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seful [Jint —D ot a fered ee : —_— i. — J =o — <r it — SS HENEVER it becomes neces- sary to install special cargo fittings in addition to the perma- nent construction, care should be taken to see that they are adequate- ly tested for strength and stability before cargo is loaded. In one instance where a ship was carrying grain in the lower hold it was desired to load bulk cargo in the *’tweendeck. A temporary bulkhead was constructed of timbers by the ship’s crew and _ shore carpenter which extended part way across the *’tweendeck hatch opening. After loading of the bulk cargo in the ‘tweendeck had been about half completed, the bulkhead gave way and the cargo was precipitated into the lower hold on top of the grain. This caused a contamination of the grain and a loss of part of the cargo stowed in the ’tweendeck. Investi- gation disclosed that the bulkhead collapsed because the nails used were too short and the supports for the bulkhead had not been properly se- cured. In another instance a false ‘tween- deck or platform was installed in a vessel in order to increase her capac- ity for carrying unboxed automobiles. During the voyage one of the supports gave way, causing the platform to col- lapse, resulting in considerable dam- age to valuable cargo. It is suggested that when changes are made in the ship’s fittings for the accommodation of special cargo, such fittings be inspected and tested by experienced engineers or surveyors. Cooperation for Economy Closer co-operation between the various officials concerned with mate- rials handling operations would re- sult in economies to all concerned. A recent investigation disclosed an op- eration the costs of which could have been greatly reduced by such co-op- eration. A gang of men were employed, us- ing hand trucks, carrying coffee in bags from a warehouse to a point on the bulkhead, about 150 feet distant. Arriving at the bulkhead the load of eoffee, five bags per truck, was dumped on the ground. A different gang reloaded the coffee onto an- other set of hand trucks and trucked it into a lighter moored to the bulk- head. The second gang took but four bags per truck, which resulted in a piling up of coffee on the bulkhead. Proper co-operation would have util- 202 Ge TTT TUTTO UO LOA CCGA UCU CE CL HIS page is being devoted to short items on all matters having to do with the more efficient turn- around of ships. These items are in- tended to be of a helpful nature. We will welcome for this page brief descriptions, illustrated if possible, of any better or safer way of perform. ing any function in cargo handling. Also, any questions submitted will be answered by the editor. TTT eee ized both sets of trucks, the men coming from the warehouse deposit- ing the loaded trucks at the entrance to the lighter gangway and returning to the warehouse with empty trucks to be refilled. By so doing fewer men could have been used for this simple operation. Using a Crane (eer One of the more progressive steve- dores at New York saves time in load- ing the vessels of some of the deep water lines by using cranes. This stevedore makes up _ sling- loads of cargo at the point on the pier at which packages have been de- posited by the trucks of the shipper. The slingloads are made up by men at the pile and a crane truck picks them up, carries the load to the ship- side, where it is hooked onto the ships’ tackle. The crane truck then picks up a few empty slings, depositing them wherever they are needed while en- route to pick up another slingload. Used in conjunction with hand trucks and trailers, this method saves both time and money. On Pallawing Thicueh One of the steamship lines oper- ating out of the port of New York utilizes mechanical equipment for dis- charging its ships and then reverts to the oldest methods known to man to stow the cargo on its pier. Cargo cranes are used to lift bags of coffee and coconuts from the low- er ’tween decks and the holds to the main ’tween decks. Here the bags are placed on electrical belt convey- ors and passed out to the pier. On the pier the bags are received on a platform about four feet high, from which the longshoremen hump the bags to their respective piles which MARINE REVIEw—December, 1934 s on (argo [Jandling are designated by one man slapping each bag with a small stick and shouting out the number of the pile to which each particular bag belongs. The use of mechanical equipment such as cargo cranes and mechanical belt conveyors should be supplement- ed with skids and lift trucks in or- der to get the highest efficiency out of the mechanical equipment utilized. Handling Costs Reduced One steamship company operating out of New York recently saved one of its shippers quite a sum by the application of modern management methods to materials handling opera- tions. The steamship line received 20 tons of fire bricks at its pier. The brick was delivered by truck. Trail- ers were placed in the rear of the truck and two wooden sling platforms were placed on the trailer. The brick was loaded directly onto the sling boards. When the two sling boards were loaded, the trailer was moved away and another, similarly equipped took its place behind the truck. The bricks were then strapped to the sling boards by means of steel straps. The loaded sling boards were then hoisted into the ship. Upon arriving at destination, which happened to be a foreign port in the tropics, equipped with railroad sid- ings, the loaded sling boards were landed on the wharf alongside the tracks on which flat cars had been spotted. Cheap native labor then strip- ped the skids and loaded the brick on- to the flat cars by hand. The empty sling boards were then picked up by the ship’s tackle, hoisted aboard, and returned to New York, thus avoiding the necessity of making entry of the skids at the foreign port and the clearance for the trip back to New York. The total cost of the shippers for this operation was the cost of the steel used for strapping the bricks to the slingboards. Height of Lit Trunk: The height to which many of the various lift trucks can tier freight can be increased by building a port- able platform to go on’ the platform of the lift truck. An operation was recently observed in the handling of newsprint paper in rolls, a eradle about four feet high being provided on the platform of the lift truck. This cradle increased the tiering ability of the truck by 4 feet. 31