PACIFIC RIM TRADE : Dock Talk

Break bulk or neo-bulk cargo: cargo that is not loaded in containers or loaded in bulk, i.e., pallets, boxes, machinery, cars.

California front: a fake wall put up by a longshoreman to make it look as though a hatch was fully loaded.

Casuals: off-the-street laborers who do not belong to the union.

Drop and go: a coveted job in which lashers go aboard container ships to secure or unfasten cargo, and then are off for the day with full pay.

Front men: workers who fasten and unfasten the hook to cargo during loading.

Gear men: longshoremen who move equipment and gear needed by stevedores and maintain it.

Hatch tender: worker who watches the hatch for the winch operator.

Hold man: worker in the ship’s hatch.

Lashers: laborers who secure containers or unlock them aboard ships.

Longshoreman: dockworker, derived from the way employers called out along the shore for men to work.

Stevedore: longshoreman, especially one with expertise in the handling of equipment and cargo gear, from the Spanish estibador; also a labor broker who contracts labor to load and unload vessels. It is also an honorary term for a laborer who knows and understands cargo work.

Swing men: technically, laborers who can work on ship or on the dock.

Walking boss: the union foreman, who acts as a liaison between dockworkers and shippers.

Winch driver: operator of machinery for loading and unloading cargo.

Source: Robert Senecal, vice president of Metropolitan Stevedore Co.