Local Crane Operator Sets the Bar High; the Longshoreman Moved 47 Containers in an Hour -- the National Average Is 25 to 35

Gibbons, Timothy J., The Florida Times Union

Byline: TIMOTHY J. GIBBONS

Although he's sitting still, Homer Wright is dancing.

It's not his legs that are dancing, but his hands -- and his hands' extensions: the flippers dangling 100 feet below the cab of the crane Wright sits in, the spreaders that are grabbing containers and moving them to shore.

The dance isn't going as fast today as it was a week or so ago, but that's not surprising: On that day, Wright's dance was one of the fastest in the nation, setting a Jacksonville record as he moved 269 containers from a Mediterranean Shipping Co. ship to shore in 5.7 hours.

That's 47.19 containers an hour, one 20-ton box every 76 seconds.

"It's sort of like a rhythm you get into," Wright said after setting the record. "You sit up there and say, 'If they can stay with me, I'm going to see what I can do today.'"

The "they" is everyone else involved in unloading a ship, particularly the truck drivers who must be in position to receive the boxes.

But the pace is set by Wright, perched far above the St. Johns River, doing the job he's loved since …

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Publication information: Article title: Local Crane Operator Sets the Bar High; the Longshoreman Moved 47 Containers in an Hour -- the National Average Is 25 to 35. Contributors: Gibbons, Timothy J. - Author. Newspaper title: The Florida Times Union. Publication date: May 9, 2007. Page number: Not available. © 2007 The Florida Times-Union. COPYRIGHT 2007 Gale Group.

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