Scales and Software

It is through his company 5280 Waste Solutions in Denver, CO, that Bill Bradley developed awareness for the need for software solutions addressing transportation planning, management, and logistics to address the inefficiencies he sees inherent in solid waste operations. Bradley represents a multitude of operations seeking to turn the numbers into useful data for systems management and billing efficiencies.

A software professional by trade, Bradley purchased the waste recycling business nearly four years ago with a partner. 5280 Waste Solutions provides roll-off services throughout the Colorado Front Range, focusing on LEED construction projects and recycling. “All we do is run open-top and closed-top roll-offs, C&D, and asbestos,” says Bradley. The company has 24 trucks and 1,200 containers.

“The profound inefficiencies became painfully obvious to me after we acquired this business,” he says. “One of the inefficiencies existing in our market is the difference between what we pay to tip a container in town at a convenient transfer station and out of town at a full-fledged landfill. It can be as much as a 300% difference.”

On a lighter container, the difference is indiscernible, but costs add up for heavier containers, Bradley notes. In-house analyses showed that the company, in paying per ton, shelled out $14,000 more during July 2015 for hauling it to a Denver transfer station instead of trucking the waste to the landfill.

“Even accounting for additional truck time, labor, and fuel, we still could have saved close to $10,000 that month,” he adds.

Meanwhile, Bradley sought to address the challenges by building his own software product for an expected January 2016 release that provides a complete business process automation for the roll-off industry: Western Star, which delivers solutions through its Starlight software.

The software is being used on CleralUSA scales integrated into each roll-off truck and could be used on other scales, says Bradley. “The scale accurately and quickly determines the net weight of the container contents,” he says.

Information is communicated via Bluetooth from the scale to a driver’s phone, which relays the weight value over a cellular network back to company servers. The software is run as a service in The Cloud.

“Depending on the threshold business owners set for weight decisions, the value that comes from the scale on the truck may trigger a decision on where to take that load,” says Bradley, adding his company sets a three-ton threshold.

In his company, a dispatcher and truck driver takes the load wherever they deem best if the weight is below the threshold.

If the weight value exceeds 3 tons, the software immediately alerts the dispatcher of the vehicle’s location on an electronic map, as well as the three closest disposal facilities that accept the material

on the truck and the disposal costs for the material based on the per ton charge to tip at the facility. That, plus trucking costs for a total cost to dispose, offers the dispatcher information on the best disposal choice.

The dispatcher clicks the desired facility, which instantly updates the work order on the driver’s phone and instructs that driver to go to a specific location.

Bradley developed the software to address end-to-end needs to mitigate problems he saw associated with “mix and match” software approaches. His waste company, which beta-tested the software, has achieved “complete mastery” over its order system, he says.

“From work order distribution to the drivers, we can manage driver efficiency and disposal efficiency,” says Bradley. “We have complete billing integration and detail carryover to our accounting system. We’re completely paperless. The cost savings has been tremendous.”

Cleral’s on-board scales are designed to work on a variety of axle configurations. Howard Baker, managing partner for CleralUSA, the US distributor for Cleral Inc., points out that the next era of onboard weighing will focus on using the weight data to properly distribute weight on the axle groups and control certain truck functions.

“Most companies using scales now are primarily looking to monitor axle weights on the truck to be legal on the road,” notes Baker. “It’s moving in the direction where the weight that was picked up is what will determine the economical disposal site to save money and trips on the road.”

Baker uses the term “mechatronics” to describe the new systems, which includes Sentinel, a wireless onboard axle weight monitoring system for trucks and trailers. The handheld monitor displays real-time gross and axle weights with distribution simultaneously within a radius of 800 feet from the vehicle. Weights can be displayed in net (payload) or gross (GVW) and other selected units. Up to eight channels—axle groups—can be displayed.

Although CleralUSA is a preferred partner with Starlight software for the industry’s roll-off sector, Baker says his company can work with any software to provide scale protocol and enable the technology to interface with the scale system.

Creative Microsystems’ LoadMan offers both on-board truck scales and LoadMan Load Management (LLM) software. The company works with third-party software vendors Soft-Pak, Trux, and Geo-Tab when the application requires features not offered in LLM.

The University of California Santa Cruz (UCSC) uses LLM for its closed economic system to capture and report all data within a confined campus. Senior Superintendent of Grounds Services Roger Edberg notes that his department is the material handler for UCSC, which serves an estimated population of 17,000. The operation has three front loader trucks and 250 Dumpsters for trash, cardboard, and mixed recyclables.

The operation has historically tracked a significant amount of data regarding each dumpster stop made through visual estimations for billing purposes, says Edberg. “They’ve recorded that just for diversion rates and to try to bill off of that,” he adds. The campus operates according to a University of California mandate that its 10 state universities and five medical centers aim for zero landfill waste by 2020.

When Edberg came on board, he noted the …

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