Container Transport
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Films on handling
TWO FILMS have been shown recently by Quay Handling Ltd., Poole. One showed the Quay container handling system which, being built around a patent container stillage, provides quick release of road vehicles and trailers for other work.
Once mounted on the heavy-duty stillage a container can be shunted around a terminal area on a Quay elevating trailer. The elevating trailer is equipped with a normal fifth-wheel and can be coupled to any standard tractive unit. When the trailer is reversed under the stillage, locking devices on both the trailer and stillage engage.
Jacks on the trailer then raise stillage and container together to the travelling position, sufficiently clear of the ground. Quay elevating trailers are available for all sizes of freight container, and light-duty models can be supplied specifically for handling empties. Equipment which complies fully with Construction and Use Regulations is also marketed.
The second film showed the Belotti straddle crane for which Quay is UK agent. This machine is basically a straddle carrier, but has an open side which incorporates twin synchronized arms which pivot through a wide arc. On the open side the main frame connection is made near ground level by a hollow section member. The free space above this member is sufficient to allow the passage of a 20ft ISO container.
The configuration of the lift arms allows the crane to move up to containers stacked three high and unstack to ground. Alternatively containers can be stacked three high from the straddle position.
The Belotti crane incorporates a spreader of normal rectangular shape with twistlocks hydraulically operated from the cab. Stabilizing jacks are also provided on the open side, each being operated by a hydraulic ram: synchronization of jacks and arms can be specified. The ground supporting plate incorporates a sideshift mechanism of approx 11 in. either side of the centre.
Price is in the region of E45,000 and delivery is approximately six months from date of order.
The films are available on loan from Quay Handling Ltd., Enefco House, The Quay, Poole.
On show
ONE of Europe's largest manufacturers of containers, the German Industriewerke Transportsysteme, is among the latest exhibitors to book space at the Ports and Terminals '69 Exhibition which will be held at Belle Vue Manchester from April 14 to 18. There will be 32 ports represented, including those of the British Transport Docks Board, the Port of London Authority. Dover, Felixstowe, Great Yarmouth, Manchester, Sheerness and Tees and Hartlepools.
The three-day conference associated with the exhibition is expected to bring over 500 delegates from freight industries in many parts of the world.
Size change resisted
AT its meeting in February, the USASI standards committee dealing with the standardization of freight containers rejected a petition by Sea-Land Inc. to remove container sizes from the specifications set out in US standards. The Truck Trailer Manufacturers Association abstained from voting on the issue. It was, however, agreed to set up a working party to examine the problems of non-standard, container carriers: Sea-Land has built its international system on 35ft containers.
'High container damage'
STATISTICS purporting to show that damage to containerized goods is insignificant are misleading, says the executive vice-president of the American Institute of Marine Underwriters. In a recent interview with the US Journal of Commerce he said that although the number of claims might be low, individual losses tended to be high in value, a factor which made the impact of such losses on individual shippers and insurers severe.
He cited the case of four containers of cartoned books carried as deck cargo, where sea water damage amounted to over $7,000.
Disappointing
SOME aspects of container use for international work have proved disappointing to consignors, according to a feature in the March issue of Freight Management. Cost savings have not been as great as was hoped, insurance charges have not generally been cut, there have been few drastic savings in transit times and some pilferage still takes place.
International carriers feel that containerization will find its real level in 1970 but in the meantime is not showing many of the claimed advantages. One case is quoted of an East Coast to Holland route where TIR trailers average five return trips for only three round trips by container. Roll-on traffic has been exceptionally high in the past year, despite new container facilities on short-sea routes.
Cool compartments
FIVE new special-purpose insulated and refrigerated freight containers, with the refrigerated compartments divided into two for carrying meat separately from vegetables and provisions, have been supplied to Manchester Liners Ltd. by the Duramin Engineering Co. Ltd.
With a gross rating of 20 tons, the containers have a tare weight of 63 cwt and will carry a distributed load of up to 16 tons 17cwt. Overall dimensions are 19ft. 101-in. long x 8ft. wide x 8ft. high. A Thermo-King refrigeration unit maintains a temperature at 0 deg F in the meat-carrying compartment and at between 34 deg F and 38 deg F in the compartment for vegetables and provisions, when operating at an ambient air temperature of up to 80 deg F on shore or afloat.