Vehicle Scale Solutions Improve Cargo-Handling

Ports
Industrial weighing and measurement
Vehicle Scale Solutions
Improve Cargo-Handling Efficiency
Keeping cargo flowing in and out is a port’s primary business. Because
vehicle scales serve as entry and exit points, they are a vital part of the
process. The ability of a port’s scales to handle large volumes of traffic
on a daily basis is essential to the efficiency of shipping operations.
The global economy depends on shipping
for its ability to transport large amounts
of cargo efficiently. Ports are especially
important because they are the central
transfer point between water, rail, and
highway transport systems. At a busy port,
getting cargo to and from ships requires
a high degree of organization. Time is
money, and a delay in one area can affect
shipping schedules and profits.
A significant amount of goods are shipped
in cargo containers. Although containers
come in standard sizes, the weight of the
cargo can vary considerably. To track the
amount of cargo, containers must be
weighed as they are shipped and received.
At a large terminal, each truck scale can
average more than 300 weighings per day.
Weighing Procedure
At a typical container terminal, each truck
delivering a container passes through a
security checkpoint and then proceeds to
an inbound scale. After pulling the truck
onto the scale, the driver gives the scale
operator paperwork for the cargo. The
scale operator records the vehicle weight
(usually the truck/trailer tare and gross
weight) and whatever information about
the cargo is required. Upon completing
the transaction, the driver receives a ticket
and exits the scale.
The truck is then directed to an unloading
area where a crane lifts the cargo container from the truck and loads it onto a
ship or places it in storage. While some
trucks leave the terminal empty, many are
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Vehicle Scales
loaded with a container for the outbound
trip. The truck proceeds to the exit gate
and is weighed on an outbound scale.
To meet a port’s needs, a scale must weigh
vehicles accurately, quickly, and reliably.
Accuracy is important because the weights
are used to track tonnage, to ensure that
ships are loaded properly, and to ensure
that outbound trucks meet legal weight
requirements on the roadways. Speed and
reliability are essential to keep cargo moving. If a scale becomes a bottleneck, it can
slow down shipping operations throughout the port.
Truck Scales
To handle large volumes of traffic,
METTLER TOLEDO supplies truck scales
with a durable orthotropic design. The
driving surface is supported by orthotropic ribs that distribute concentrated loads
more efficiently than other designs. To
verify the durability of our designs, we use
a unique life-cycle test stand that applies
the equivalent of 20 years of traffic at a
scale’s rated capacity.
Each truck scale design is thoroughly tested to ensure that it can handle the real-world
demands of heavy-capacity weighing.
Each truck scale is equipped with
POWERCELL® load cells, which offer
unequalled accuracy and reliability. A
built-in predictive diagnostics system
monitors the performance of every load
cell and alerts the scale operator about
potential problems so they can be solved
before a failure or downtime occurs.
Combining the strength of an orthotropic weighbridge with the reliability of
POWERCELL load cells ensures years of
trouble-free weighing.
Weighing in Motion
A weigh-in-motion (WIM) system is one
option for speeding up weighing operations. It enables a terminal to weigh thousands of containers daily without requiring trucks to stop at static scales. Instead,
trucks are weighed as they drive over a
specially equipped scale.
The METTLER TOLEDO WIM system
includes two staggered scale platforms,
each containing four load cells and an
Publisher
Mettler-Toledo, Inc.
1900 Polaris Parkway
Columbus, Ohio 43240
USA
MTMS
Subject to technical changes.
© Mettler-Toledo, Inc.
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METTLER TOLEDO truck scales are designed to handle the large volumes of traffic that move into and out of a port on
a daily basis.
inductive loop installed in the concrete
approach to the scale. As a vehicle crosses
the scale, software calculates individual
wheel, axle, and gross weights.
The weight data is made available for
display on a computer screen or remote
display, stored on the hard drive, sent
to a printer, or transmitted to a remote
device. The WIM system can also control
traffic lights, gates, and other peripheral
equipment. In many applications, the system is set up to interface with cameras
or automatic vehicle identification (AVI)
equipment.
