bracing must be applied, as detailed in the description immediately
following the drawings. Look at circled letter (C). Now find item C in the
description. It tells you that you will need one block of pattern 25, shown
under material patterns in the same appendix, for each wheel of the 1/4ton
truck. Multiplying by 4 for the total number of wheels (on the ground) per
vehicle and by 8 for the total number of 1/4ton trucks you are shipping,
you find that you will need a grand total of 32 blocks of pattern 25 to
block all of your 1/4ton trucks. When the description calls for "2 each
unit," as for (E) it means only two are needed for each vehicle. Your total
for (E) would be 16, since you are shipping 8 such trucks (8 x 2). While it
is not difficult to compute these material requirements, great care must be
taken not to overlook any of the items called for. Patterns are usually
made to order for the shipment and a shortage discovered at the last minute
may delay the loading while the missing items are made.
2.13. SUMMARY
In a sense, each shipment of military equipment by rail is different
from all others. This is so because the numbers and kinds of equipment to
be loaded are seldom the same, and rail cars furnished to the military
shipper often differ not only in tonnage classification but also in design
and dimensions. The route, too, is changeable. With all of these
differences, however, the basic rules remain the one dependable guide for
rail shipment. And using these rules, the military shipper of freight works
out the best possible combinations of his equipment on the rail cars he can
get.
Instead of attempting trialanderror loading on the actual rail car,
the military shipper plans ahead of time exactly where each item will be
positioned on which car. Using paper and pencil, he may make scale drawings
of rail cars and the items to be shipped. And he may prepare tables showing
various dimensions of his equipment in multiples and in varying equipment
combinations. Satisfied at last that his equipment "fits" the rail cars at
his disposal, both physically and within the limits of the AAR rules, the
military shipper makes up a firm loading plan to guide those who will do the
actual loading.
In determining what materials will be needed to block and brace items
on rail cars, the military shipper refers to published loading drawings for
the specific items. Those drawings show where blocking and bracing are
needed, what materials are called for, and how to apply those materials.
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