Radial Truck Unloader Delivers Efficiency Gains for Fullen Docks

Founded in 1974, Fullen Docks & Warehouse Incorporated are a full-service intermodal river terminal and warehousing facility located on the lower Mississippi River, immediately north of Downtown Memphis. Their clients include barge brokers, freight forwarders, and manufacturers requiring barge loading, offloading, harbour and tug services, trans-shipment, trucking and storage within the Mid-South and to other continental U.S. regions. Fullen Stone Stores, a subsidiary of Fullen Docks sell and transport a wide variety of aggregate products to the regional construction trade.

After successfully tendering to provide expanded clay, shale, and slate to a light weight concrete block manufacturer, Fullen Docks had to come up with a solution for moving and storing this fragile, lightweight material. Expanded clay, shale, and slate are produced by crushing the raw materials and heating them to 2000°F (1093°C). At this temperature the material bloats, or puffs up, because of the rapid generation of gases caused by the combustion of small quantities of organic material trapped inside. The problem with such a material is that it cannot be stockpiled via wheeled loaders as the material is very fragile and breaks down under the weight of the shovel. Uniformed aggregate is vital in the production of light weight concreate so cross contamination caused by wheel loaders was another major concern. To overcome this challenge Fullen Docks decided to invest in two EDGE products; an RTS80 Radial Track Stockpiler and a RTU220 Radial Truck Unloader.

Drastically improved cycle times and overall productivity

Prior to purchasing the RTU, Fullen Docks off-loaded barges using an excavator. From there it was transported to the storage area and stockpiled using wheeled loaders. By enabling Fullen Docks operators to continuously load directly from trucks into the RTU220s’ large 23m³ (30 cubic yards) hopper and into train wagons or barges, the Radial Truck Unloader removed the need to double handle the material and drastically improved cycle times and overall productivity.

EDGE RTU220 Loading Barges

The RTU220 is an independent track mounted unit that provides flexibility and reliability. Powered by a CAT 4.4 96KW (129BHP) diesel engine, the RTU220 offers huge torque whilst only consuming 12-15 litres per hour (3-4USG). A further cost saving option of a dual power source is available to customers allowing  the RTU to be tracked into position and then connected to an on-site 3 phase electrical supply to power conveyors for a higher level of efficiency.

The machine has a range of applications but is specifically designed to receive material from lorries and dump trucks. The RTU can accept a full 20m³ (26 yrd³) load at one given time. Its high torque drive system allows the speed of the conveyor belt to be adjusted meaning the output of the machine can be regulated. Further suitable applications include material stockpiling, and loading of ships, containers and railway carriages.

Manoeuvrability of a track stacker with the 360° radial stockpiling ability of a radial mobile stacker

For Fullen Docks to maintain a high quality product as specified by its customer, no cross contamination from Fullen Dock’s other aggregate products could occur. To prevent this; a second smaller holding yard was employed for holding the lightweight aggregate. The issue facing Fullen Docks was the limited space provided by this yard to stockpile the vast amount of material required to fulfil their customer requirements. To overcome this shortcoming, Fullen Docks invested in an RTS80 radial track stockpiler to stockpile material directly from the RTU220. The RTS80 purchased by Fullen docks is a unique concept in that it is essentially a radial wheeled stockpiler and a track stockpiler all in one. It provides all the benefits found in two model types – the manoeuvrability found with a track stacker over rough terrain and the 360° radial stockpiling ability of a radial mobile stacker. The radial track stockpiler supplied to Fullen Docks was installed with our automatic stockpiling programme option. By combining automatic radial drive functions and self-angle adjustment, the RTS80 has the ability to create huge radial stockpiles with minimal supervision. Trucks at Fullen Docks are now able to offload directly in the RTU220 which in turn transfers the material into the RTS80 which has the ability to create radial stockpiles with a  volume of up to 13328.8m³ (17433 yards³).

Reduction in cost-per-tonne handled

With access from 3 sides and with the added feature of hydraulic flared sides, the RTU220 hopper can also be fed directly by wheel loaders, excavators and grab cranes. The high torque capacity of the RTU220 coupled with its adjustable belt speed allows the machine to be used to regulate the flow of material. These added features allow the RTU220 to lend itself to a whole host of different applications. This flexibility is highlighted by Fullen Docks future plans of deploying the RTU220 and its 140° 50FT Radial Conveyor to load directly into barges with materials from their Fullen Stone Department. The RTU220 has dramatically expanded Fullen Docks material handling options and has eliminated the need to double handle material, reduced their dependency on wheeled loaders and vastly reduced cycle times from the barge to the storage facility. Ultimately in the case of Fullen Docks; EDGE has been able to reduce their cost-per-tonne handled.

All EDGE products are designed, manufactured and built in a new state of the art manufacturing plant based in Ireland, with a strong focus on quality assurance. As a result of decades of experience, EDGE Innovate are leading the way in the Materials handling and Recycling equipment sectors. Our material handling portfolio boasts a wide range of mobile conveying systems that includes; the MS-Series (mobile stockpilers), the TS-Series (track conveyors), the RTS series (Radial Track Stockpilers), the FS-Series (Mobile/Track Feeder Stockpilers) and our new LTS-Series (low-level track stockpiler) launched in 2013 along with the added option of our 360° Unlimited Range. This growing range of equipment caters for the various needs of a rapidly growing customer base with a wide range of applications including rail loading/unloading, construction and demolition waste (C+D), sand and gravel, compost, topsoil, wood waste, mulch, scrap metal, aggregates and coal.

EDGE Innovate are exhibiting its wares at a number of up-coming exhibitions including;

• Matexpo – Belgium – 2^nd-6^th September
• Expobiomasa – Valladolid, Spain – 22^nd-24^th September
• Dry Cargo Conference and Exhibition – Rotterdam 30^th September to 1^st October
• Philconstruct – Pasay City, Philippines – 8th-11^th October
• CONEXPO Latin America – Santiago, Chile – 21^st– 24th October
• Waste Management and Recycling Summit – Doha, Qatar – 4^th-5^th November

Make sure to stop by our stand of any of the exhibitions listed above to speak to a member of our team about the latest offerings, including the EDGE RTU220 radial truck unloader.