Keytroller Discusses Container Weighing Devices

Beginning July 1, 2016, container weight verification will be required for all marine shipments, as mandated by the IMO. According to IMO, “the responsibility for obtaining and documenting the verified gross mass of a packed container lies with the shipper.”

In circumstances where the shipper does not declare the correct container weight, then a third party, such as the terminal, shall weigh the container and charge the shipper – providing a potentially lucrative business opportunity for terminals. Shipments that are loaded onto a carrier without the recorded weight may not be covered by the shipping line’s maritime insurance.

“This is a very important piece of regulation that has been needed for years,” says Terry Wickman, President and CEO of Keytroller, a supplier, manufacturer and designer of electronic safety and weighing devices. “Without knowing the true weight of containers, a slew of issues can arise, including unsafe vessel imbalances.”

For weighing systems to meet IMO standards, they must be certified and calibrated. According to Wickman, it’s important that accuracy and durability are of the highest concerns. “There are many highly accurate weighing devices, but few that can withstand long-term in tough applications, such as the environment of a terminal,” Wickman explains.

Keytroller recently unveiled the most accurate hydraulic scale on the market, ideal for terminals. The PRECISE Hi-Accuracy Forklift Scale offers weighing precision nearly as accurate as carriage or fork load cell scales, but at half the cost. Additionally, the product is water resistant and designed to withstand tough, abusive applications. The PRECISE Hi-Accuracy Forklift Scale is equipped with a 4.3 inch color LCD touchscreen and solenoid operated bypass module, enabling it to achieve the highest accuracy reading of any hydraulic scale on the market. 

Operation of the scale is simple:

When an operator is ready to weigh a load, he/she raises the load to the level of the magnetic sensor, which beeps, alerting him/her to start the weighing process.

When the weighing process begins, a horizontal line on the display gives the operator a reference as to the load’s full-capacity percentage for the forklift.

When a load picked is above the pre-programmed full-capacity percentage threshold, the unit will warn the operator. If the overload continues, the optional external siren alarm will sound. The devise will automatically store the time and date of the previous 10 overload events in the memory log.

How is works:

Hydraulic fluid under pressure bypasses through the module, past the sensor, where it samples hundreds of pressure readings. This process removes the majority of pressure inaccuracy that is associated with single reading conventional hydraulic scales. This technology enables the product to maintain a 0.2 percent maximum deviation.

Functions:

Users are able to name up to 100 different channels, such as aluminum scrap, XYZ Inc, etc., as well as totalize each channel’s gross weight, tare (container weight) and net weight. Further, an operator can input a reference to each weighment (such as PO#, invoice#, customer name, etc.). Each channel stores up to 1400 events with independent identifiers entered for each weighment.

Users can remove the weighing data with a USB stick, or by removing the SD memory card. Weighing event log data is time and date stamped and can be exported to a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet, where the data can be manipulated into reports, graphs and charts.

Keytroller offers a tabletop demonstration kit, which allows qualified buyers to evaluate the quality, design, features and capabilities of the PRECISE Hi-Accuracy Forklift Scale.