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www.rockproducts.com ROCK products • July 2017 • 45 EQUIPMENT & TECHNOLOGY LOADOUT & DRONES Safety and Environmental Issues The dustless loading spout addresses many of the safety and environmental issues present at transload facilities. A fabric outer sleeve encompasses the retractable loading cones. A vacuum is established within the sleeve. Fugitive dust created in the loading process is transported up, through the spout to a central dust collector. Integral dust filters were eventually designed to capture fugi - tive dust emitted during loading. The dust is deposited back into the material flow during the loading process. This fil- tration system aids in preventing material waste and greatly increases overall profitability. The time it takes to load individual trucks at transload facil- ities is an important factor. Loading a sand truck requires four steps: • Safely accessing and opening the top hatches. • Spotting the truck. • Loading the sand. • Safely accessing and closing the top hatches. Drivers wish to turn as many loads as possible during a day. Larger, more efficient spouts offer faster loading times that equates to cost efficiency and profitability for the trucking company as well as the facility. Facility managers realize the importance of their loading spout and how it can easily bring joy or irritation to them. Not only do they address above-mentioned safety, profitabil- ity, and loading issues, they must consider costs relating to equipment maintenance and downtime. Vortex Global understands reliability issues relating to retract- able, dustless loading spouts. Two of their spout features, unique to the industry, have quickly caught the attention of transload facility managers. Vortex's proprietary 4-cable lifting design provides maximum stability and more lifting torque compared with standard 2- or 3- cable systems used on standard loading spouts. Should one cable of a 2- or 3- cable spout break from wear or trucker pull away, it is unusable until repair is made. Should one cable on the Vortex 4-cable spout breaks, the spout is still operational. Vortex's 3-piece CNC machined pulleys feature rounded edges and precision cable grooves that significantly reduce cable wear and backlashing as the spout extends and retracts. Whereas, the "sharp edged" pulleys of traditional spouts create premature wear and cable breakage. Maintenance personnel that have experienced cable fry and failure will relate to the fact that continual cable repair creates excessive downtime and maintenance cost issues, as well as upset truckers – waiting for repairs to be made before they can load product. Utilizing a loading spout that promotes employee and driver safety, that adds to a facility's profitability, and does not constantly create maintenance and loading issues is extremely important for a transload facility. Equipment dependability and reliability are key compo- nents for facility operators who are responsible for creating and maintaining the overall success of their operation. Man- ufacturers like Vortex Global are important resources for these facilities. Kevin R. Peterson is the business development director for the Vortex Titan product line. Vortex spout with 4-way positioner. Vortex pulley (left) vs. traditional pulley. Vortex dust filtration system.