Bulk material handling systems usually consist of types of machinery such as hoppers, belt conveyors, screw conveyors, stackers, reclaimers, bucket elevators, truck dumpers or wagon dumpers, ship loaders, and diverters, as well as various mobile equipment such as loaders, mobile hopper loaders/unloaders, shuttles, combined with storage facilities such as stockyards, storage silos, or stockpiles.

The most prevalent equipment type in bulk material handling is a belt conveyor. Although many other types of conveyors are available – such as screw, chain, and pneumatic systems – the most commonly used is the belts. Belt conveyors are the backbone of bulk material handling systems in many different processing plants. A belt conveyor can be designed in a wide range of capacities and distances, and its length can be a few meters or tens of kilometers.

Conveyors can be designed with features that increase their efficiency while reducing their initial construction investment. Features such as: