Today, approximately 90% of cargo moves by container, sometimes stacked up to 12 units high on transport ships. Over 100 million containers per year are now moved between the world's ports in over 5,000 container ships, constituting a critical component of the global trade.

Last year the Port of Long Beach alone handled 4.6 million twenty foot containers of cargo and it is expected that by 2020 the port will be handling 12-16 million units.