Suspended container monorail

[cteno4]

Interesting use of a suspended monorail to move containers at a port facility. Seems very slow.

 

jeff

 

 

[cteno4]

The more I’ve thought on this application I just don’t understand how it’s going to be a big efficiency for the system.
 

Right now it looks like 2 carriers ona point to point terminus system and runs at same speed as a regular ev automated carrier, so no efficiency difference there. I could see it having dozens of carriers in a big loop, but being a completely serial system the dropoffs/pickups would need to be fast not to back up carriers behind them.

 

containers have to be placed under the monorail by mobile carriers at each end as the dock or yard cranes can’t place a container under the monorail carrier.

 

in case of a breakdown of a monorail carrier it seems like it would be hard to swap it out, where as if a automated Mobil carrier goes down it can just be towed off and driven around until that happens. 
 

Seems like the mobile carriers are pretty efficient besties, Being a simple ev drive train and automated controls and sensors. Slow moving slow stopping, and no transmissions needed so pretty low wear and tear. No winches and such to deal with compared to the monorail carrier. The monorail doesn’t have to get recharged like the mobile carriers, but it seems like this is the one place where a battery swap out system would work wonderfully on the mobile ground carriers.

 

the only thing it seems to make sense is to move a bunch of containers straight from the dock to a very remote container sorting area, but it seems like it will need to operate a lot faster and it’s still going to need a lot of mobile carriers on each end. They must have some plans and I’m sure it’s all been worked out, just seemed like a lot of ?? kept popping up as I thought about all this. Container ports fascinated me. I grew up at the port of Oakland in the 60s when things were just starting to move over and Oakland was big with containers but still many ships offloading crates with boom cranes! 

 

jeff

[katoftw]

It seems overkill for the role it plays.

 

It just removes the small transition tractors that take the container from the dock next to the ship, to the exchange point of large interstate trucks.

 

Many they have labour shortage or just offers a long term reduced wages windfall.

[cteno4]

I was wondering if it was the shuttle between a second container storage yard or rail transfer. Even then seems like simple ev mobile transporters are simpler solution. Was also thinking if this was just to shuttle to second storage yard why not a standard flat bed train on the ground? Could stack 2 high. Keep thinking something is missing in the equation I’m not seeing.

 

jeff