41. Loading Docks

Each day ships, trains, trucks, and planes haul supplies that keep store shelves full and factories moving. At every stop there’s a loading dock–an interface where shipping and storage hook up. You may not think much about a loading dock, but to the transportation industry it’s the very heart of their business. From ancient times to tomorrow’s lights-out facility, where computers and machines will store, sort, retrieve, and load stock without human interaction, we deliver the goods on loading docks.