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Shipments moving from factory to consignee on skids are steadily in- creasing and will undoubtedly con- tinue to increase because shipping on skids broadens the application of the principles under discussions by extend- ing them to all concerned; also be- cause the advantages are so manifest and the economies so large. Saving in Use of Skids © This mehod has brought astounding economies in money and in time to shippers, trucking companies, railroad companies, water lines and consignees. The paper industry, which uses this method more extensively than any other industry, has reduced handling costs as much as 80 per cent, packing expenses 77 per cent, and has also effected large savings in time. The saving in time is well illustrated by the Champion Coated Paper Co. which reduced the time for loading a car from 21 man hours to one and one half man hours. The department of commerce esti- mates that the minimum amount the country can save by shipping freight on skids, wherever practical, is $100,- 000,000 a year. This estimation is based on a thorough study of the ad- vantages and possibilities of this method which was made as a result of the requests of the manufacturers of skids and lift trucks for the es- tablishment of standards on _ their equipment. When a definite decision must be made among the different methods of cargo handling, one is perplexed because of the many opinions which are encountered, and because of the searcity of real definite facts on which these opinions are based. Too often a decision is based on an incomplete study of the terminal and the equip- ment. Many times a decision will be made between two makes of equip- ment, when a third make of equip- ment which is not considered, would have been more suited to the job. The answer to this problem is found in an engineering survey by a competent engineer in conjunction with practical stevedores and_ ship- ping executives. One of the chief characteristic of an engineer is his GASOLINE LIFT TRUCK AND TRAILER EQUIPPED WITH AUTOMATIC COUPLER special training and experience in ob- serving, recording and analyzing facts. An engineering survey means simply getting the facts, analyzing the facts and then deciding on a course of ac- tion based on the facts. When such a decision is not a clear cut deduction from the facts available, the decision is based on what has been done under the most similar conditions to be found elsewhere, even in other industries. Regardless of statements to the con- trary, shipping can learn from other industries because, although condi- tions are different, controlling condi- tions are not so different. that details of equipment and methods cannot be adapted to shipping use. Although conditions on a marine terminal are vastly different than conditions in a factory or a warehouse, the same kind of equipment is often used; for ex- ample, two wheeled hand _ trucks, standard trailers, skids, ete. Condi- tions vary still more between a marine terminal and a farm, yet the same gasoline tractors are used in both cases. A competent engineer has a wide range of experience and know- ledge of equipment and methods which guides him in making decisions. A great difficulty in making a survey of a marine terminal is the inadequacy of the information avail- able in company and other records. More information is available in the manufacturing industry because of the adequate statistical records kept by many manufacturing concerns and because organizations exist for the collection and the dissemination of information of great practical value. Marine engineers, naval architects and traffic men are organized along these lines, but little is done in the eargo handling branch of the shipping industry, éxcept the relatively small amount of time that is given the sub- ject in the Society of Terminal En- gineers and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. An arrangement for a closer co- operation between the engineering societies and those in the shipping industry interested in cargo handling, would be beneficial to all concerned. This would make facts and_ ideas more readily available, and would supply information which is now to be had only by laborious digging. Cargo Interchange Can Be Speeded Up ITH the highly competitive WV csi. of traffic moving through the Port of New York one must realize the importance of the movement of freight in and through the port, particularly when consideration is given to the fact that approximately 75 per cent of the total lighterage orders received by the railroads allow less than twenty-four hours from the arrival of the car at terminal yards to de- livery at steamer’s side. It may be well to visualize what The author, A. W. Shaffer, is special agent, marine department, New York Central railroad. BY A. W. SHAFFER this means to the marine departments of the various railroads. Prior to July 1925 the marine department of the New York Central railroad, as well as other roads operating in the port, received car arrival notices from terminal yards by messenger or phone service, which in many cases resulted in valuable loss of time on account of messenger service or the possibilities of error in transmitting information by telephone. With a view to expediting all de- tails in connection with this phase of the operation, and _ particularly with thought toward overcoming the MARINE REVIEW—April, 1929 lost time of slow moving messenger service between the terminal yards and lighterage department, the ma- rine department of the New York Central railroad during the winter of 1925 and 1926 made an exhaustive study of teletype operation with the result that today the New York Cen- tral railroad stands as pioneer in this field of endeavor, and offers to its patrons the first radical step by the introduction of mechanical appliances to place in the hands of the shippers quick and accurate information rela- tive to the arrival of their cars at seaboard. Study is now being made 87