A conveyor belt assembly comprises a conveyor belt, a tail pulley, and a transition zone comprising a loading device. The conveyor is looped around the tail pulley and has a generally flat transverse cross-section on the tail pulley. The conveyor belt transitions from having the generally flat cross-section to having a full-trough cross section in the transition zone. The loading device comprises a chute and skirtboards that are connected to each other and that are above the conveyor belt. The loading device is configured to load bulk material onto the belt in the transition region. The skirtboards have linear bottom surfaces that rise as the distance from the tail pulley increases. The conveyor belt is supported from below in the transition zone in a manner creating linear portions of the conveyor belt directly beneath the skirtboards that also rise as the distance from the tail pulley increases.