A robust weighbridge design enables our
static and in-motion rail scales to stand up
to heavy-duty use.
weights from the two weighbridges and
displays the total weight.
Our coupled in-motion (CIM) rail scale
is designed to weigh rail cars that are
coupled together and moving across the
weighbridge at speeds of 3 to 5 miles per
hour. It can make weighing quicker and
safer by eliminating the need to couple
and uncouple rail cars for weighing.
Wheel detectors provide input to an inmotion controller, identifying rail cars
and signaling when to begin a weighing
sequence.
Data Management
Recording data can be a time-consuming
part of weighing vehicles. OverDrive®
vehicle scale software saves time and
money by providing complete control
of the weighing operation. It processes
transactions quickly and accurately to
keep traffic moving over the scales. For
each weighing transaction, the OverDrive
database stores a detailed record that gives
you instant access to a wealth of information for administration, billing, inventory
control, and compliance.
OverDrive software provides the brains to
run a complete inbound/outbound weighing operation, including multiple scales,
traffic lights, gates, and ticket printers.
It can be used as a stand-alone system
or integrated into a computer network. It
increases efficiency and profits by making
a truck scale an integral part of a facility’s
business operation.
Find out how a complete weighing solution from METTLER TOLEDO can help
your operation run more efficiently.
www.mt.com/vehicle
Rail Scales
Bulk materials and containers are often
delivered to ports by rail. While a train
can transport very large amounts of cargo,
weighing rail cars can be a more complicated process than weighing trucks.
METTLER TOLEDO offers a complete line
of scales to weigh rail cars quickly and
accurately.
Our static rail scale is designed to weigh
an uncoupled rail car that is stopped on
the weighbridge. A typical installation
uses two separate weighbridges that are
spaced to accommodate rail cars of varying lengths. The scale terminal sums the
OverDrive vehicle scale software can be configured to collect exactly the data required for
each truck.
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Vehicle Scales
Protect Your Profits
from Costly Environmental Damage
Your vehicle scale takes a beating. Constant exposure to environmental forces can reduce weighing accuracy
or shut down a scale completely. POWERCELL® PDX® load cells protect your profits by ensuring that your
vehicle scale continues to weigh accurately day in and day out.
No matter what climate you are in, environmental forces can be relentless. They
attack your scale every day, impairing its
ability to weigh accurately. METTLER
TOLEDO POWERCELL load cells have
demonstrated the ability to stand up to
the world’s toughest environments, from
the frozen polar regions to the scorching
heat of the desert and the wet conditions
of the tropics.
The POWERCELL PDX load cell sets a
new standard for vehicle weighing. It
has a robust design and innovative features that provide a clear advantage over
other vehicle weighing technologies. The
Lightning
Snow and Ice
Extreme
Temperatures
Water and
Flood
Rust and
Corrosion
Rodents
Radio
Frequency
Interference
Physical
Damage
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POWERCELL PDX load cell is designed to
provide complete protection against the
forces that can eat into your profits.
Lightning
Few environmental forces affect a vehicle scale as dramatically as a lightning
strike. Lightning damage can be very
costly, often requiring the replacement of
electronic equipment. Even if a warranty
covers repairs, you still face the cost of the
business and productivity you lose while
the scale is out of commission.
The POWERCELL PDX load cell’s builtin lightning protection has been proven
effective. At independent testing laboratories, the load cell survived multiple lightning strikes up to 80,000 amperes. That
is more than twice the destructive power
of the average lightning strike. Adding
METTLER TOLEDO StrikeShield™ lightning protection provides a potent defense
for your entire scale system.
Extreme Temperatures
Temperature changes affect weighing accuracy even in moderate climates. If your
scale is subject to extreme temperatures,
the weighing errors can be significant.
Each POWERCELL PDX load cell is designed to maintain weighing accuracy
in any environment. An internal micro-
processor compensates for temperature
changes to deliver the same accurate
weight in the heat of summer and the
dead of winter.
POWERCELL load cells have a proven history of weighing in extreme climates such as
Antarctica and Siberia.
