Intercomp boosts productivity for power firm
Weighing equipment provider Intercomp has explained how its Weigh-in-Motion (WIM) Strip Sensors have increased service productivity and transport safety for a large power utility client.
Relied upon by millions of customers, one of the United States’ largest electric delivery and gas service utilities employs Intercomp’s WIM systems to keep its service fleet moving. Rapid response to power outages, along with routine maintenance and repairs of the power grid, is a critical and continuous aspect of serving the electrical needs of one of the country’s largest metropolitan areas.
“The urgent nature of servicing the power grid creates a number of challenges not only for utility field workers, but those responsible for operations and safety,” explained the weighing specialist.
“Virtually every day, the company’s large fleet of service vehicles, ranging from utility and bucket trucks to large service vehicles, are dispatched from numerous sites across the company’s large service area.
“Depending on vehicle type, configuration and payloads, the gross vehicle weight and gross axle weights of these trucks can vary widely on every deployment, potentially creating employee and road safety issues, roadway access restrictions, or overweight conditions that violate local, state or federal transportation laws.
“With routine demands for nearly continuous operations, including critical emergency services during power outages, as well as goals for productivity, weight compliance and worker safety, the company’s lack of accurate vehicle weighing systems at their facilities was compromising numerous aspects of their operations.
“The solution to this vehicle weighing challenge was further complicated by a mandated deadline and lengthy requirements for civil works approval and permits across the company’s satellite service locations.”
With the rapid deployment of WIM Strip Sensors, says Intercomp, the company was able to overcome a number of obstacles to their vehicle weighing challenges.
“The Intercomp WIM is a strain gauge-based load cell sensor technology that delivers robust performance and exceptional accuracy while eliminating the operational downtime required for many conventional truck scales.
“The solid-state load cell requires only minimal maintenance and calibration, and its long-term sensor stability and internal temperature compensation delivers improved accuracy and consistency of output across a wide range of seasonal environmental conditions when compared to other technologies.”
With the company’s Midwest US operational geography, seasonal temperature extremes can vary up to 150°F, says Intercomp. To meet requirements for sensor calibration and operational accuracy in these rugged environments, the weighing equipment provider delivered customised software and a ruggedised PC to ensure reliable operation under any conditions.
From an installation standpoint, the Intercomp WIM System also checked numerous boxes in the company’s requirements.
“Their commitment to rapidly deploy weighing systems at 22 sites within a period of months presented many significant obstacles for in-ground scale systems, including the need for costly and extensive excavation for frames and drains, likely delays and construction permitting at each site – not to mention the unrealised costs of time-consuming installation that disrupts operations.”
A major advantage of the WIM Strip Sensor system is the simplicity, ease and speed of system installation, Intercomp says.
“Flush-mount WIM Strip Sensors are easily installed into pavement surfaces with a shallow 4-inch surface cut. WIM installation can be performed in a single day versus weeks of costly site excavation, construction and installation required by frame-based scale systems.”
To serve its fleet of utility service trucks, Intercomp WIM Strip Sensors are in the process of being installed at 22 remote sites across the company’s wide service area.
“With the WIM System, drivers are able to quickly verify gross vehicle weight and gross axle weight while in motion, through a simple ‘green light / red light’ indicator enabled by real-time weight data acquisition driven by the Intercomp WIM sensors.
“This simple validation ensures GVWR (gross vehicle weight rating) and GAWR (gross axle weight rating) compliance before vehicles leave the yard. This visual and data logged verification helps ensure worker and road safety, eliminates the potential for costly overload violations, and helps deliver higher levels of productivity, accessibility and critical service response.”
The solution has addressed many of the customer’s goals, Intercomp reports, including weighing accuracy and verification with changing payloads; low maintenance and calibration requirements; rapid, simple installation with greatly reduced costs; reduced overloads and violations; improved safety and worker satisfaction; and enhanced operation response times and productivity.
