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CO-ORDINAT that ps everyone

25th May 1956, Page 54
25th May 1956
Page 54
Page 55
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Page 54, 25th May 1956 — CO-ORDINAT that ps everyone
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THE rapid expansion of co-ordinated road, rail and sea transport for the carriage of goods in sealed van-trailers on long journeys is benefiting all parties in the United States. Hauliers save the cost of drivers and mates, and time and wear-and-tear on tractors that would otherwise be used on long road trips; rail and steamship companies gain much-needed revenue; and shippers, and hauliers again, save money by the fact that goods carried in a van-trailer by rail or sea travel at a single tariff instead of at various rates for different classes of commodity.

Another factor is that theft and breakages are obviated by the absence of need for shipments to be manhandled at railway goods yards and docks.

The so-called "piggy-back" carriage of trailers by rail is not a recent innovation in America, an Atlantic seaboard company having initiated such a service about 20 years ago. In the past few years, it has grown so fast that 34 rail companies now offer this facility, and trailers may now be carried more than 3,500 miles between New York and San Francisco.

Only this year, the Pennsylvania Railroad and the Rail-Trailer Co. formed the Trailer Train Co., in which they pooled the ownership of 500 special 75-ft.-long platform trucks. Other railways are expected to join the pool to make use of the trucks, and the facilities provided at terminal yards for transferring trailers between lines.

The Rail-Trailer Co. also provide facilities at terminals for hauliers. They maintain a pool of vantrailers at terminals for leasing to carriers using their service and inspect loaded trailers when they are delivered at a railway yard. If they are not in a condition to assure protection of the loads, they notify both the haulier and the railway representative.

Liability up to $250,000 (£89,286) is assured against loss or damage of a trailer and its contents, unle.ss the haulier elects that they be insured by liability of the railway as limited by law.

Charges made by the Rail-Trailer Co. are:—$8 (£2 17s.) per trailer, unless the contents have a declared value exceeding $250,000; $5 (£1. 15s. 6d.) for inspection of a refrigerated trailer, plus cost of dry ice or fuel, if needed; and $5 per day storage charge for a trailer that is not removed by the haulier at the end of its rail journey after the expiration of free time in the yard.

The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad, who originated trailer carriage between New York City and Boston in the 1930s, now have their own road tractors and trailers, and recently extended their service to six other railways.

They pick up shipments in the Boston and Providence industrial areas, load the trailers on trucks of other railc16

ways which carry them to destinations as far west as the Mississippi River, about 1,200 miles away, and haul them with their own tractors to consignees' platforms. Loaded trailers arriving in Boston and Providence from the west are hauled from there by the company's tractors.

Several companies now build rail trucks designed especially for carrying trailers. The Electro-Motive Division of the General Motors Corporation designed and built a prototype nearly three years ago. This is 75 ft. long, weighs about 75,000 lb., and can carry two 35-ft. van trailers weighing up to 130,000 lb. with load. The truck has a drop frame, the platform of which is only 2-ft. 5-in, above the level of the rails.

A standard hydraulic lift-truck has been adapted for loading trailers on to the trucks. It has a lift capacity of 24,000 lb., and it manceuvres the trailers by their front ends. Loading is done from the side of the truck. The trailers are secured on the trucks by adjustable

he T.M.T." Puerto Rico," a converted military landing snip opeo area tribbean Motor Transport Trailer Ferry, can carry 50 trailers with gating 90,000 lb. Tractors haul the trailers up a ramp and through w stern into the bowels of the vessel. There is also provision for d trailers on the exposed deck, where (above, right) they are drawn ramp by means of a power winch and hawser. The company have ships, 239 trailers, 38 tractors, and 50 other units including motor

vehicles, fork-lift trucks, cranes and sea vans. struts placed on each side, and fitted into stake pockets on the sides of the trucks and special lugs on the trailer sides.

Seagoing trailers are the latest development in commercial surface transport, and there is at the moment a great deal of activity by several steamship companies in pkeaning its rapid extension. The nautical career of land vehicles began in America three years ago when Eric Rath had a loaded trailer in Florida placed aboard a ship which was about to return to Puerto Rico with an empty hold.

Mr. Rath is now president of T.M.T. Trailer Ferry, • the initials standing for TransCaribbean Motor Transport. His company operate five trailer ships, 239 trailers, 38 tractors, and 50 other units including motor vehicles, fork-lift trucks, cranes and sea vans, i.e., large permanent portable shipping containers.

Sea-Road Connections There are weekly sailings between five „Florida ports, and three each in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. At U.S. ports, the ships connect vvith-highway routes over which Pilot Freight Carriers, Inc., operate articulated outfits along the Atlantic seaboard from the St. Lawrence River, and inland as far as Buffalo on Lake Erie to Savannah, Georgia, a port also served by T.M.T.

One of this company's ships, the T.M.T. "Carib Queen," which is to go into service in June, was purchased for Slm. (£357,140) and converted into a trailer ship at a cost of about £1.6m. The largest vessel of its type to be built in the U.S., it has a length of 475 ft., a beam of 75 ft., and a capacity of 100 trailers, 100 cars, 500 tons of cargo, and accommodation for 12 passengers.