Water and Flood
To operate properly, a scale’s electronic
components must remain dry. Conventional vehicle scales house vital electronics in leak-prone junction boxes, which
are weak links in the system and a common cause of failure.
POWERCELL PDX load cells connect to
one another in a simple network, eliminating high-maintenance junction
boxes. Electronic components are fully
protected inside the watertight load cell
enclosure. The cables and connectors are
designed to keep out moisture even when
fully submersed. As a result, the entire
POWERCELL PDX load cell network is
sealed to IP68 submersion standards.
Rodents
Rodents and other pests can be surprisingly destructive. They have been known
to eat right through conventional load
cell wiring, disrupting the weight signal.
POWERCELL PDX load cells use heavyduty cables protected by two layers of
braided stainless steel sheathing. This extremely robust covering protects the data
transmission line from rodent damage,
ensuring the integrity of the weight signal
and the scale’s continued operation.
Physical Damage
It is not unusual for load cells or cables to
be damaged by machinery, tools, debris,
tampering, or scale overloading. Robust
POWERCELL PDX load cells and cables
are designed to stand up to normal wear
and tear in industrial environments. If
they suffer serious physical damage, the
built-in diagnostics system alerts the
scale operator, usually before a failure or
downtime occurs. The system helps make
sure that a punctured load cell or severed
cable is replaced quickly and easily.
Radio Frequency Interference
Radio frequency and electromagnetic interference can affect a scale’s weight signal, causing errors or disrupting weighing completely. The problem is especially
serious for the weak signals produced by
analog load cells.
POWERCELL PDX load cells emit a signal
that is many times stronger than signals
from typical load cells. POWERCELL
technology combines with robust load
cell cables to transmit a strong, consistent
weight signal to the scale terminal.
The entire load cell network is sealed to
prevent moisture penetration.
Rust and Corrosion
Rust can be a problem anywhere, but the
potential for damage is increased when
vehicle scales are used at sites where cor-
rosive materials are present. To resist rust
and corrosion, POWERCELL PDX load
cells are constructed of 100% stainless
steel components. Sensitive electronics
are fully protected within the hermetically sealed load cell enclosure.
Snow and Ice
Frozen conditions combine the destructive forces of moisture, extreme temperatures, and physically damaging ice.
POWERCELL PDX load cells have proven
their ability to weigh reliably in the harsh
climates of Antarctica and Siberia.
Independent tests have proven the load cell’s
ability to survive lightning strikes.
Each load cell is equipped with a debris
shield that keeps snow, ice, and other materials from collecting at the base of its
rocker column. By allowing the load cell
to move freely, the debris shield enables
accurate weighing.
No other load cell provides so much protection against the environmental forces
that can eat into your profits. Find out
how the POWERCELL PDX load cell gives
you unmatched accuracy and reliability.
www.mt.com/powercell
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Vehicle Scales
A Full Range of Solutions
to Meet Your Company’s Needs
METTLER TOLEDO understands that having complete control over your weighing operation is crucial to maintaining costs, maximizing productivity, and increasing profitability. We can provide this control with industryleading vehicle scales, basic or advanced scale terminals, configurable unattended solutions, advanced
multi-scale traffic management software, and more. METTLER TOLEDO can deliver a solution that is tailored
to the needs of your business.
Commercial Duty
Truck scales designed to handle highway loads for applications that see low to
medium traffic.
Truck scales designed to handle all over-the-ro
applications that see medium to high traffic.
Commercial Duty Steel Deck
Cycle Duty Steel Deck
Innovative Designs
METTLER TOLEDO is the only vehicle
scale manufacturer that uses the same
type of orthotropic structure chosen by
innovative bridge designers around the
world for its proven ability to stand up
to truck traffic. Orthotropic weighbridge
designs from METTLER TOLEDO have
been used successfully for more than 25
years in the harshest applications in the
world. Scales can be tailored to your specific environment and traffic conditions,
ensuring the highest accuracy and lowest
total cost of ownership.
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Commercial Duty Concrete Deck
More than 25 years of proven truck scale designs using orthotropic technology.
