New equipment improves container handling at MOTSU

Army Logistician,  March-April, 2005  

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New container- and materials-handling equipment at Military Ocean Terminal Sunny Point (MOTSU), North Carolina, will save money and improve container throughput for the Department of Defense (DOD).

DOD has been moving toward 100-percent containerization of munitions since the early 1970s. Ninety percent of the ammunition that comes through MOTSU is containerized. The new equipment was procured as part of a modernization plan that began in 2003 to decrease operating costs, increase productivity, enhance customer service, and comply with a DOD requirement to be able to transship 10,000 containers in 14 days.

MOTSU's Strategic Plan, published in 2003, includes a goal to improve efficiency of the terminal by upgrading operational processes, developing automated cargo management systems, and procuring equipment to support the near-exclusive use of containers. As a result, the terminal is transforming from a breakbulk terminal to a container terminal.

"We knew we had to maximize the movement of containers to keep the ship working and the way to do that was to move two 20-foot containers at a time.... We did a cost-benefit analysis of double loading, also known as 'picking,' which showed we could move 1,856 containers in 8 days instead of 12 by double picking," said Steve Kerr, the transportation manager at MOTSU. "Our former fleet of 40-foot chassis was not capable of handling double-picked loads of up to 105,820 pounds. We had to focus on procuring the right equipment to do the job."

The new, commercially available equipment will increase productivity and save time and money because it can haul two containers at once and eliminates the need for additional labor to remove twist locks under the crane. Approximately 700 1960s-vintage 20-foot chassis will be replaced with twenty-four 45-foot bomb cart port chassis. Twelve bomb carts and yard tractors to pull each of them have already been purchased.

Additional improvements include a refurbishment of a container transfer crane and purchase of a new $3 million rail-mounted transfer crane. The current fleet of gas and electric forklifts is being replaced with commercial diesel forklifts better suited for heavier ammunition containers, and both MOTSU wharf cranes have been refurbished.

By fiscal year 2006, the terminal's rail spurs will be upgraded to accommodate current industry rail fleets. Funds have been programmed for fiscal year 2007 to convert the breakbulk-capable center wharf to a container-capable wharf with three container cranes to better accommodate commercial container vessels.

COPYRIGHT 2005 ALMC
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