Why early containerisation would require changes beyond the ship

Could IBC-style cages introduced in the 1910s have shortened cargo loading and turnaround times?

They could improve efficiency, but compatible ports, cranes, ships and inland production systems would all need to change. The many small ports of the period make that harder than the later transition to container shipping.

Standardised cages could make cargo handling more efficient. The difficulty is introducing them across the larger number of ports used in the 1900s and 1910s. Ships would be restricted to compatible routes unless operators maintained different cargo-handling systems and equipment, with Cornish and Greenland ports used to test that compatibility. Cornish tin, including tin for the armaments industry, moving through Portreath illustrates a small port adapted to its existing railway and loading arrangements. Changing how the cargo went aboard would also require changes at the mines or other production sites and at the receiving end of the route. After the Second World War, larger merchant ships and changes in railway and road capacity had already altered the surrounding infrastructure. Earlier trade still relied heavily on ships for the local transport work later associated with heavy lorries. The proposed improvement is possible, but agreement and investment across the whole supply chain would be substantial obstacles.