Safety measures must be observed during loading to avoid risks to operators.
- When transporting fruit by tractor-mounted carriers, forklifts, trailers or transporters, safe working rules and practices must be observed.
- Ignoring these rules could lead to injury or death to the operator or other people working nearby.
- Always make sure that tractors and other equipment is in safe working order before use (forks, chains, hydraulic hoses and couplings etc.).
- Operators should fully understand what each control is for.
- Controls should be clearly marked to avoid misunderstanding or misuse.
- All safety equipment required for legal compliance should be in place and fit for purpose e.g. guards etc.
- Maximum carrying capacity should not be exceeded.
- Always drive carefully, bearing in mind the load being carried, ground conditions and the state of any roads.
- Do not stop or start suddenly or corner at speed.
- When carrying bins or pallets of boxes ensure vision is not impaired.
- When reversing with loaded trailers or transporters, ensure there are no obstacles or people in the way before moving off.
- Take extra care in orchards where fruit is being picked.
- Slow down when leaving orchards or when joining roadways, your vision may be restricted.
- Look out for overhead obstructions.
- When the tractor is travelling unloaded ensure that the forks are in the safe ‘transport’ position or kept at 8 inches (20 cm) above the ground.
- Carry bins/pallets as near to the ground as possible on tractor carriers. Forks should be tilted slightly so that bins or boxes are carried against the lift frame. Do not move a load that is higher than the backrest of the forklift.
- Do not carry extra people on tractors or trailers.
- Use flashing lights when travelling on public roads.
Shared transport to storage facility
Considerable benefits, in quality and cost efficiency can be gained from co-operation with others in transportation to a central storage facility.
- Sharing transport with a neighbour may enable fruit to be moved quickly, reducing unnecessary delays in the transfer from orchard to store.
- Savings in cost as well as quality benefits can be gained.
Use lorries with air cushion suspension
To avoid unnecessary bruising in transit lorries with air cushion suspension should be used wherever possible.
- When fruit is transferred by any system, it is at risk from bruise/damage.
- Transferring fruit on a lorry can contribute towards unnecessary bruising if best practice is not observed.
- Whenever possible use lorries with air cushion suspension, particularly for longer distances. Generally today most haulage firms will operate lorries with air cushion suspension.
- However, some smaller operators may still have lorries with conventional spring suspension. This may be perfectly satisfactory for short distances, if driven carefully, but should not be used for longer journeys.
Production areas and dedicated storage facilities
The location of storage facilities in relation to the production area can have a significant influence on long-term storage potential.
- The optimum location for a store would be close enough to the orchards to allow all fruit to be loaded in a store within 2 hours of being harvested.
- In most cases this may not be practical, and, in order to utilise high specification storage, longer distances may be required.
- In order to ensure fruit has sufficient shelf life when the store is opened, it will be necessary to balance the factors involved.
- If high specification storage is available, with rapid temperature pull-down capabilities and the facility to achieve CA conditions with flushing, but 4 hours distant, it will still be better than storage close at hand with poor pull-down and slow establishment of CA conditions.