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A few minutes later, a dockworker driving a top loader — a machine that lifts containers — motions for Mr. Jackson to pull up to an appointed space so he can pluck the box off the rig and add it to a stack.

The machine version has limits, of course — you can’t stuff a 9-by-12-foot rug into a typical family top loader.

Lisa Wan, director of operations at the trucking firm RoadEx America, said that the firm ordered a top loader specifically to be able to move and stack containers months ago — but delivery delays meant it won’t show up until next week.

A port spokesman says Santoyo and an unidentified worker were repairing the tire of a container-handling top loader Wednesday morning when there was an explosion.

Campbell did not say what happened to the top loader, but noted “it was faulty.”