Conversion Kits
Upgrade your existing truck or rail scale
with POWERCELL® load cells. The most
accurate and reliable vehicle load cells
in the world, POWERCELL load cells have
proven their ability to withstand the water, lightning, and extreme temperatures
that cause other load cells to fail. Each
POWERCELL load cell uses predictive diagnostics to alert you to potential problems before a failure and maintains its
accuracy longer than traditional weighing sensors.
e Duty
Static and Dynamic Rail Scales
Extreme Duty
oad legal vehicles in a variety of
Cycle Duty Concrete Deck
Truck scales designed specifically for applications weighing off-road trucks of up to
500t.
Extreme Duty Steel Deck
Off-Road Extreme Duty Steel Deck
Six-Step Design Process
A unique six-step design process ensures
that all METTLER TOLEDO vehicle scales
will weigh accurately over a long service
life. One thing that sets our design process
apart is life-cycle testing. Only METTLER
TOLEDO performs actual life-cycle testing on weighbridge designs to prove the
strength and reliability of each model.
The unique METTLER TOLEDO life-cycle test stand verifies the durability of each scale’s
design.
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Online Tools
Use www.mt.com as a Resource
to Work More Efficiently
Learn how accuracy protects your profits
A simple calculator demonstrates how much money
you can save by using the most accurate weighing
technology available. Just meeting legal requirements
for accuracy might not be enough to avoid the financial uncertainty that comes with charging too much
or too little for the materials you weigh.
www.mt.com/powercell-accuracy
See how reliability affects revenue
Measure the positive revenue impact of METTLER
TOLEDO reliability. Use this simple calculator to
see how much a single day of downtime costs your
business. Learn what makes our solutions more robust
and less susceptible to unplanned downtime.
www.mt.com/powercell-reliability
Case studies
Looking for solutions to a problem? No problem.
Read case studies about real problems and see how
METTLER TOLEDO solved them.
www.mt.com/case_studies
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See what makes POWERCELL load cells the
most accurate and reliable in the world
METTLER TOLEDO revolutionized vehicle weighing
more than 20 years ago with the first POWERCELL®
load cell. Since that time, innovations have continued
to add more value. Today, POWERCELL load cells are
the world leader in accuracy and reliability.
www.mt.com/powercell
Find products to meet your specific need
If you need a truck or rail scale, if you weigh 20 loads
a day or more than 300, if you weigh small trucks
or massive 500t vehicles, METTLER TOLEDO has the
right solution for your business. With a wide range of
standard and custom solutions, METTLER TOLEDO is
ready to help you succeed.
www.mt.com/vehicle
Download comprehensive documentation
You can download technical documents about products and engineering drawings for foundations and
scale layouts.
found on individual product pages
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Unattended Weighing
Get the Complete Picture
with an Unattended Video Server
Add an extra dimension to unattended weighing with a video server.
This new OverDrive® unattended video option automatically records still
images of activity at your vehicle scale, providing visual verification of
weighing transactions.
Unattended driver terminals are an increasingly popular way to reduce vehicle
weighing costs. They eliminate the need
for a scale house with a scale operator
on duty. Now you can enjoy the savings
and convenience of unattended weighing
without sacrificing the benefit of seeing
the activity at the scale.
Managing Video Ports
The video server is an optional module
that is available with OverDrive unattended software. It can manage one or
more video ports, each of which supports
as many as four cameras. Position the
cameras in any location to provide a view
of each scale or multiple views of scales.
With the video server, you can capture still
digital images of a variety of weighing
events: vehicle identification, vehicle over
or under weight, transaction completed,
and more. Simply define the desired
events, and the video server does the rest.
It automatically captures an image for
each event and saves it in the OverDrive
database or other file storage location.
Storing Images
The digital images are stored along with
detailed information about their weighing transactions, providing a complete
picture of every transaction. You can also
capture images of vehicles that drive onto
a scale and drive off without processing
a transaction. OverDrive software enables
you to retrieve images quickly and include
them in transaction reports.
You can position cameras to view activity at
any or all scales.
In addition to giving a visual dimension
to your transaction records, the video
server is a valuable security tool. It lets security personnel monitor activity at your
scale from a back office or other remote
location. They can view live video from
as many as four cameras at a time and
record still or video images with the click
of a mouse.
Find out how OverDrive software can
increase the capabilities of your vehicle
scale with its video server and other powerful tools.
The video server monitors activity at multiple scales while automatically capturing and storing images of weighing events.
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www.mt.com/OverDrive
Expand the Capabilities
of Your Vehicle Scale
Get the most out of your vehicle scale by selecting the right scale
terminal. By combining advanced capabilities with simple operation,
our terminals enable you to do more with your scale and get it done
more quickly.
For your operation to perform at its highest level, you need a weighing system that
provides accurate, reliable, and easy-tounderstand information. Your vehicle
scale is the foundation of the weighing
system. A high-performance terminal
builds on that foundation, enabling your
operation to get the most out of the vehicle
weight data.
More and more operations are adding automation technology and data integration
to increase efficiency. Applications that
used a stand-alone terminal in the past
now need greater capabilities. METTLER
TOLEDO supplies terminals with the following data integration options:
• PLC interface via EtherNet/
IP™, DeviceNet™, PROFIBUS®,
ControlNet™, or Modbus TCP
• EtherNet TCP/IP, serial, 4-20 mA
analog output
• Optional Wi-Fi connectivity
• OPC for exchange of data between
multi-vendor devices and control
applications
Vehicle Scale Terminals
Choose from two high-performance
terminals with dedicated vehicle weighing software for use with POWERCELL®
PDX® load cells. The IND560 and IND780
are full-featured terminals designed to
IND9U Unattended Terminal
process inbound/outbound weighing
transactions. Each includes a database
with tables for storing information about
vehicles, weighing transactions, and user-defined data.
Using the terminal’s graphic display and
push buttons, a scale operator can navigate the database easily to enter data and
process transactions. Search capabilities
and presets speed up transactions by locating and entering data quickly.
OverDrive® Software
For advanced weighing applications,
OverDrive PC-based software works with a
terminal to provide complete control of a
vehicle weighing operation. Its advanced
capabilities include an integrated MS
SQL Server database, multiple-scale operation, advanced pricing options, credit
card processing, video server, and unattended weighing.
Unattended Terminals
IND9U unattended terminals allow drivers to process their own vehicle weighing
transactions quickly. They reduce operating costs by eliminating the need for
a scale house with a scale operator on
duty. Versions are available for use with
OverDrive unattended software and with
the IND780 terminal.
The METTLER TOLEDO line of products
lets you customize a solution for your
vehicle weighing application.
www.mt.com/terminals
Inbound/outbound vehicle weighing using a single truck scale.
Networking multiple truck scales into a single database.
Integrating truck scale operations with filling or load-out systems.
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IND560 Specifications
• Type of scale: POWERCELL PDX or analog load cells.
• Maximum Number of Load Cells: 14 POWERCELL PDX.
• Maximum Number of Scales: 1.
• Display: Graphic vacuum fluorescent,
multi-line with prompting.
• Keys: 25 (plus optional USB interface for
external keyboard).
• PLC Interface: EtherNet/IP, PROFIBUS,
DeviceNet, Modbus TCP, A-B RIO.
IND780 Specifications
• Type of scale: POWERCELL PDX, POWERCELL MTX, or analog load cells.
• Maximum Number of Load Cells: 24 POWERCELL PDX.
• Maximum Number of Scales: 4 (used with
multi-platform scales for axle and total
weights, plus metrologically approved
sum scale).
• Display: 1/4 VGA graphic color or monochrome.
• Keys: 30 (plus standard USB interface for
external keyboard).
• PLC Interface: EtherNet/IP, PROFIBUS, DeviceNet, Modbus
TCP, A-B RIO, ControlNet.
Mettler-Toledo, Inc.
1900 Polaris Parkway
Columbus, Ohio 43240
Tel. (800) 786-0038
(614) 438-4511
Fax (614) 438-4900
Your METTLER TOLEDO contact:
www.mt.com/ind-ports
For more information