Paving the Way for Smoother, Safer Tank-Truck Commodity Handling

By OPW | Aug 13, 2020

There are several critical points in the fuel-delivery process at a retail or commercial fueling site: ensuring the correct type or grade of fuel is unloaded into the correct tank, ensuring the entire payload is unloaded, ensuring correct volumes are delivered and avoiding product overfills are among the most common.

While errors can be rare, they are also entirely unacceptable.

Due to their hazardous nature and flammability, any mishandling of motor fuels can have severe deleterious effects on the people charged with handling them, the environment and the overall business performance of the fuel supplier and its clients. Therefore, it is imperative that loading/unloading and monitoring systems deployed by fuel suppliers have the ability to recognize when an improper delivery condition is about to occur and warn the driver in advance or actually prevent its occurrence.

Civacon, an OPW company, has addressed this demand with the development of the CivaCommand Smart Tank System. Introduced to the fuel-delivery market in 2019, CivaCommand is a highly engineered, easy-to-use solution that consolidates access to the different loading/unloading control systems on the trailer – including cross-drop prevention, on-board overfill-prevention monitoring, pneumatic (air pressure) control, security, electronic PGIs, troubleshooting and usage history – through driver interaction with a digital touchscreen display.

The digital touchscreen is securely activated by the driver – even while wearing gloves – via a unique user ID and PIN. The system becomes active during loading when the driver attaches the overfill detection and ground verification cord to the receiving socket on the trailer at the loading terminal. Once this cord is connected and the CivaCommand System determines all of the necessary safety parameters are safe to do so, sends a “Permit” signal to the load rack that allows loading to commence. CivaCommand is designed to alert the driver if any safety parameters are not met and the trailer fails to “Permit” and communicates the reason(s) why through on-screen dialogue. The trailer will only be allowed to safely load once any active “Non-Permit” issues have been resolved.

With optional Cross-Over Prevention enabled, CivaCommand allows unloading to occur once a match is made between its Smart Elbow and the RFID tag attached to the UST. When the Smart Elbow is properly cammed to the UST fill pipe, it sends a wireless signal to the system, automatically unlocking matching product unload heads and internal valves that allow unloading to commence. When the unloading process is complete, the touchscreen will communicate to the driver that each compartment is empty, indicating that hoses, elbows and adaptors can be safely disconnected. “Empty” status is also stored in the system memory in case the fuel delivery is questioned by the customer.

CivaCommand can optionally be used with the CivaConnect fleet-analysis tool, which works to examine the efficiency of the fuel-delivery operation and then communicates that information with the CivaCommand system. With many of today’s dispatchers working remotely, CivaConnect enables fleet managers to track their shipments remotely with no need to check in with or track down a dispatcher.

The commitment of OPW’s companies to create systems that promote the safest commodity transport grows from its Defining What’s Next philosophy of ensuring strong Environmental & Social Governance (ESG) operating principles. The pillars of this philosophy are Protecting People, Protecting the Environment and Enhancing Business Performance, all of which are addressed through the next-generation monitoring systems that have been developed by OPW brand Civacon for use in tank-truck transport applications.

 

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