The Loading Bay

The loading bay

Each loading bay is different in length and height. It is important to learn the differences in loading bays around the mine, are they in the decline or at the internal stock pile.

What’s the difference?

The only real difference is that in the decline you are loading from a 1:7 down angle instead of on the flat.

Loading on the decline is, believe it or not easier then on the flat. The extra height lets you see a lot more of the tub and the dirt going in the back. When loading on the flat you can’t see anything going into the back of the tub so a clear mental image of what is going on is important to conducting loading safely.

If you try to load on a decline from the lower position you put yourself in a very weak position. They are a number of things that can go wrong loading from this position and some mines have banned the practice.

Position of the truck

This can make or break the speed that the trucks are loaded. The best position is where the truck does not have to be moved so the bogger may pass without touching the truck.

Once you start having to move trucks back and forth in the loading bay what are you loosing lost of?

Time.

Time waiting for the truck to move back and forth. Time it takes for the truck driver to put down their coffee and mag and move the truck. The slow speed of the truck moving around the loading bay waiting for the horn to hit the brakes to stop.

The best way to move a truck around a loading bay is to let the truckies do it themselves. They can do this by using a painted T on the wall of the loading bay. This T marks the correct position to stop and should line up with the truck operator ‘s drivers side window.