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would be somewhat less than 3% cents. Rehandlings are avoided by various methods besides the use of skids and lift trucks. In the first place, the best way of applying the principle of keeping the freight off the floor of the dock is not to put the freight on the dock. This not only saves han- dling but in many cases reduces costs by reducing congestion. Direct load- ing from lighter, car float or car, avoids these expenses. In one _ in- stance unloading a carload of freight from lighter to dock cost 71 cents a ton. By loading direct into the ship this expense was eliminated. When this method is not practicable, then efforts should be directed to reduc- ing handling on the dock to a mini- mum by one or more of the accepted methods. One of the accepted methods is to make up the slingloads of sacked goods as the freight is received, in- stead of making up the _ slingload when the ship starts to load. This saves one handling. The slingloads are carried to the ship’s side by a tractor equipped with a crane. While the freight is not actually kept off Use Notooks PAPER SHIPMENTS ON TEMPORARY SKID the floor of the dock, the result is practically the same. With the same basic idea in mind, boxed automobiles are raised from the floor of the lighter or dock by pieces of lumber which permit placing the sling under the box without rehandling it. Another method is the use of a re- movable body or tray for two-wheel hand trucks. These are fitted with runners 1% inch high which raise the bottom of the tray off the floor. As the freight is received, it is placed on the tray and remains there until ready to be moved to the ship. When 48 REMOVABLE BODY FOR HAND TRUCK the freight is to be moved, the blade of the hand truck is pushed under the bottom of the tray and by means of a handle, the load is pulled back onto the hand truck. This saves one han- dling and also results in an increased load of 100 per cent or more. This method is used on some of the docks of the Clyde line, Munson line, Fruit line, Old Bay line and at various ports. Skids moved by power lift United others trucks are used to keep the freight off the floor of the docks by the American South African line and the American- Hawaiian line at New York and the Munson line at New Orleans. The Colombian line at Barranquilla, Colom- bia and the Morgan line of the South- ern Pacific at New York extends this method by carrying the freight into the ship but there it is placed on the deck. The Detroit and Cleveland line extends the use of the skid by carry- ing about 40 per cent of its cargo on skids between terminals. Automo- bile batteries are received on _ spe- cial skids at Cleveland and remain on this skid until arrival at the auto- mobile factory in Detroit. The New York Central uses skids and power lift trucks on its docks at Weehawken, N. J. In the transfer of a car of sacked goods from a rail- road freight car to a lighter, the fol- lowing handlings were formerly in- volved: 1, floor of car to truck; 2, truck to floor of railroad dock; 3, dock to track; 4, truck to lighter. Now the freight is unloaded to skids and remains on the skids until the shipment is ready to be loaded on a lighter, thereby reducing the han- dlings to two. Handlings will be still further reduced in the near future by keeping the freight on skids until the lighter is unloaded at the steam- ship terminal. This will increase the economies obtained by the New York Central and, in addition, reduce the cost of loading from lighter into ship. Terminal operating costs have been re- duced 14 per cent, claims have been less and the turnover of floating equipment has been increased. In addition, the railroad company has re- ceived increased shipments of sacked SHIPMENTS OF SACKED GOODS ON SKIDS AT WEEHAWKEN TERMINAL, NEW YORK CENTRAL RAILROAD MARINE REVIEW—February, 1929