One day,
one terminal
Around eighty percent of global trade by volume goes by sea. Scroll to follow one box through a single day at a container terminal, from first light to the next.
Dawn · pre-allocation
Before the first lift
Before the first light reaches the quay, the terminal has already planned where this box should be by midnight.
Morning · quay work
One box, one crane
A quay crane reaches over the ship, locks onto the box, and sets it down on a waiting yard tractor.
Midday · gate
Waiting is part of the plan
At midday trucks come and go through the gate, while inside the fence the box quietly waits its turn.
Evening · yard
Where the plan wants it
At evening a yard gantry sets the box where the loading plan wants it, so the night shift finds it.
Night · quay crane
The lamps come on
Night work begins as the lamps come on row by row, and the crane keeps lifting beneath their light.
Pre-dawn · handover
Handoffs built to hold
When every handoff along the day is built to hold, a whole terminal can work as one continuous movement.
The whole day
One day, one terminal
It was never six separate stops, only one day.