Patent ID: 7568881

Claim:
A method for loading or unloading a container from a transport vehicle to a trailer or other wheeled vehicle comprising, in combination, a. providing an elongated body removably attached to a transport vehicle, where the elongated body has a front and rear, a carriage, with at least one bearing surface, slidably attached to the elongated body, and a multi-stage central hydraulic cylinder connected to the carriage and having a fixed end and a moving end, where the carriage is substantially rectangular in shape and adapted to remain in a linear plane defined by the elongated body; b. providing a container having a front end positioned on the elongated body and in bearing contact with the bearing surface on the carriage, where the carriage moves along the entire length of the elongated body when the central hydraulic cylinder is extended and retracted; c. positioning and aligning the transport vehicle with a trailer or other wheeled surface; d. sliding the container onto the trailer or other wheeled vehicle by retracting the central hydraulic cylinder so that the carriage moves towards the rear of the elongated body while the bearing surface pushes on the front end of the container causing it to at least partially move onto the trailer or other wheeled device; and e. rotating an engaging means pivotally attached to the carriage towards the rear of the elongated body, whereby the engaging means comes into bearing contact with the container causing the container to slide in a rearward direction along the elongated body.