Each of its two decks can be loaded at the same time, the lower one from the main level of the pier through huge twin doors in the stern, and the top deck from an upper pier platform to which a ramp gives access. Only 16 hours will be required for both loading and discharging full cargoes.

Another of the company's vessels is the T.M.T. "Puerto Rico," a converted military landing ship. This can carry 50 trailers, with loads aggregating 90.000 lb. Tractors haul them up a ramp and through the stern doors on to the lower level of the vessel. Trailers for the exposed top deck, and the tractors that draw them, are hauled up a stationary ramp by means of a power winch and hawser.

This combination of land-sea transport dispenses with crating many kinds of goods, reduces the amount of documentary work, minimizes the cost of manually hauling goods, avoids docks and warehouse charges, and prevents pilferage. Even in peacetime the service is saving the Government $150,000 (£53,570) a year in the cost of moving household goods belonging to the military forces to and from the Caribbean islands.

The U.S. Government has become interested in the development and proposed operation of trailer ships. Last autumn, the Office of Defense Mobilization announced readiness to grant fast write-off of taxes to builders, and the Maritime Administration gave tentative approval of Government mortgage insurance applied for by three companies who proposed the building or conversion of five ships at an aggregate cost of $23.5m. (£8.4m.).

Capacity of 300 Trailers

The Pan Atlantic Steamship Corporation also proposed the building of seven ships, capable of carrying 300 loaded trailers, to cost $9m. (£3.2m.) each. They are intended for operation between Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico ports from Boston to Houston, Texas. The American-Hawaiian Steamship Co. have applied for mortgage insurance to help finance the building of 10 ships for service from New York City to four ports on the Pacific coast. These ships are designed to have a length of 732 ft, beam of 97 ft., a capacity of 520 loaded trailers, and a cruising speed of 18 knots. The estimated total cost would be $115m, (£41m.).

None of the present, or proposed, vessels mentioned is expected to carry exports to foreign countries, so the shipments will not need inspection by Customs officers for the assessment of import duties.

Naval architects of the Maritime Administration have prepared designs and specifications for seven new classes of cargo ship which they hope will become standard after 1960. One design is for a trailer-carrying class termed Turnpike and intended for coastal service. The specifications call for a 480-ft. length, a 19-ft. draft, about 4,400 tons deadweight, and steam-turbine and twin-screw propulsion giving a cruising speed of 20 knots.

Another new development is the combination of commercial road and air transport, although loaded

MAINTENANCE engineers unable to excavate a al pit or install a hoist may consider the new Beaconramp, made by Bacon and Eades, Ltd., Hinge Road, Tividale, Staffs, attractive. It consists of a set of steel-framed supports and ramps which may be placed to accommodate any vehicle weighing up to 2 tons, about 1 ft. above ground level.

End sections have check bars to prevent overrunning. Ramp sections are 3 ft.. 1 in. long and intermediate sections are 2 ft. 6 in. long. When a vehicle is raised, those sections not supporting the wheels may be removed to improve accessibility. If only the front of a vehicle need he raised, the ramp and end sections can be used without intermediate sections.

Track width is 1 ft. 3 in,. which should be sufficient for the twin rear wheels of vehicles within the Beaconramp's weight capacity. When not in use, the parts may be stacked 6 ft. 3 in. high on a floor area 5 ft. long by 1 ft. 3 in. wide.

Ramp and end sections each cost £6 a pair. Intermediate sections cost £5 10s. a pair. Four pairs of intermediate sections would be needed for a vehicle such as the Standard 10-12-cwt. van, in which case the total price would be £34.

c 18 trailers or goods containers will not be carried by aeroplanes. It does, however,.. make the best use of the advantages of road vehicles and the high speed of cargo aeroplanes. Such a:transcontinental service was started a year ago under an agreement of, the non-scheduled Slick Airways, Inc., with two Pacific Coast haulage companies and one in the New York City area.

Each local company collects loads within a radius of 100 miles or more and delivers them at terminals of Slick Airways in Los Angeles in California, Portland in Oregon, and Newark in New Jersey. Slick Airways fly them overnight about 4,000 miles across the continent, and the shipments are distributed in the New York area by the local haulier.

Two days time or more are saved against railway express services, and the charges are at least the same and, in some cases, even less. The airways officials believe that, with volume growth of traffic, road-air transport, including flights of only a few hundred miles, can be made profitable to all concerned.

Flying household goods between the U.S. and Britain and other European countries has become an important part of the operations of Seaboard and Western Airlines. Last year, the volume of traffic increased by one-third over that of 1954 to a total of more than 5,000,000 lb., the home furnishings of 50 families having been moved in this manner.

Two-day Delivery by Air

Local removers and warehouse companies prepare furniture and other household goods in the home, carry them by road to the airline terminal and, usually, they are delivered at the owner's location on the other side of the Atlantic within two days. The furniture needs no protective crating, and there are no storage charges. Nor have hotel bills to be paid while a family awaits receipt of its effects, which is the case when they are shipped by surface transport.

Careful study of the comparative costs of moving from door to door from New York to Paris 4,000 lb. of household furniture valued at $4,000 (£1,430) yielded the following result: Road-air, $1,972 (£703), which included the air-freight charge, $1,600 (£570), and insurance, $9.60 (£3 '8s.); Road-sea, $2,007 (£717), which included $828 (£296) for the sea journey, and $152 (£53) for insurance.


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