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Load volume scanner increases efficiency for suppliers

Underloading trucks can be detrimental to any project’s efficiency if it goes unnoticed.

Ensuring each truck supplies a full load, allows businesses to save time by reducing the amount of trips for each project.

Sprint Sand and Clay is a supplier of fill material based in Houston in the US. The company decided to adopt Loadscan’s load volume scanner, to measure the exact volume of material loaded into trucks or trailer bins.

With over 20 active mining locations and a fleet of over 200 dump trucks and trailers, the Loadscan load volume scanner has improved the company’s daily efficiency by up to eight per cent on large mass hauling jobs.

Sprint Sand and Clay supplies, sand, topsoil, fill, dirt, select fill, mulch and other construction or landscaping materials throughout the five counties surrounding Houston.

The Loadscan volume scanner uses laser scanning and RFID technologies combined with software that creates 3D model images of trucks to measure its exact volume.

Matt Strickland, vice president of Sprint Sand and Clay, says volume measurement plays a huge role in the company’s operations. He says it gives them the information needed in real-time to ensure operators adjust loading capacities to avoid underloading.

“Loadscan’s ability to ‘ticket’ the truck electronically by passing through the system and reading the RFID tag without the driver having to stop his truck to retrieve a paper ticket each time allows the truck to get 2-3 more loads daily.”

The load volume scanner also enables Sprint Sand and Clay to ensure future bids are estimated accurately by forecasting using the data gathered.

“When paired with the 3D images, it takes the worry out of our minds because we know that each truck has a full load and we are truly maximizing our loading capabilities whilst also saving time,” Mr. Strickland says.

“We have roughly 24-27 trucks running daily and the LVS can often scan up to 600 times a day, so if each truck can get 2-3 extra loads each day it impacts our daily production hugely.”

The Loadscan volume scanner can be used as an educational and quality control tool for internal operations to ensure loading practices are as consistent as possible.

Tyler Cain, Project Manager at Sprint Sand and Clay says the company is expecting the scanner to pay for itself in a short amount of time providing them with a fast return on investment.

“The measurement information paired with the electronic ticketing software has made a very positive impact on operational efficiency. The electronic ticketing software gives us truck turn information that allows us to determine the exact amount of trucks we need to allocate to the job each day to maximize our loading capacity without ‘over-trucking’ the job,” he said.

Mr. Cain says the clearest return on investment will come from the ability to essentially ‘ticket’ trucks on mass excavation projects without having to have a ticket writer or dispatcher. We have essentially removed the labour costs of one person from the project, he says.

“There are also additional cost saving that we know exist, but are harder to measure. For example, the RFID tag reader ensures trucks are not ticketed in error and we don’t pay for loads that did not happen. We also know there are cost saving measures that will occur from the ability to ensure trucks are loaded to the proper capacity to ensure we are not overpaying in freight for light loads.”

For more information about load volume scanning (LVS) systems visit www.loadscan.com.


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