A prodigious level of activity, intense excitement, as well as a bit of angst can precede the start of any big project. We’ve recently been experiencing all of that at TerraTherm! We reached the point in the schedule where two of our projects required the treatment equipment to be delivered almost simultaneously. Ten tractor-trailer loads of remediation equipment needed to be moved to our two, separate New England sites in the same month. All told, nearly six million dollars’ worth of equipment had to be staged, loaded, and transported to both locations in a matter of two weeks. One of our jobs in project supply is to minimize the uncertainty with well thought out plans that maximize the safety aspect of the moves and optimize truck space for economic reasons.
These latest moves required the use of cranes to lift large, skidded equipment onto the trucks. Our largest lift was a 45,000 pound thermal oxidizer. Prior to all lifts, a detailed lifting plan is established for each crane pick. The morning of the lift, a tailgate safety meeting is held to review all steps of the planned activities. During this meeting, we review potential hazards, review the actual loading of the piece(s) of equipment, and coordinate with the operator of the crane to ensure all activities are done with safety in mind. We involve our Corporate Director of Health and Safety in this process so that any issues that could possibly arise are identified and addressed. Additionally, anyone else involved in the process can ask questions or bring forward concerns to be discussed. A lead person is established to direct all activities during the lift, but if danger arises, each team member is authorized to give the signal to stop activities.
Ideally, transportation of equipment is a beautiful and organized symphony of humans and machines with the conductor orchestrating the move. The desire is to have control of all of the processes that are taking place and to anticipate any problems that could arise.
But eventually, some control must be relinquished as these loads are placed on commercial trucks specifically hired for the transportation of the equipment. If the load exceeds the legal weight or size limitations as determined by local, state or federal standards, the load becomes what TerraTherm refers to as a “permit load”. The trucks with these loads will require a permit from each state through which the truck will drive. Both of these recent moves had overweight and oversized elements so permits were required. The trucking company takes on the responsibility of getting the necessary permits based upon the information that TerraTherm provides.
These methods have been ingrained in the mindset of TerraTherm in hopes that each equipment move will run smoothly, efficiently and safely. TerraTherm has the logistical experience and dedicated employees needed to get each job done exceptionally well.
