The American Malcom P. MCLean is considered to be the inventor of this mode of transport by using a container for the first time in order to avoid transshipments at ports. These containers were constructed according to American rules and were not adequate for European road transport. It took some years until the ISO-standards for containers, that are still valid to this day, were introduced

All of the above container internal dimensions are standardized by ISO for guidance only. Please note that there may be occasional minor deviations.