Yep, still there earning the big bucks, but they're now called "TRM's" but without the responsibility of loadsheets !!
trained Load controllers are at the aircraft calling or telexing CLC on the other side of the world yet actually looking at the system themselves and knowing what's going on before the CLC bod does.
That's one thing that bugs me, and I've been in the position many many many times before where I know exactly what needs to be done, I know the entry, and I know it'll be safe. But I've had to phone CLC to get them to do it. It's frustrating for the TRC, however I'd say it was one of the more minor niggles about working at our place!
However it gives the most airlines the excuse to put TRC/Ms on lower money despite their knowledge and (previous) responsibilities.
There are clear benefits in cost and experience
Pretty impressive stuff! However I'm sure the savings aren't quite that huge
This is 19 years of experience more than the decentralised load controller every year.
That is why with a decent CLC, I think can overall make an operation safer.
If you have well trained TRCs to be the interface between 'real world' and 'CLC world' and spot the errors therein, and well trained CLC agents doing good quality load control, problems are overall less common in a CLC environment.
Of course if you have a crap TRC and crap CLC agent, that's a disaster waiting to happen. Errors will be more common and potentially more dangerous. With the ruthless cost-cutting in the industry over the past few years, it (to me) is an area of worry, which needs constant attention paid to it by the CAA to ensure adherence to standards and regulations.