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Materials handling men talk containers
Page 32
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• Concern about the correct and even distribution of container loads, and the problems facing shippers who are unable to provide full container loads, were the major points discussed by delegates at an open forum following the seminar "Containerization" held by the Institute of Materials Handling at Fulmer Grange, near Slough, on April 2.
A delegate from the National Dock Labour Board asked users to take far greater care when loading containers to ensure even loading and, where possible, to employ experts to do the job. Badly loaded container were causing considerable delays at the docks, he said: every day there were instances of operations which should take two minutes with efficient handling equipment taking five minutes or more due to the difficulties of manoeuvring and positioning "heavy-ended" containers.
In his opening address Mr R. J. T. Hewitt, national chairman of the Institute, referred to the problems and delays of lashing containers on ships' decks. Transfer of containers from quayside to ship took little more than two minutes with the sophisticated machinery now available, but the task was considerably slowed when it took up to half an hour to lash the container down; this problem needed looking into.
Four papers were presented at the seminar. The first, "Some economical aspects of containerization", was by Mr P. H. Sinclare, research director, National Ports Council, who said that one of the difficulties in assessing the economics of full container load movements was due to the lack of data of the origin and destination of goods. This and other data required for the economic 'analysis of general cargo transport was difficult to obtain but was essential in forecasting container traffic, as the impact of containerization was likely to change the present distribution pattern.
Such changes, he said, in the present pattern were likely to come about as a result of concentrating cargo flows to fewer ports; concentration of movement was an essential condition for the successful containerization of deep-sea trade routes. Concentration might affect the unit cost of inland transport; there were wide differences in the charges made by various hauliers for the same journey as this often depended on the frequency and availability of return loads.
A number of studies had taken place on total journey economics and, Mr Sinclare said, comparisons of pallets and containers on a port-to-port basis indicated that pallet operations might be cheaper than container services, but the differences were likely to be marginal or might even reverse when inland transport costs were taken into account.
Mr Sinclare also said that there were some indications of the beginnings of a rate war on deep-sea traffics.
Mr D. A. B. Crawford, of ICI, discussed an extensive report resulting from ICI central distribution department's study of filling and emptying freight containers. The department had considered all the problems of loading and unloading Standard ISO containers with the very wide variety of products manufactured by ICI's manufacturing divisions. One of the conclusions reached was that only standard end-opening containers should be considered as these were the most commonly available, and they presented the most loading difficulties. Any equipment or method devised to suit such units could be easily adapted to suit non-standard containers such as side opening or top-opening types.
The report, said Mr Crawford, considered every aspect of the subject except cost comparisons or returns on investment which, he explained, were outside the brief of the study group.
A film was shown illustrating some of the investigation work for the report, and Mr Crawford answered questions from delegates. Asked about packaging of goods in containers, he replied that they had to consider what happened to lightly packed goods—for example paper and plastics sacks and light steel drums—when they were unloaded. These goods might have to be re-handled many times and, particularly in some overseas countries, might have to be transported long distances under far from satisfactory conditions. A strong point made by Mr Crawford in answering questions about loading methods was that loading heavy or difficult-to-handle goods in a container by some cunning means would not help the customer if he was not able to get the stuff out.
"The primary benefits of containerization go to the carrier," said Mr H. H. Pusey, of Field Aircraft Services Ltd, when presenting his paper "Development of inland container depots". Containerization was seen as the answer to congestion at the ports, but there were less than a dozen approved inland clearance depots and already there was a risk of congestion developing. In the future, he said, there would be as bad congestion around these depots as at present existed around the ports.
At present it was left to broadly based consortia or public corporations to establish inland container depots and their decision was usually based on commercial viabilities of the base itself, or the benefits to the carrier members of the consortium. A high burden of cost for these depots would fall on the ordinary ratepayer in the provision of all the road and rail facilities which these bases required both in the sense of finance and in the loss of amenity.
Delicate problem A wider problem, Mr Pusey said, and more delicate than these others, was in the field of industrial relations. Care would have to be taken to ensure that a network of depots catering for all types of traffic, using all modes of transport, was not created in such a way that an industrial dispute at one of the depots, ports or airports did not snowball round the others The final speaker, Mr C. Bamfield, assistant secretary, Board of HM Customs and Excise, with a paper entitled "Some aspects of container procedures and documentation", referred to the new International Customs Transit Convention which has been produced in draft form. The draft proposes the replacement of carnets by a guarantee system which will provide cover not for individual consignments of goods but for all the journeys undertaken by the carrier; a carrier will be free to enter the arrangement at any point and the overall aim is, by cutting down the duplication of control which inevitably occurs under existing systems, to achieve a significant reduction in costs and time.
"Contrary to some people's belief," he said, "the Customs do not carry out anything like a 100 per cent physical examination of incoming cargo but make selective checks based on the revenue risks in a particular consignment. If the goods in a container are all of the same kind there is a much less chance of the Customs wanting to inspect its contents than if it contains a wide diversity of cargo."
Inadequate documentation caused delays and the importer should take early steps to lodge the CustOms entry for the goods. If advance copies of documents were sent by Telex it should be possible to have entries prepared, passed and duty paid, and in the hand of the Customs officer at the place of importation well before the goods were actually landed.