D-TEC introduces a container weighing system that provides a solution for sea container hauling transporters and shippers. 'This system allows shippers to comply with the new SOLAS regulations. Though we are still looking for interested people for a pilot study, to refine our system and make it fully SOLAS compliant', says Director Gerrit van Vlastuin.
SOLAS stands for Safety of Life at Sea-convention and is the most important international convention for safety at sea. Since 1 July this year, new regulations require all shipping containers to be shipped, to be weighed. Containers will not even be loaded on board without a VGM (Verified Gross Mass) or complete documentation. 'Prior to the introduction, there were many questions in the sea container market', says Van Vlastuin. 'Ultimately, this regulation was introduced worldwide, but the current method to determine the container weight is not easy and not flexible at all. That is why we at D-TEC sat down to see what we could do for the container market.' This resulted in a new container weighing system.
Low weight deviation
With the SOLAS regulation, carriers have to specify a traceable weight. That means traceable from the own weight of the container and a known weight of the load. The tolerance may be 500 kilos or 5 percent of the total weight of the container. Van Vlastuin: "D-TEC has a lot of experience with the weighing of loads on trailers, because we do this on our tanker trailers. On these trailers, we weigh the freight based on the bellows pressure in the air suspension. If this is done while riding, it is very accurate. We are able to weigh with a deviation less than half the maximum SOLAS deviation, in other words, a deviation of less than 250 kilos.' The new D-TEC container weighing system is suitable for certification and meets the SOLAS regulation to deduce the weight. 'This traceability is achieved because carriers regularly travel over a weigh bridge. The weight is thus always checked. If necessary, we calibrate the system.
Information via mobile device
D-TEC installs a sensor module that transmits data to the cloud with its container weighing system, both on the truck and on the trailer. The system calculates the weights and transmits the information to the driver via a mobile device (such as a smart phone). The shipper can retrieve the container weight from the cloud on the basis of the container number. Of course, the data is only available to users who are connected to the D-TEC container weighing system.
