When policies are issued covering both classifications, Code 7317F “Stevedoring – By Hand or Hand Trucks – Exclusively” and Code 7309F, no division of payroll shall be permitted in connection with the loading or unloading of any one vessel.

Code 7309F applies to employers that perform stevedoring operations provided such operations are Not Otherwise Classified (NOC) in this Manual.  Stevedoring for workers compensation classification purposes contemplates any or all of the following operations when conducted by employees who are not members of the crews of vessels:

1. Loading or unloading, stowing, shifting or trimming of cargo, supplies, and materials on board vessels.  (Trimming refers to balancing a ship by shifting cargo.)
2. Transfer of cargo supplies and materials between vessels and piers and vice versa, regardless of the necessity of work on board vessels by employees of the employer.
3. Transfer between stringpiece and point of deposit on dock and adjacent warehouses including tiering, sorting and breaking down.  (A stringpiece is timber lying along the top of piles, forming a dock front or timber pier.)
4. Operations of all mechanical equipment, including dock tractors, in connection with the above.

Unless otherwise classified, this classification is applicable to the above operations whether the operations are conducted by one or more concerns and providing the operations require the use of hoisting equipment such as winches, cranes, slings, rope, or nets.

When separate crews of employees, with no exposure to the hazards of the hoisting operations, place the cargo at or move it from the point of deposit and perform the tiering, sorting, and breaking down operations as well as load or unload railroad cars or trucks, such separate crews are assigned to the appropriate freight handling or trucking classifications provided they do not engage in any stevedoring operations and separate payroll records are maintained.

When an employer is classified to this classification, employees engaged in the storage, maintenance, or repair of nets, slings, forklift trucks, or other equipment utilized by stevedoring concerns are also assigned to this classification, even if such operations are conducted at a separate location. 

This classification is additionally applicable to employees of Code 7309F employers who handle shore lines to moor or unmoor vessels.

Stevedoring operations are also considered general exclusions.  This means that unless stevedoring operations are specifically included in the wording of the basic classification applicable to a business, stevedoring operations are separately classified.  This situation may occur when an employer such as a manufacturer, lumberyard, or fuel dealer is located on navigable waters.  Such employers may load their products on ships or unload raw materials or finished products from ships.  In many instances this work is done at irregular periods by employees normally engaged in plant operations.  Payroll expended for such loading or unloading on navigable waters should be assigned to the appropriate stevedoring classification.