enganches/desenganches

09:50 Dec 2, 2010 

Not necessarily, no. I think there are now a number of possibilities which could be acceptable. The "countable noun" problem remains; maybe I'll use "pick-ups" & "drops". I haven't got any more time, so I'll have to bite the bullet.

00:55 Dec 2, 2010 

Given your knowledge of your source text, do you feel that the 2 terms must have the same base? Container set-down is a term I am familiar with. Have a look at this ref - which contradicts one of my earlier comments, using pick-up and set down: http://hubpages.com/hub/gantrycranes "With the gantry crane, containers can be picked up and moved in a straight line and set down in the port or on container trucks much faster and with greater efficiency."

22:27 Dec 1, 2010 

Hmm, interesting stuff. It's looking like engage/disengage at this stage then.

22:23 Dec 1, 2010 

Thanks, Travelin Ann - very useful insight. :-)

22:05 Dec 1, 2010 

In warehousing, "pick" usually refers to the act of taking items from the warehouse (manually or by computerized sorting) to ship to the customer. Order picking or order pulling.

21:33 Dec 1, 2010 

I had a feeling that 'pick-up' might be associated more readily with the meaning suggested by Travelin Ann, but does the same apply to 'Pick'? I was under the impression that 'pick' applies to the act of picking an item up and 'drop' to placing it somewhere else, but I write with little confidence and even less experience.

19:40 Dec 1, 2010 

I am somewhat familiar with this process, although I would not call myself a expert. In my experience, pick-up and drop are used (at least in the US) more in the sense of delivery of the container to the point of loading. For example, if I need to ship a container load of widgets to Timbuktu, my freight forwarder will arrange to have an empty container "dropped" at my location. When I have it loaded, he will then arrange to have it "picked up" and "dropped" at the port of exit.

17:28 Dec 1, 2010 

'Enganche' is translated as 'coupling' in railway rolling-stock engineering, but in the context of containers, is it likely that the expressions that are used for this process are "pick (up)" and "drop"? I am not familiar with this type of work, but I believe that those two terms are used in goods handling and warehouse operation.