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The use of the screw type con- veyors by the Great Lakes Transit Corp. in conjunction with handling cargos was described in the Novem- ber, 1930, issue of the Marine Rer- view. This operation is an example of the use of conveyors in handling bagged goods that come out of the ship with bags badly mixed. The bags are dropped upon a sorting table by the belt conveyor that brings the bags from alongside ship. . The sorting table consists of a mov- ing belt with a narrow shelf, onto which the bags are pulled by the sorters lined up along the sorting table. The bags are placed on trail- ers hauled to cars by tractors. Flexibility of Screw Type Conveyor The Great Lakes Transit Corp. uses screw type conveyors only at South Chicago for handling bagged freight from cars across the dock to the ship. This operation will be describ- ed in detail in a later issue. The screw type conveyor is advantage- ous because of its great flexibility. Its lightness and ease with which it can be adjusted to turn corners makes it particularly suitable for cargo handling operations. The effective use of the portable belt conveyor is found in handling bunches of bananas, boxes and ham- pers of fruits and vegetables, cases of oil and other cargo of approxi- mately the same size. One line uses a belt conveyor in discharging fruits and vegetables from side port steamers. The wharf is narrow and congested, marks are mixed and packages consist of boxes, crates and hampers. However, these conditions which are sometimes offered as a reason for using hand trucks, do not prevent fast discharg- ing of the cargo at low cost. The side port conveyors discharge to the dock conveyors. The pack- ages are taken off this by men placed along side the conveyors. The pack- ages are placed on the belt in the ship with the marks up to facilitate this operation. The packages are then placed on electric land carry- ing trucks or on skids. This line not only uses conveyors for discharging from the ‘tween- decks, but from the lower hold. Short portable belt conveyors with cleats on the belt are used. After the space in the hold near the conveyor is cleared, additional men are placed in the hold so that the conveyor is profitably utilized. Since conveyors have been utilized the tons per man hour have been increased, ships’ despatch has been expedited, and packages are less damaged than previously. Conveyors and Trucks Used Another steamship company utilizes belt conveyors in handling packages of fruits and vegetables out of the ship, but uses hand trucks MARINE REVIEwW—September, TDNUUNIQNNANUONENUUUUTEETLEADUUOUUUUUUNNUN Making a turn in tween decks with conveyor loading oranges. UUUUUUTRAUTLCUUTTATLUUCOHAAT COUGAR COOH fitted with trays for handling on the . dock. The trucks are lined up along the conveyors and marks separated by piling only one mark on each of the trucks. In another steamship company ships’ time being the most impor- tant factor, a conveyor is used to dis- charge general cargo to the wharf. The cargo is rough piled—-sorted after the ship sails. This operation greatly expedited: ships’ despatch, and costs per ton were also reduced. Portable belt conveyors are used very effectively on the Pacific coast in loading flour into ships. The conveyor is placed to lead from the pier to the hatch where chutes handle to the hold or ‘tweendeck. The flour is brought to the conveyors by means of large four-wheel trucks hauled by gasoline tractors. The United States department of labor reports that the average per gang per hour for this method is 62.6 tons, which is the highest pro- ductivity shown for loading flour in the ports studied i.e., Seattle, Ta- coma, Portland, Oreg., Astoria, Gal- veston, Houston, Port Arthur, Texas Newport News, Va. The North Pier Terminal Co. of Chicago uses belt conveyors in hand- ling cargo to and from barges. Costs have been reduced and barges’ des- UUCUVATUUOUT CUO CUUOAUUOAAUUGOR LEU Gravity roller con- veyors are often useful for handling cargo in ships and on Terminals. TUTUTOUUUCUUUHHAULEUPAHATAUUUAELUERLL patch expedited. Formerly 900 bags of sugar were discharged per hour; now 1500 bags ean be handled in the same time. The Banning Co., Los Angeles, stevedores, use a combination of belt and gravity conveyors in loading boxes of oranges into European- bound ships. Both side ports and hatches are used. At present 750 boxes to 1200 boxes per hour per gang are handled by the conveyors, compared with 450 boxes per hour per gang when using ships gear. Less Damage to Packages The chief difficulty in getting a better speed of loading is the time necessary to place dunnage so that the boxes may be properly refriger- ated during the voyage. An average cargo of approximately 30,000 boxes of oranges is necessary to justify the use of a conveyor. A big advantage in using conveyors is that there is less damage to boxes; ships despatch has also been ex- pedited. Belt conveyors are used extensive- ly in handling bananas. In some operations the conveyors only handle from the ship through a side port to the pier, where the~bunches are picked up by longshoremen and “humped’’ across the pier to a car- float unloading to refrigerator cars. 41