Multiple track rail load out

Location:
St. Joseph, Missouri

Project:
Multiple rail track load out
Multiple scale truck receiving and grading

CompuWeigh Control Systems:
GMS-4000 bulkweighing control system
Three bi-directional SmartRead rail car RF id systems
SmartLoad continuous weighing
SmartGrade weighted average grade factors of cars loaded
Three GMS-Truck scale workstations for platform scales and grading
SmartLink accounting system interface

Rail Load Out:
The customer normally loads 54 cars at a time but unlike most facilities often does this on a daily basis.

With three tracks at their disposal they typically stage each track with 18 cars. The operator using our GMS-4000 bulkweighing control system then selects which track to load first and which direction he wants to pull the cars from. This establishes which SmartRead rail car RF antenna should read the rail cars. As a car passes the reader its id is captured and GMS then consults its SmartCar database to calculate the optimum amount to load into the car. This sophisticated customer ensures that the amount loaded into the car truly is the maximum allowed after taking into account special rules and individual car characteristics and not just the load limit marked on the side of the car.

As the cars are loaded, a representative sample is pulled from the grain-stream and graded in an adjacent office by State certified graders. The results are then entered into a separate GMS Grading station. The elevator manager can then monitor the overall quality of the cars loaded using our SmartGrade system, which shows him the weighted average of each factor for the cars already loaded. This allows the manager to make minor adjustments to the blend rather than work in ‘crisis mode’ at the end and be forced to ‘give away’ quality product to meet the overall unit train quality.

Truck Receiving & Grading:
The facility has three bulk weighing scales that handle inbound truck traffic. Because each scale can hold 120,000 lbs the contents of a truck easily fits in the scale so they were able to use our less expensive GMS-Truck system rather than a full blown bulk weighing system.

While the grain is being taken from the dump pit up to the the scale, a small sample is taken and the driver can watch the grading process and if the quality is satisfactory, watch the weighing process. As soon as the gross weight of the scale has been taken the ticket can be printed and the driver is on his way.

All completed GMS transactions run through the SmartLink accounting interface which correctly formats the data so it can be sent directly to the corporate accounting system.

Multiple track rail load out