Celebrating 160 Years of Moving Business Forward

APL marks its 160th anniversary in 2008 – a remarkable feat in any business and particularly impressive in shipping, an industry famous for its risks and cyclicality.

To navigate through APL’s journey from the past to the present and future, click here

Since William Aspinwall launched APL's first predecessor, the Pacific Mail Steamship Company, in October 1848, APL has survived numerous business cycles, two world wars, the Great Depression of the 1930s and other significant challenges, emerging as a consistently profitable, worldwide transportation and logistics business dedicated to innovation, superior customer service and on-time reliability.

Even the launch of Pacific Mail was prescient. Other steamship companies that connected the US East and West coasts carried passengers and cargo around the tip of South America. Pacific Mail, on the other hand, traveled to the Isthmus of Panama, where cargo was transferred to mules and canoes and carried between the Atlantic and the Pacific before making the remainder of the trip. The pioneering service led to the construction of Aspinwall's Panama Railway in the 1850s, which carried cargo across the isthmus and predated contemporary intermodal transportation by nearly a century.

For those who knew history, then, it should have been no surprise when, in the late 1980s, APL took delivery of the first post-Panamax vessels, the first containerships too wide to use the Panama Canal. Questioned by many, the move signaled APL's commitment to combined ocean-rail-truck transportation between Asia and the US Midwest and East Coast. Since then, the company has re-established all-water service through the canal, but APL and many other carriers still rely heavily on intermodal transport across North America. Indeed, APL's early intermodal efforts included the company's pioneering use of double-stack trains in North America in the 1980s. The success of APL's intermodal program in North America led APL to, in 2007, inaugurate IndiaLinx™, a container train service that serves key freight corridors in India.

APL's innovations have only accelerated since merging with the Singapore-based NOL Group in 1997. Since then, APL has emerged as the industry leader in information technology, with numerous breakthroughs including the first service that allowed customers to print bills of lading at multiple remote locations such as banks and freight forwarders. In the past several years, APL has regularly appeared on the lists of leading users of technology in all industries, including the annual InformationWeek Top 100 technological innovators. Many of APL's IT innovations have been internal, allowing the company to create more efficient operations and stronger service for customers.

APL's sister business, APL Logistics has revenues of well over US$1 billion and is a leading provider of global supply chain management services. Recent breakthroughs by APL Logistics have included joining with North American trucking company Con-way to provide the first guaranteed day-definite delivery service for less-than-containerload cargo between Asia and the US.

The NOL Group's newest unit is APL Terminals, one of the world's top-10 container terminal operators. Its network of terminals in North America and Asia allows the company to control cargo handling so that containers breeze through shoreside operations and on to their final destinations. Together, they give APL a distinct advantage in providing seamless, on-time transportation services. APL's terminals in North America routinely win awards from trucking associations for their market-leading efficiency in moving trucks through the gates.

APL's commitment to innovation is an ongoing one. In late 2007, the world’s first ocean-capable 53-foot containers were introduced into regular scheduled services. The new containers bring the efficiency of "big-box" economics to ocean shippers, providing them access to the same financial benefits long available to users of land transportation. Also in the second half of 2007, APL launched a groundbreaking new service linking Asia and the US East Coast through the Suez Canal.

In an era of mixed performance by shipping companies, APL stands as a strong, stable and dedicated innovator that customers can depend on for reliable service and new ideas to make transportation and supply chain management more efficient than ever.