International shipping has been transformed in the last twenty or thirty years by the advent of, first, inexpensive computing power and other technologies and, second, the internet.

Where once upon a time international shipping was dominated by physical paperwork, from consignment notes to bills-of-lading to customs documents and delivery notes, all this is now managed on computer databases and on the internet.

With the advent of the internet, international shipping continues to get larger and larger as an industry. The ability for people to shop online, compare prices and buy goods from the cheapest supplier, wherever that supplier is, is revolutionising shopping and also transforming the world of international shipping.

A lot more international shipping now involves the movement of small parcels. Where once a box, pallet or even container load of a single item would be moved from its place of manufacture to a local store, now the goods can travel one-by-one, sometimes directly from the factory at one end, and directly to the door of the customer at the other end.

International shipping is also facilitating the growth of developing economies as it allows raw materials to be moved across the globe for conversion into, for instance, steel. That steel can then be further shipped on to manufacturers for shaping and the assembly of an enormous range of finished goods.

The speed of modern international shipping contributes to all of this – speed which in large part is enabled by the technology within the industry.