Scales Help Busy Port Keep Traffic Flowing

PRLog (Press Release) – Jul 10, 2009 – To ship cargo on time, ports need to handle large volumes of traffic quickly and efficiently. With reliable truck scales from METTLER TOLEDO, Norfolk International Terminals is able to weigh as many as 2,900 trucks per day.
The terminal transports intermodal containers to more cities faster and more efficiently than any other terminal in the United States. Norfolk International Terminals is the largest of the four general-cargo terminals operated by Virginia International Terminals that handle this large amount of inbound and outbound traffic. Covering approximately 660 acres, Norfolk International Terminals is home to the world’s largest container cranes, which are 271 feet high and move as many as forty 50-ton containers per hour. Container storage at the terminal is more than 34,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU).
Concrete-deck Scales

METTLER TOLEDO has been part of Norfolk International Terminals’ success since 1996. By supplying and maintaining 15 concrete-deck truck scales, it enables the terminal to handle the large number of trucks that transport cargo to and from the port. Each truck that enters the site is inspected and then weighed on an inbound scale. After being weighed, the truck proceeds to a stacker crane to have its container offloaded. The empty trucks pick up a container for the return trip and are weighed on an outbound scale.
Reliable Operation

The terminal processes about 2900 trucks per day during its peak season. That equals more than 380 weighings per day for each scale. The port’s truck scales have performed reliably. According to Harry Brittingham, Equipment Specialist, Norfolk International Terminals has replaced only two load cells in the past 12 years.
A composite structure of concrete and steel gives the weighbridge exceptional strength and durability. The result is a truck scale that delivers reliable weighing over a long service life.
Preventive Maintenance

Carlton Scale, a certified METTLER TOLEDO distributor, has been there every step of the way since the scales were installed. To keep the scales operating properly, Carlton provides preventive maintenance inspections every 60 to 90 days. Quality products from METTLER TOLEDO and excellent service from Carlton Scale ensure that the terminal’s operations keep cruising along.

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METTLER TOLEDO specializes in the area of precision instruments for professional use. METTLER TOLEDO laboratory instruments are used in research, scientific, drug discovery, and quality control labs, amongst many others in the pharmaceutical, chemical, food and cosmetics industries. METTLER TOLEDO comprehensive industrial solutions cover the various steps in a host of manufacturing processes at many of the same customers that laboratory serves. Solutions range from receiving raw materials through various manufacturing processes, in-line process control and end-of-line packaging control, to logistics and shipping. Increasingly, these solutions are fully integrated into the customer's IT environment, helping automate their workflows. In food retail, our offering for fresh food management ranges from receiving and pre-packaging, to in-store solutions for self-service departments, deli counters, and checkout terminals.