Aggregates Manager Digital Magazine
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/187920
OPERATIO 1 2 Choose the right truck Get Trucks In and Out Quickly M oving aggregate delivery trucks in and out of a quarry quickly and efficiently can be a challenge at times. It doesn't matter if they are customer trucks or company trucks. However, with a bit of preplanning, it isn't as difficult as you may think. Stu Russoli, product marketing manager – construction with Mack Trucks, Inc., says that efficient trucking begins with making sure you get the right truck for the job. "Mack has been in construction for 113 years. It has been our mission to make sure the engine, transmission, and axles in our trucks are all designed to work together," he says. "For efficiency in transporting aggregate, it is critical to have the right horsepower, transmission low gear, and rear axle ratio for 'startability' when you're fully loaded." As important as the right truck for the job may be, it won't get in and out of a quarry quickly and efficiently without the help of the quarry itself. More quarries are moving toward automated systems that can help speed this up tremendously. Automation extends much farther than simply automating the processing plant. It now includes such things as loading systems, weighing systems, and ticketing systems, which can greatly speed the movement of trucks through the loadout process. "We went to RFID (radio frequency identification device) tags," says Kirk Fuller, plant manager at Lehigh Hanson's Bridgeport Quarry in Chico, Texas. "All our customers use them. Within that tag, all the vital information about the carrier is stored — company name, truck weight limit, whether the truck has an overweight permit for Texas. It greatly reduces verbal communication between the scalehouse and the customer truck." However, if the roads in and out of the quarry aren't in good condition, trucks won't be moving anywhere very fast. The roads should be kept clear of large rocks and potholes so that trucks can move to and from loadout easily. Not only does this speed up the loadout process, it protects customer trucks from incurring damage. "The roads make a huge difference," says Mike Sabo, an owner/operator truck driver working for H&K Group, Inc. (Haines & Kibblehouse) out of its Douglassville Quarry in Pennsylvania. "Some are in decent shape and some are pretty rough with large stones that have been dropped everywhere. If you have to drive over large stones, that isn't good for the truck, the tires, or for getting in and out quickly. If you hit one stone and it wrecks your tire, that's your whole day's profit gone. A decent road saves you time, and it's easy on your tires and your truck." When it comes time to purchase a truck to haul aggregate, make sure you go over the specs with the dealer. Get the right ratios, the right transmission, and the right suspension for the load you'll be carrying. Specify the percentage of time the truck will be on the road, the percentage of time it will be in the quarry, and the types of loads it will carry. 4 A good loader operator is important A good loader operator can speed up the loadout process. If the loader is equipped with scales, the loader operator can load a truck to within a couple hundred pounds of the truck's load limit. This can keep the truck from having to dump off excess material if it's overweight or having to return to have more material added because not enough material was loaded the first time. AGGREGATES MANAGER OperationsIllustrated_AGRM1013.indd 20 9/18/13 3:22 PM 5