by MARY M. COX
Manufacturer List
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The solid waste and recycling industries include unique challenges when purchasing a truck scale for their operations. There may be a long wait for scale use at facilities involved – instead of access to a robust, consistent vehicle scale that provides minimum downtime and maximum output. Also, waste contamination can cause scale malfunction and potentially challenging environmental issues.
With high volume use, scale inaccuracy and downtime can cause tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars in profit loss annually. Performing inspections can be costly and time consuming, if diagnosing and correcting mechanical and wiring malfunctions.
Jonathan Sabo is vice president of marketing at Cardinal Scale. He believes the design advantages of the firm’s Armor® series truck scales start with the weighbridge, which has 12” high by 4” wide I-beams supporting the deck. The Armor steel deck integrates internal I-beam structural upgrades and four rows of welded stiffeners provide additional rigidity and safeguards against I-beam deflection. These advancements provide the highest CLC in the truck scale industry – 50 tons of concentrated load capacity.
“Our advanced SmartCell® digital load cell system eliminates junction boxes and does not require AC power running to the scale. The simple cell-to-cable design directly links load cells to one another, providing a system that is easier to maintain and manage. Cardinal’s exclusive axis® load cell stands employ a unique ball and cup system that uses gravity for load centering, which eliminates the need for checkrods and bumper bolts,” Sabo stated. Cardinal Scale’s 225 Navigator indicator can store up to 200 IDs and just as many temporary IDs. Used with digital truck scales, the 225 indicator has the added benefit of storing calibration on the digital load cell card. This allows for ease of recalibration in the event of a component failure. Changing a load cell should require no adjustments to calibration.
Another Cardinal innovation is the Cloud-based iSite remote monitoring system – an intuitive diagnostics system that can be monitored from any location via an online control panel. When a scale technician receives an alert, he can log into an online control panel dashboard to look up further diagnostic details. Armor truck scales are also available with Guardian® hydraulic load cells that are 100 percent impervious to water and lightning, two of the most common vulnerabilities of waste truck scales. Guardian cells offer a lifetime load cell warranty when used in Armor truck scales. “The result is maximum up-time when the customer considers factors like weather, power surges, water damage, and protecting a long-term investment for maximum gain in operations,” noted Sabo. The Armor truck scale with either SmartCell digital load cells or Guardian hydraulic load cells are NTEP and Measurement Canada legal for trade.
Emery Winslow has provided their U.S. manufactured scales for 150 years. The firm also offers a full line of digital instrumentation as well, and their hydrostatic scales can be used with almost all existing electronic instrumentation and software systems.
“Water, lightning and rodents are the deadly enemies of typical truck scales using electronic load cells, especially at waste and recycling facilities where these conditions are commonplace. Load cell replacements and scale recalibrations (required by law after each replacement) are extremely costly, not to mention the down time associated with these repairs. The only proven solution to these challenges is our hydrostatic truck scale, which offers the lowest possible cost of ownership. The load cells have a lifetime guarantee against failure from water, flooding, power surges, lightning, stray voltages, and even rodents,” stated Rudi Baisch, vice president.
Because truck scales are usually installed in shallow pits, the pits become collection points for all manner of water, debris, and trash. “Eventually these conditions cause accumulation of debris under the scale, and the scale is no longer accurate. There is no easy way to clean under a full-bridge truck scale and cleaning the pit requires a crane, a scale service company, and plenty of down time. The Emery Winslow product eliminates these problems due to our patented Quick-Clean RoadWeigh axle scales. These scales, 10 x 10’ in size, as an example, weigh each individual axle group and provide a total weight. The tremendous advantage of this allows the scale modules to be lifted off the load cells—with the Payloader on site – in just minutes, allowing the pit to be cleaned as often as needed. There is no need for a crane or scale service company, and no need to recalibrate the scale. Our goal is to help our clients achieve smooth, uninterrupted service of their truck scale.” Baisch said.
Vulcan On-Board Scales has provided a wide variety of scales for the global trucking industry for over 35 years. “As the leader in the industry, we can identify solutions to fit most any need of on-board weight measurement from highly accurate bin weight collection systems to simple overload protection. We offer full technical support, unmatched in the industry because our dedicated team is designed to create the best solution for your specific needs,” Lance Schaefer, sales manager explained.
“We can help you improve the efficiency of your operation via maximizing the weight on your axle groups, and by knowing how much you are picking up or unloading. On-board scales make it possible to easily load your truck to the maximum legal limit every time. Our systems can also communicate with most GPS systems on the market, and our manufacturing facility in Washington provides quick turn around on orders of parts and accessories. Our products can help clients avoid liability exposure and vehicle seizure when overweight vehicles are involved in an accident or other incident. Liability costs of accidents involving an overweight truck can be significant,” added Schaefer.
He mentioned that maximizing payload weight is more critical than ever but running trucks overweight becomes increasingly expensive when faced with a stop by law enforcement. Vehicles that are loaded properly have reduced maintenance costs for brakes, tire, suspensions and other related equipment. Monitoring an appropriate weight load helps with safety. Drivers can maintain the expected braking distance and reliable tracking around corners when keeping weight within legal limits. For certain applications, maintaining stability can also reduce the chance of tipping.
Published in the March 2018 Edition