GA Ports Authority Today on Fast Forward, we re visiting Savannah to get an up close look an incredible, 12 million dollar crane! Not that kind of crane. Besides, that s an egret. That s a duck. Let s just start the episode. You ll see. Welcome back to Fast Forward. Today we re in Savannah to talk about your GPA. No, not grade point average. I m talking about the Georgia Ports Authority. And if you re wondering what that is Any time you go to a store and you see all the products on the shelves, most of those products weren't made right down the street. They came from somewhere and a lot of times it came through the ports. CHRIS NOVAK The Georgia Ports Authority is a system of ports that allows for commerce to flow in and out of the state of Georgia. We re the fourth biggest port in the country, and the second largest exporting port in terms of tonnage. So with all that stuff going in and out on ships, the obvious question is this: Do you guys have a lot of problems with pirates? (Laughs) I haven't seen any pirates, and I hope I never do. We're a pretty safe port. Customs and the coast guard watch after us pretty well. Arrrrrrrre you sure? We got one fellow in the shop we call pirate. He s a he s a little strange, odd fellow. 1
I knew it. Okay, back to what they do at Georgia Ports Authority. And to get a better handle on that, you need to understand something called logistics. Logistics is the science and art of getting goods from one place to another. If I m here in the United States and I need a plastic bin that may have been made in china, logistics is how it gets to the store shelf. And unless you ve got money to burn, logistics are important to you. Because the more efficiently those products are moved to store shelves, the cheaper they are to buy. As the Georgia Ports make logistics a lot more efficient, the prices of the goods can be lowered. And one of the ways the Georgia Ports Authority helps keep those logistics moving efficiently is with these: That s the crane I was telling you about 12 stories tall and capable of lifting 78 tons! And around here, it s a pretty important piece of equipment. CHRIS NOVAK Basically these cranes are the linchpin between getting a piece of cargo off of a ship and putting it onto the land. So you know what that means (SPEAKS IN RUSSIAN) Wait. What does that mean? It s time for a teachable moment. 2
Wow, our first Russian teachable moment. Spah- see- boh! Force is needed to lift heavy objects. But mechanical advantage that is, the multiplying of the force that s moving the object, can make lifting the weight way easier. Simple machines like pulleys and levers use mechanical advantage. Pulleys are wheels that pull with ropes. For example, in a double pulley system, the mechanical advantage means only half the force is necessary to lift the object. So these cranes are able to lift tons of cargo on and off of these ships. Of course, if you re working on these cranes, there s something else you should know. You have to be pretty content with working at heights. Okay. What do you do? I work at Georgia Ports Authority as an Electrical Mechanical Technician on the river cranes and RTGs. I'm mostly working on cranes, changing drives, changing motors, changing tires, things like that. And what else do employees at the Georgia Ports Authority do? I work for information technology department, and what I do, I manage email for the company and I manage devices like blackberry, iphones, and ipad. I write software for the ports to perform their operations The great thing about this port is that it encompasses so many different subject areas, and there are so many different jobs, so there s really something in it for everyone. Really almost any interest that you have you could probably find a job here. I started out here young. I came on checking oil and top lifts and equipment like that, and just kind of worked my way up as a mechanic helper and into a mechanic position and came over to the crane department. 3
And how d you learn how to do stuff like that? When I was in high school I definitely loved working on cars. Any car I had I was ready to fix up, I couldn t leave it alone and as I got older I kept working and working on cars. As far as education goes you definitely need a high school diploma. But after that, you know a certificate or a degree in an industrial systems technology, or any kind of technology degree is pretty good I went to a technical college for 2 years and got an industrial electrician degree. I saw that the trend was going into technology. I know our world it just, it's going to get more gadgetized. Oh what a word, huh? I just came up with a new word. (laughs) And it wasn t even in Russian. In any case, it sounds like technology is pretty important around here. One of the coolest part of my jobs it s actually being on the edge of technology. Everything you do nowadays involves technology whether it's television, your ipad all of that doesn't just come out of thin air. There are hundreds and thousands of people who are involved in making those technologies possible. If working with technology means being a gamer, I m in. Play games but also be curious about how it works behind the scenes. Try to break the games...or cheat the games. Those are the skills you would need to become a successful developer. But does working in technology mean staring alone at a screen all day? Actually one of the part why I love my job is I because I get to talk to people a lot. 4
That s one of the nice things about working here. Anyone else? Georgia Ports Authority is an excellent place to work. Most of the time when people start working here they stay here for quite a long time. The benefits are good. The pay is good. It s an enjoyable atmosphere. My favorite thing is just being up on the crane, and just being high, just, just working up there I mean it's fun. It s a different world. Good to know we can show people a whole different world. For now we ll let you think about the Georgia Ports Authority, and see you on our next episode of Fast Forward. 5