Bulk Handling Machinery & Storage

Introduction

Transportation of large amounts of goods ("bulk") presents opportunities to reduce the human and animal labor loading and unloading large numbers of sacks, barrels and cartons.   Typical bulk materials are coal, petroleum, ores, limestone, cement, whole grains, flour, chemicals, liquified gases, milk, water, beer, wine, fruit juices and sugar.   Small packages are consolidated into trailers that are handled as one unit ("containerization") with less labor, damage, packaging and insurance costs.     Vehicles using cranes to move large containers include ships, railroads, airplanes, and trucks.

To 1939

Since earliest times, containers loaded onto truck, train, and ship transport and then unloaded and stacked in warehouses waiting further transport on the backs of men and beasts to other destinations.   Hand carts and hoists and nets were sometimes used facilitate this process.   After 1800, some cranes were operated by steam engines that made the loading and unloading operations more efficient. ^{How 370}

1940-1949

1950-1959

1960-1969

In the 1960s, standard container sizes were established, which led to the containerization of bulk loads onto seagoing ships.   This leads to much lower bulk transport costs and faster turnaround time for ships.   Special cranes and trucks are built to handle the containers. ^{How 612}

1970-1979

By 1972, ocean tanker size averaged about 250,000 dwt (dead weight tons), compared to 12, 000 dwt in 1939.   This increase in size makes it more economical to use more sophisticated bulk handling equipment. ^{How 370}

1980-1989

1990-1999

Using the latest lifting methods, the average loading rate on a seagoing ship is 10 tons / hour.   With containerization of 30 tons / per trailer container, the rate is one container (30) tons per 10 minutes, i.e., 180 tons / hour.   It takes 5 days to break apart the loads without containerization and 1 day when they are containerized. ^{How 610}