods were made to satisfy developed nations demands. One could say that a simple lock, hardly hi-tech or attractive, is partly responsible for the comfortable lifestyles we now enjoy.

Rest in Peace, Keith Tantlinger (1919-2011), and thank you for being in the right place at the right time with the right idea.