Abstract: A system is provided for controlling the feed rate of material being loaded onto a conveyor train of variable configuration to prevent overloading. The system involves monitoring the power drawn by the various drive motors of the train to establish which is the limiting conveyor under prevailing operating conditions. The instantaneous weight of feed material loaded onto the conveyor train, at its input end, is continuously measured and the current average feed rate is computed from the instantaneous weights measured over a pre-set time interval. A rolling average of the total load to be carried by the limiting conveyor downstream is computed from the average feed rate, taking into account the length of the limiting conveyor. The feed rate is then adjusted in response to the computed rolling average to thereby avoid overloading the limiting conveyor and optimize loading of the conveyor train.