Can DELAYS at DOCKS be Eliminated?
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By Ashley F. Taylor
WHEN I asked a Manchester Ship Canal official what method could be adopted to avoid the delays that road transport experiences at the docks, he told me firmly that the solution of such difficulties was merely a matter of improved liaison between the docks, the labour, and the various transport systems concerned.
In the matter of transport hold-ups, Manchester is less of an offender than many other ports, but the management is always working to reduce delays— delays that can be expressed in terms of s. d. lost to somebody all the while they go on.
Manchester is of particular interest to a large number of transport users as the nearest port to the great manufacturing areas of Lancashire, Yorkshire and the Midlands, The Manchester Ship Canal, which connects the city with the sea, was opened for traffic 53 years ago, is regularly navigated by vessels of 15,000 tons dead weight and throughout the past 20 years the annual traffic has been much in excess of 5,000,000 tons.
Dock equipment includes 50 steam, 52 hydraulic and 134 electric jib cranes, in addition to 57 electric hoists, five electric grab cranes, a 30-ton steam crane, a floating electric derricking crane with a lifting capacity of 120 tons to a height of 60 ft. from the water level and a floating self-propelling derrick, derricking and revolving crane with a lifting capacity of 60 tons.
Water, Rail and Road
Manchester Ship Canal is concerned with all forms of transport and the docks are laid out for deliveries to and from sea, canal, rail and road transport. The docks are designed so that traffic can easily be discharged on to rail, for the company's own railways link up with all the main lines, the total length already completed at the docks and at other points alongside the canal exceeding 200 track miles.
To organize road-transport deliveries and collections, in which a multitude of outside operators are concerned, is not nearly so simple. For that reason it is essential, if difficulties are to be avoided, that road-transport users shall co-operate intelligently when working to and from the docks.
How vital it is that the arrival of transport shall be reasonably planned is apparent if one examines the monthly figures of cargo discharged at the Manchester docks. Taking at random the statistics for August last, we find that 68,000 tons were lifted direct from the ships on to railway wagons, whilst 22,000 tons were discharged on to the quay and loaded from the quay on to rail. Only 4,000
B2 tons were transhipped directly from vessels on to road transport at the docks, but 32,000 tons were removed by road from the quay.
In addition to these totals, a large tonnage was loaded direct into other steamers, barges and coasters.
On an average, about 340 commercial vehicles daily passed out of the docks with the traffic previously mentioned, in addition to over 200 vehicles bringing in goods for export. Other specialized traffic includes river sand, which is dredged from the Mersey, brought up to Manchester by ship and, by means of a belt conveyer, is loaded into hoppers from which 125-150 tipper-loads daily are sent to the surrounding districts.
Of traffic in the opposite direction, at the present time approximately 50-100 lorries a day bring in old shell cases which are exported to the United States.
Co-operation Pays
To dispose of these goods without there being a delay of some kind would be nothing short of a miracle. However, there are trades which have worked out their own salvation and already co-operate excellently with the dock authorities, notably the timber merchants.
Availability of timber for collection is checked daily and at the end of each afternoon a docks official telephones the chief timber importers—perhaps 10 or 12 of them—with suggestions regarding the amount of transport required for the following day. Timber importers do not send in vehicles unless they are notified that the timber and labour for loading will be available or the position has otherwise been determined.
It must be stressed that it is not strictly the business of the company to ascertain when traffic is ready. The most satisfactory method is that of certain hauliers who specialize in docks transport and maintain men in their own offices in the docks to check availabilities and to advise their own traffic managers of requirements from hour to hour.
Dock officials are, however, just as sympathetic to the small man as to the big fleet owner, and if the haulier inquires before sending his vehicle he can find out whether the consignments he requires will be readily available at a particular time. These inquiries can be made to the importers of the goods, the steamship company or the Manchester Ship Canal officials, depending on the circumstances in which the haulage is being performed.
The secret of good service at the docks depends upon advance information, and nearly all the outward delays appear to arise from speculative
arrivals by transport operators. In many people's minds there exists an impression that the docks are always ready, but in Manchester, as elsewhere, in these days, the road delivery service is scheduled to close down at 5 p.m. or 7 p.m. When vehicles arrive late, it is often necessary for labour gangs to work overtime, with consequent extra expense to the customer.
The governing factor in all loading operations is the labour supply at the transit sheds on the quays. Usually these sheds have six working points. The day may start with four labour gangs at a particular shed where loading is taking place, but unpredictable fluctuations will occur in the amount of transport reporting fo collect. During the morning it is frequently necessary for the dock officials to transfer working parties from sheds where there is little transport available to places where queues of vehicles are forming.
To ensure efficiency, the number of vehicles coming into the docks needs to be co-ordinated, but when a permit system for dock deliveries was suggested a few years ago the shippers refused to co-operate. Apparently they felt that their freedom of action in delivering goods to the docks at any time after the published receiving date would cease. Whether they are better off under the present arrangement is open to question.
M.O.T. Control
The most satisfactory all-round organization of transport, in the eyes of the Manchester Ship Canal, is that of the Ministry of Transport docks office, which keeps quite a close control over the movements of the vehicles in its pool and so, to a large extent, prevents overlapping.
Of special value was the scheme put into operation during the war by the M.S.C. and known as the quay clearance system. This was a bureau which was instituted during the busiest of the war years, the office being staffed by representatives of the Manchester Ship Canal Co. and the various Ministries, including the Ministry of War Transport, Road Haulage. The work of this office was to ensure a smooth flow of transport into the docks and, at the same time, to reduce the possibility of delays taking place either through overlapping on the one hand or neglect of transport on the other. This scheme was an unqualified success.
Probably some master office of this nature would• solve the problems existing at present, but past experience emphasizes the difficulties that would arise in any endeavour to secure agreement between all of the parties concerned.