Load ?em up

Load Æem up CSL develops machine that reduces container loading to minutes.

      Marine containers and truck trailers may have standardized the way shippers move their goods around, but loading commodities into these boxes efficiently is still an arduous task.
      That's what Troy Williams, chief executive officer of Container Stuffers LLC (CSL), witnessed firsthand at a Tacoma, Wash., lumber yard several years ago as workers there struggled to load logs into 40-foot containers with a shovel.
      Williams, a contract engineer repairing sawmill equipment at the site, watched the operation suddenly halt when the 2.5-inch steel plate of the shovel's boom was torn in half from pushing the logs into the containers. When asked by the lumber yard owners to assess the damage, Williams told them that based on the shovel's age it wasn't worth the cost to repair.
      However, Williams believed he could devise a better way to load logs into containers. From his fabrication yard, he built and patented what would become known as the K-Loader, a device on which an entire load of logs is prepared externally and pushed by the machine via remote control into the container in less than 10 minutes, compared to 40 minutes or longer with traditional loading equipment. The company estimates the quicker loading can reduce a log shipper's costs by as much as half.
      Williams said the device also benefits log shippers in other ways, such as taking the guesswork out of load weight and balance with its built-in scale, and smoothing out the loading process to eliminate costly damages to container walls and ceilings. 'We've heard log shippers spending anywhere from $17,000 to $30,000 a month to cover container damages,' he said.
      While the machine proved itself, Williams had to wait to promote it to shippers until earlier this year, when the North American export market for logs showed some sign of return. CSL made its debut in March at the Wood Technology Show in Portland, Ore. 'Since the show, we have had interest from individuals in Guam, Canada, Houston, Tacoma, and the Northeast,' Williams said.
      Last year, CSL also developed a version of the K-Loader for palletized container shipments.
      'The C-Loader increases loading output by 60 percent and can load up to 40 containers in one eight-hour shift with one machine and two forklift operators,' Williams said. 'The bottom line is that our equipment can load an entire 40-foot container in four minutes.'
      The difference between the machines is that C-Loader has a retractable fork system that slides the pallets into the container. The system is also capable of servicing 20-foot containers, and truck trailers of 45 feet to 53 feet long. It also facilitates more than one layer of cargo while minimizing damage to the product, he said.
      Williams explained that the C-Loader offers many safety enhancements by eliminating the need to operate a forklift inside a container and reducing the prolonged exposure to carbon monoxide in confined spaces. It's estimated that as many as 97,000 forklift accidents occur each year, some fatal, involving trucks that suddenly pull away with their trailers from the loading docks with forklift operators still inside or at the point of exiting, causing them to roll off the loading ramps.
      Williams said the base cost to build and install the loaders at site is about $500,000. 'The cost savings that you're able to get out of the machine in terms of efficiency and safety will quickly generate a return on the investment,' he said.