Weighing of Containers Becomes Mandatory

Starting on July 1, 2016, all containers bound for export via ship must be weighed before being loaded onto a cargo vessel. The German company Tally Tech, in cooperation with its partners, is proud to offer the first certifiable weighing solution on the market.

A new Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) regulation, to be implemented in July 2016, will entail a fresh challenge for the transport industry. All containers to be loaded onto a ship for export will now have to be weighed in a verifiable and precise manner. Moreover, container weights must be securely and electronically communicated to the ship operator, so that the data can be integrated into the stowage planning.
The SOLAS requirement, as its name suggests, aims to enhance safety for the entire container shipping sector. In the past, accidents resulting from falsely declared container weights have endangered crews, business, and the environment. However, this new SOLAS regulation brings with it some serious logistics hurdles, since up until now, technical solutions to weigh containers and communicate this data simply have not been available. This is especially critical for companies that forward goods, because they will be liable for guaranteeing that their containers are properly weighed.

A recent survey conducted by the e-commerce service provider INTTRA found that 48% of companies polled had doubts about being able to submit certifiable weights on time. Over 65% of these companies even feared that the new SOLAS rule might disrupt international trade.

Two Weighing Methods
The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has defined two possibilities for how containers can be weighed. With Method 1, the container is weighed with all of its contents already packed, while with Method 2, the contents are weighed and then added to the container tare weight. For both methods, Tally Tech offers a solution that is secure, fast, and easy. Through an app, a front-end website, and a computer client, data from the weighing process is automatically documented via Bluetooth and transferred to the shipping operator via the Tally Tech data center. Thanks to partnerships with hardware manufacturers like FSH and CES, weight notes are recorded directly during the weighing process via reach stacker, crane, or through sensors that are easily installed onto the twist locks of truck chassis. For weighing processes via Method 2, Tally Tech cooperates with Dutch manufacturer RAVAS, enabling weight notes to be directly recorded while loading goods into a container by forklift.

With both weighing solutions, data is automatically recorded to minimize the margin of error. After being recorded in the Tally Tech app, data is safely transferred to our data center via SSL protocol and recoded into whatever format the respective shipping operator uses. A digital acknowledgement is also automatically provided to the consignor.

For every company involved in the logistics chains of cargo shipping, the Tally Tech weighing solution offers the most convenient way to comply with the new SOLAS regulation. By ensuring that our system is as easy to use as possible, we guarantee that it can be integrated into any existing process. Whether by reach stacker, crane, .net solution, chassis, or forklift, Tally Tech and its partners provide a safe and swift method of SOLAS-compliant weighing to support companies in the transition to mandatory container weighing.