How containerization shaped the modern world

貨櫃運輸如何塑造現代世界

(Music)

譯者: Regina Chu 審譯者: Isabel Lin

（音樂）

Everything is everywhere these days.

現今每樣東西都無所不在

Check out the supermarket -- orange juice from China, nuts from India,

去超市看看── 中國來的柳橙汁，印度來的堅果

swordfish from Japan, lagers from Czechoslovakia,

日本來的劍魚，捷克來的拉格啤酒

scores of European cheeses.

成堆的歐洲起士

You name it, it's there. Not when I was growing up.

隨你選，什麼都有 我成長的年代可不是如此

You'd never taste a range of French cheeses

你從沒嘗過什麼法國起士

or Bohemian lager beer.

或波希米亞拉格啤酒

At least, you couldn't unless you were very rich

至少，你做不到，除非你很有錢

可以去任何你想去的地方。今非昔比

and could go anywhere when the fancy took you. All that has changed.

But it's not just foods. Got an iPhone?

但不只是食物。你有 iPhone 嗎？

Everyone knows it was invented and designed at Cupertino

大家都知道它在加州的庫比蒂諾 被發明設計出來

in California, but who knows where

但誰知道那裡面

the complex bits and pieces of its innards are made or assembled?

複雜的零零碎碎 是在哪裡製造或裝配的？

Apple doesn't say.

蘋果公司沒說

The industry credits China, Japan, Germany, South Korea

但業界說是中國，日本，德國，南韓

and, of course, the United States itself.

及想當然爾，美國本身

Just think for a moment of the trillions of parts

就想一下每一秒有多少零件

and finished goods moving cheaply around the world

及成品廉價地在世界各地通行

every second, a small portion by air,

一小部份由空運

but most by sea.

但大部分是經由海運

We call it globalization,

我們稱之為全球化

but the man who basically made globalization a reality in our lives

但那位基本上將全球化 實踐於我們生活的人

is too little known. This is his story.

實在太不為人知了。而這就是他的故事

The story of the man who makes your day.

一個讓你的日子更美好的人的故事

In the Great Depression of the '30s,

在 30 年代經濟大蕭條期間

when millions of Americans were out of work, worse than now,

無數美國人沒有工作，比現在還慘

Malcolm McLean was a 24-year-old truck driver.

麥克林是個 24 歲的卡車司機

He got a job to take cotton bales

他找到一個工作把一捆捆的棉花

from Fayetteville in North Carolina all the way

從北卡羅萊納州的費耶特維爾直送到

to a pier in Hoboken, New Jersey for shipping overseas.

紐澤西州霍博肯的一個碼頭出口

He was glad of the work, but when he arrived

他很感激有這份工作，但當他抵達時

he got bored out of his mind, sitting in his truck

他百般無聊，坐在他的卡車上

waiting and waiting and waiting on the docks

在碼頭邊等啊等啊等啊

as the worker ants muscled crates and bundles off other trucks

等著工蟻舉起膀臂把箱子捆包搬下車

and into slings that lifted the goods into the hold of the ship.

放上吊索，再把貨品吊到船艙

On board the ship itself,

在船上

with much yelling and arm waving,

碼頭工人大聲喊叫，揮舞著手臂

the stevedores then unloaded each sling

從吊索上卸下貨物

and saw its contents placed in a designated position

並看著它放到指定位置

in the hold.

進船艙

Malcolm wasn't just bored, he was fuming.

麥克林豈止無聊，他氣得七竅生煙

His income depended on getting back to North Carolina

他的收入全靠他趕回北卡

to pick up more loads in his truck.

搬更多的貨到他的卡車上

Out of the frustration, inspiration struck.

在挫折中，靈感來襲

Wouldn't it be great, he thought,

這豈不更好，他這麼想

if my trailer could be lifted

如果我的拖車能直接被吊起

and placed on the ship

放到船上

without its cotton bales being touched. Yes, it would be great.

而不用搬出裡面的棉花捆 沒錯，這樣非常好

It would be revolutionary. For centuries,

這是個革新的想法。世紀以來

general non-bulk cargo had been shipped in the process he watched.

一般散裝船都以 他所看到的方式裝運

It was called break bulk shipping.

這稱為散裝貨物船運

Boxes, bales, crates handled piece by piece.

箱子、捆包、板條箱都是一件一件搬

What Malcolm envisaged would have saved him only a day,

麥克林設想到的情況 或許只能省他一天的工

but it would have saved everyone else

但卻可能省其他人

something like two weeks in loading and unloading the ship.

在船上上貨卸貨大約二個星期的時間

On average, it was eight days

一般來說，要花八天

to haul and distribute break bulk shipments in the hold,

來裝船艙中的散裝物

plus another eight days at the other end

抵達後還要再加上八天

to retrieve and distribute.

來卸貨發貨

All that time would have been saved

這些時間都可省下

if Malcolm McLean could have just driven his truck onto the ship

如果麥克林只要把卡車開上船

and at the other end, driven it off.

抵達目的地後再直接開下來

Well, today that concept is a reality.

嗯，今天這項概念已經實現

The concept that occurred to Malcolm

麥克林突發奇想的這個概念

is known as containerization.

被稱為貨櫃運輸

It has done more than just save a great deal of time.

這不僅節省很多時間

It's the reason why we have a thriving global marketplace,

這也是為什麼我們能有 如此繁榮的全球市場的原因

offering us that infinite variety of things,

提供我們無限多種類的物品

and it's the reason we can move cargo

這也是我們能以最低成本

from remote parts of the world at minimal cost.

從世界的偏遠地區運輸貨物的原因

Malcolm had his idea in 1937.

麥克林在 1937 年有了這個想法

The 24-year-old truck driver sitting in his truck in Hoboken

當時 24 歲、在霍博肯 坐在卡車上的卡車司機

was 40 before he did anything about it.

直到 40 歲才開始付諸行動

By then, he'd built his one truck

那時，他已從一輛卡車

into a big trucking company. He borrowed money

發展到大型運輸公司，他從紐約花旗銀行

from an enterprising vice president at Citibank in New York,

一位有企業眼光的副總裁手中借到錢

and set about designing the steel boxes and the decks of the ships

並著手設計鋼箱及貨船甲板

to carry them stacked one on top of another.

能把箱子一個一個疊起來運輸

A lot of people thought he was crazy.

很多人認為他瘋了

Inventors always attract armies of naysayers

發明家總是吸引眾多反對者

who can never remember how critical they were.

這些反對者從不記得他們有多反對

For our part, we should remember Malcolm McLean.

而我們呢，我們應該要紀念麥克林

His first container ship, the Ideal X,

他第一艘貨櫃船，理想號 Ideal X

sailed from Shed 154

從貨櫃集散場 154 號出航

at Marsh Street, Port Newark

位於紐華克港，沼澤街

with 58 well-filled boxes.

裝了 58 個滿滿的貨櫃

It was the beginning of the container era,

這是貨櫃運輸時代的開始

shrinking our world

縮小了我們的世界

and enlarging human choice.

擴大了人們的選擇