ELECTRIC TRUCKS FOR MEAT CARGOES.
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Invaluable Work by Miniature Vehicles at the Liverpool Docks. A Vehicle Costing 1s. id. per Day for Electricity Cuts Out the Labour of Four Men.
WHETHER or not the humble toiler at every great seaport is reconciled to the ultimate adoption of mechanically operated cargo-handling plant, the fact remains that manual labour is being gradually displaced. Almost any day of the week one can visit the Lives:pool docks to watch liners being relieved of their huge freightage and still find cargoes being moved from the ship's side in the most antiquated manner possible.
Take, for 'instance, meat cargoes. A representative of this journal a few days ago witnessed the unloading of the s.e. " Demerara." A fleet of Roaderaft electric trucks was Working side by side with gangs of men and hand-moved bogeys. Each electric truck carried a load at least the equal in weight of the manually cone trolled vehicle, traversed longer journeys, end transported, in the aggregate, a greater weight per day. The only human labour involved was that of one menthe driver.
Each manually controlled bogey was worked by a gang of five men, whose work was to see that the sling of carcases of mutton, orquarters of beef, was correctly poised on the bogey) which was then pushed to the waiting motor lorries into which the meat was roaded. The hand bogeys rarely travelled outside the confines of the .dock shed, and having very low loading platforms, this meant that each carcase had to be lifted separately into the covered meat vans. . The electric trucks, on the other hand, negotiated the congested shed traffic, etc., and 'journeyed to the railway trucks outside, and having an -elevated superstructure on which the load rested, the meat had simply to be pushed—not lifted—off the truck into the railway van.
On the occasion of a later visit of one of our representatives to Broeklebank Dock, Roadcraft, Ltd. (who hire -the trucks), had an improved model in sere vice for the unloading of s.s. "Barrow." The -platform of the superstructure was fitted with parallel rollers which were covered by an endless belt of stout canvaa. The driving roller; fitted with a sprocket wheel on the left side, was chain-driven from the separate electric motor, which, when operated by the driver from his " stand, caused the bele conveyor slowly to revolve, thus unburdening the truck of its load. To all intents and purposes, therefore, this latest Roadcraft production unloads itself,
Other ..steamers were being unloaded' the same day at some of the docks at the north end Of Liverpool, and in almost every instance hand labour was employed, despite its costliness. There are great possibilities for the elect-sic truck free the unloading of cargoes from steamers in our shipping ports, but, obviously, before this happy consummation can take place, barriers of prejudice will have tobe broken down, and the pro, biem of quayside transport viewed from
the single point of view of efficiency. If by the utilization on a big scale of power.driven trucks dock labour can be reduced by half, it is not likely that those who
• will suffer by the loss of their employment can view with favour the adoption Of plant which is to economize on their • wages bill.
The White Star Line and the Elder, Dempster Steamship Cr): have been users of electric trucks at the Liverpool Dock 'Estate for some months now, but the most recent development has been in the meat-importing trade.
Liverpool, as is well known, is an important, perhaps the most important, centre in the country for the distribution of imported meat, and it is to the credit of a local company—Roadcraft, Ltd..—
that they should have succeeded in inducing some of the leading local importers to utilize their trucks.
Since November last these trucks have been in service, first in connection with one meat-carrying steamer, and then with another, a.s the vessels have arrived. From the beginning of February the trucks were -.destined, to unload one steamer per week until the end of March at least.
Each of the trucks has been specially adapted for the carrying of meat by the erection. on the chassis of a. superstructure which bears the lead, and the latest model, which was put into commission a few weeks ago, had been designed by Mr. H. J. Carey (managing director of Roadcraft, Ltd.) with the idea of enabling bulky loads to be carried, loaded and unloaded, with the minimum of handling. Speaking of the "handling" of meat in a literal sense, more than once have medical officers, of healthin different parts of the country adversely cam_ mented . on the contamination to which foodstuffs are liable by being exposed too much to the human Amick Electric trucking eliminates much of this disability.
• The trueks, which a representative of this journal inspected in their sphere of operation — Brocklebaik Dock — were nominally of two-ton capacity, but with the superstrucaure actually carried 15cwt. loads as represented by six quarters of beef or about 20 carcases of mutton. After the slings were loaded in the hold of the steamer, the meat was raised, swung override the steamer, then lowered on to the truck, which, having extension arms sloping upward. and outward, completely embraced the load. The vehicle then moved off, disposing of the meat into Waiting motor lorries.
No sooner was the electric truck out of the way than a gang of fiVe men pushed their hand bogey into position for the reception of the next sling which, when landed on a flat track, -was 'pushed airing to other vehicles, each piece of meat being laboriously lifted to its required piace. The mechanically propelled and the hand-operated vehicles were working together and formed a most instructive contraet, to the advantage of the power-propelled unit.
Another Roaderaft truck, with a box arrangement on the superstructure, and an electrically roller-driven platform, was at the same time receiving loads ef beef, negotiating the congested dock shed traffic and conveying its load to railway vans outside the shed.
It was obvious, even to the most indifferent observer, that the electric trucks were showing up the rival method of handling the cargo in a very bad light, and although the writer was informed confidentially of the measure of economy which attended the employment of the eIectrics, it is not. possible, at the moment, to divulge the extent of the net
in line, there being a chain drive to both rear wheels, which have expanding-type brakes. The crontroller is fitted with a special auto snitch, which works in conjunction with another -automatic switch fitted apart from the controller, opening and closing the main circuit. it is also arranged to interlock with the brakes, which Makes the entire 'layout foolproof.
Thus far, we have only dealt with a very elementary and preliminary phase of .meat transport. Liverpool has the largest cold storages ie the country and refrigeratore with a total storage capacity of 19000,000 cnbie feet. .
Serving the markets with imported meat within a radius of 80 to 100 miles, there are, as. one might expect, same huge fleets of motor vehicles, steam and petrol. One company—Garlick, Burrell and Edwards, Ltd.---alone have close on 1(X) road mechanical vehicles. Some days, when meat steamers are unloading, there are scores of railway vans and motor vehicles awaiting supplies, ready to transport them to all parts of the country. We hope, later, to deal with other phases of the meat distributing industry.