Power Stow Belt Loader ! Why Are these belt loaders not used at UK airports ???

[tony2574]

Power Stow Rollertrack - YouTube (http://youtu.be/3uTb-rR6eqw)

Why are these belt loaders not being used in UK airports, they will greatly reduce back injuries and make loading bulk aircraft a lot easier ???

What do you think ?

[750XL]

New equipment costs money :sad: At my station there's a lot of equipment that's older than me.

[British Grenadier]

Cobalt at LHR have a couple of FMC Rampsnake but not seen them in action
http://youtu.be/tdAsGtB6Xjk

[backtrack_32]

I belive that MENZIES MAN have some of these at their station.

[groundhogbhx]

Swissport BHX have 2.

[sat1]

they're very good kit,however,they are expensive and they are no good for a turnaround of less than 60 mins.

[groundhogbhx]

I disagree, they work fine on most aircraft types and are no problem at all on turns of 45 minutes or less.

[Flightmech]

We use the FMC Rampsnake for belly loading the 757 in many locations. Nice piece of kit

[WorkSmart]

I have seen the powerstow units in operation, KLM schiphol and Aviator Copenhagen have a big fleet. Very smart beltloader, easy handling and smart functional tiltable head that actually works, unlike the FMC rampsnake. Turn around time down to 20 minutes. Reduced back injuries and happy users.

[bcgallacher]

Can you still stand on it to replace nav. light lamps?

[WorkSmart]

I haven’t seen the PS belt loader being used for the particular task

[WorkSmart]

Think the Power Stows are in LTN also. Saw a unit there last week not sure if it was Menzies or Swissport using it.

[speedbird_481_papa]

Not sure of the exact number but we have a few at BRS!

[WorkSmart]

Speedbird, What station uses the Power Stow at BRS?

[speedbird_481_papa]

Not the power stow per-say but the bendy belt by Mallaghan in Northern ireland. Both handling agents use this

[speedbird_481_papa]

Not the power stow per-say but the bendy belt by Mallaghan in Northern ireland. Both handling agents use this at BRS

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UL1Bc8TuXa8

[WorkSmart]

I see, suppose they have many belts in te UK since beeing a local manufacturer. Anyone know what happens if theese belts breaks down and get stuck inside the A/C whilst loading?

[SMT Member]

I'm 'elf & safety for a fairly large handling agent, in an area of the world where the health of workers is being taken quite a bit more serious than others. Among other things, this means we are subject to certain limits for how much a person can lift in a working day.

Based on those limits; a survey of the average weight of all loose loaded goods on a movement; the size of a ramp handling team, it's possible to translate those limits into an allowed number of turnarounds per working day.

With a team of 3 handling an average of just under 1000kg per movement, each person is allowed 6.7 turnarounds per working day. That is, without using technical aids, e.g. Powerstow and/or rear-lifter, but with the use of belt-loaders in all bulk compartments. As the percentage of belt-loaders equipped with techical aids increase, so does the number of allowed turnarounds. As a rear-lifter aids both during loading and un-loading, whereas a front-aid only helps during loading, it's more efficient on paper to equip the fleet with rear-lifters. However, it's also blatantly clear that from the point of view of a ramp agent, a front-aid is much preferred. With a fleet 100% equipped at the front end only, max. turnarounds is 10. With both from and rear ends equipped, there is essentially no lifting taking place anymore, and therefore no max number of turnarounds.

The best option on the market is the Powerstow, which comes at a price of around 150K UKP. Tel-air also has a solution, designed to work with their sliding carpets. The first generation was pants, we are having an example of the 2nd generation in for testing. Supposedly it's the bees knees when paired with e.g. a 737NG sliding carpet. The ramp snake is a piece of p1sh, who's only value lies in a spreadsheet.

Powerstows are a great aid to securing a short turnaround on a 'heavy' flight, such as damn near every single one of them during the summer. Getting 180 bags, bit of freight, a dozen strollers, golf bags, bicycles, live animals and wheelchairs into the bulk of a 737 is a challenge, but using just one Powerstow equipped belt-loader we could do it regularly in 25-30 minutes. Without the Powerstow, it took closer to 40-45. On the other hand, there is no debilating effect of using a Powerstow; our regular T/A is 25 minutes, and that's not a problem with a light or medium load.

[Heavyman]

Costs too much plus there is the health and safety aspect of having a handling agent in the hold on his own

[falcon12]

Powerstow Cost
At a reported GB150K (USD229K ish) you are looking at the same sort of price as an LDL and only the very foolish would pay cash for either. Best bet is an Operating Lease over 5 or 7 years makes it very affordable.

'elf and safety
SMT Member has got it right and with the times being saved, even the bean counters should be smiling IMO

[WorkSmart]

Read an article about American Airlines buying a big chunk of these power stow`s for the US ops. Suppose this explains how they get all that heavy load on the B757, Busting backs unloading them here in the UK!

[TURIN]

The old BA 757s we're fitted with in-hold sleds that moved the bulk loads within the aircraft cutting down on handling.
Most of the narrow body Airbus' use pallets for main hold loads with a tiny proportion , IE late standby bags going in the bulk hold. So baggage handling is cut to a minimum. Standard turnaround time for an A319 is 35 minutes.

[WorkSmart]

Think many airlines are starting to look for groundbased handling solutions. If an onboard loading system is broken down it has to be fixed by and aircraft mechanic and time is taken of the flight beeing stuck in the hangar. Also flying around with additional weight adds to the fuel cost`s I suppose.

[Steno1950]

We have trialed the Power Stow at our station no so long ago. Great piece of kit! Quick turnarounds, reliable and manages heavy cargo and HR very well. It even counts the bags! 20+ years in the industry and I have never seen any GSE as good as this. :D