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Reunion Island is a French possession off the
east coast of Madagascar, in the Indian
Ocean.
No matter if it is a small island in the middle
of an ocean, there is still trucking involved.
These photos are presented to show the
transport within the sugar
cane industry, as it is in this modern day.
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Above (Left Photo)
Original ox-cart for transporting the sugar cane to the processing plant.
(Center & Right Photos) This mode of
sugar cane
transport by ox carts which has almost entirely disappeared and can only be seen
on the west coast of the island. Three years ago (2008)
there was still a special scale for these carts (balance
coco) but it wasn't economically justified to maintain it any longer.
Above (Photos from left
to right) show the sugar cane in the field to the harvester and on to the
trailer.
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From Ox-carts to the modern day of
farm tractors to full size tractor trailers, all park under the
gantry or bridge crane for overhead unloading.
There are locations where the
tractor trailers unload themselves. On the photo below you can see
the special floor of the trailer called a walking floor. Some call
it a conveyer floor, powered by the truck tractor itself. With the
rear doors open the moving floor pushes the load out of the trailer. |
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Scania has been largely supplanted by Volvo these
last ten years. |
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Above (Left Photo)
Compare the size of a harvester to a one ton service truck.
(Center Photo) A yard full of sugar cane trailers
and (Right Photo) Tractors lined up in terminal
yard. The tractor trailers are on the European type, Single axle COE tractors with
tight turning radius pulling tri-axle trailers.
(Above Left Photo)
Bulk sugar cane heading for the processing plant. (Center
& Right Photos) Processing plant and overhead crane for unloading.
(Lower Left Photo) Transport heading for the self
unloading ramp. (Center Photo) Trucks lining up to
unload. (Right Photo) Walking floor pushing load
into receiving pit.
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(Left Photo) Overhead
crane dropping sugar cane into the receiving bin.
(Center Photo) Storage shed.
From there to shipping via tanker truck to the
harbour for overseas shipping. |
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The island is 63 kilometers (39 mi) long;
45 kilometers (28 mi) wide; and covers 2,512 square kilometers (970
sq mi).
With the size of the island there is no need for
trucks to be equipped with a sleeper cab. It's all short haul. You can
go almost anywhere within an hour.
French is the only official language of
Reunion. Although not official, Reunion Creole is also spoken.
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This is the Island's coat of arms. |
The flag is the France Reunion
Island proposed. |
The BOURBON is the local light
beer. |
----------- William
(Diesel Gypsy) Weatherstone
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