What I do down here.

Well I figured that today I would talk about what I have been doing exactly down here. Hopefully I can explain it so everyone can understand. I work in ATO which stands for Antarctic Terminal Operations, in the Cargo Department. I work on 1 of 6 cargo teams, 3 on day shift and 3 on night shift. I am currently on the night shift and have been more responsible for setting up for the days flights at the airfield and building pallets for flights out in town. I like being in town a lot more than at the airfield. At the airfield there is a lot more down time than in town thus the 12 hour shifts take a lot longer. Every shift we show up and are given tasks for the night, if tasked to build pallets we are given what is called a "Pri List" or "Priority List" this list tells us what we need to gather to start building the pallet. On the list there is the "TCN Number" which is the items identifier number which tells us where the item is intended to go, how much it weighs, what might be in a box and how big it is "Cube" the list also tells us what priority the item is 1,2,3…. so on. 1 is more important than 2. We are also told how many pallets we have for that build, total weight, if it is a ramp pallet, overall priority at the same time. Once we have the list the hunt usually begins. In most cases what we need is in one of two main areas, either inside our cargo bay or outside in the cargo yard. This is were the hunt begins, sometimes you get lucky and find everything nice and easy other times no such luck. As you find what you need you start to plan how the pallet will be built, easiest way to think of this process as playing a game of "Tetris". Once you have located what you need to gather the building process can begin. This can either be a quick process or a slow problem filled process. At best it takes about 2 hours from start to finish and even longer for the problematic builds. I find it rewarding to get the hard builds but it can wear on you if you are not successful. As you build the pallet there are certain adjustments that need to be made from shoring (wood to prevent metal on metal contact), dun age (lifting items for clearance), is the pallet drift able (able to come out of the LC-130 with out equipment) and is the pallet a ramp pallet. Depending on the information given certain pallets can not exceed certain heights or weight limitations. That is where the problems usually begin, with the weather in constant flux and needs constantly changing pallets are changed all the time. After the pallet is built we need to restrain the goods on the pallet, this is done with either ratchet straps, nets, chains or a combination of two or three restraint items. When done with restraining the pallet we than weigh the pallet so that we can give the load planners all in the information needed to make sure the pallet is good to fly. Once that is done a "PID" (Pallet Identification Card) is created and put on the pallet. Once this is done it is onto the airfield with the pallet and others just like it. I have realized that the weights on the TCN labels are not always correct, goods are not where they should be, its either bigger or smaller than listed, the priority isn't what it is said to be and so on. That is where pallet building drags on. I have added photo's of the process to help explain certain parts to the job. Hope this helps everyone understand my job better.


Tim



Inside the Cargo Bay



Finding and staging of cargo from the bay



One of the many loaders we use



A Tucker Snow Cat, an easy load it is driven into the airplane



A big build (it is called a T-2 cause it uses 2 pallets)



A Cat D-4 dozer restrained on a T-2


You can see the shoring under the tracks and the dun age for support in front



A PID on the D-4, it weight 17,795 pounds with everything on the T-2, pallet, chains, shoring, dun age and the D-4


A Delta truck which is used to take pallets to and from the airfields


Downloading a 5-ton truck in the Cargo Yard


A trip to the airfield from the dashboard of a Delta truck


Theses next 3 pictures were from what is currently called the monster pallet cause of all the problems it caused to build it on Saturday night. It took 4 hours to build it and we still are not done with it. I get to work on it again tonight.


The Aft view


Left side view


Forward view