New Tremcar farm pick-up tank features ground-level manholes

Tremcar takes health and security issues in the workplace very seriously. The call to get workers off the tops of cargo tanks grows stronger by the day.

The dairy industry is increasingly worried about the number of truck drivers and maintenance workers having accidents from falling off the milk tanks. Working conditions are precarious when workers have to climb up in difficult weather conditions such as snow, rain and strong winds by the road side for example.

Such conditions are perfect storms for disaster. No wonder insurance costs for employers are so high. Customized catwalks and hand rail systems are costly, and the equipment is heavy meaning lost payload and reduced tank aerodynamics. Agri-Mark needed a solution and Tremcar wanted to satisfy its customer’s specific need at a competitive price.

Agri-Mark, a federated milk cooperative that represents 80% of New England’s milk industry, collaborated with Tremcar in developing a milk tank with side manway doors along with a whole new ground level operating system. In parts of Europe, it was known that the milk tanks had manholes built at the bottom of the tank versus the top of the tank.

Tremcar President Daniel Tremblay and M Gilchris from Agri-Mark took a closer look on how this innovative tank functioned. Inspired by the European model and understanding Agri-mark’s needs, Tremcar president and a young technical engineer, designed an all new ground level operating milk tank.

Tremcar addressed the safety issue by bringing the manholes to ground level. Of course, all sampling and inspection functionalities had to be adapted for ground level operations. Another challenge was to produce a tank that needed to correspond to North American sanitary norms and transport standards.

Finally, Tremcar and Agri-Mark wanted to optimize milk loading time and modernize the technological system of the tank. For example, the partners needed to improve the pumping system, develop new technology to keep track of the temperature for each compartment (72-hour recorder at least), improve the probe system; and have a warning level and a shut off level. Company officials also knew that properly sealing the manway doors would pose a challenge and we questioned the process taken to measure and sample the milk in a clean, efficient and precise way.

The new farm pick-up tank was produced and delivered in April of 2014. The positive aspects of the new tank design; the number one priority—safety--was satisfied, no one on top of the tank, no ladders. Washing and inspecting the interior of the tank is much easier at ground level. The tank design was accepted by State Regulatory Agencies in all states where inspection was executed.

Tremcar successfully designed a cargo tank where all access points were grouped together: milk sampling, temperature recorder, probe system, pumping system, etc and conformed to USDA inspection procedures for a quality product. Performing work functions are now easier, safer, and faster.

The standard farm pick-up trailer is loaded with 65,000 pounds of milk from seven farms with a pumping rate of 1,000 lbs/min which equals to 65 minutes of pumping. Measuring and sampling takes 12 minutes per farm (x 7 farms) adding 84 minutes to the pickup process for a total of 149 minutes of milk pick up in one road trip.

The new farm pickup handles 65,000 pounds of milk from seven different farms with a pumping rate of 2,000 lbs/min which equals to 32.5 minutes of pumping and 3.5 min/farm for measuring and sampling (x 7 farms) which adds 24.5 minutes for a total of 57 minutes. That is a time savings of 92 minutes. Over four years, the operator can save $54,750.

Both Agri-Mark and Tremcar officials are satisfied with the product. Twelve more of these innovative tanks are now on the production line. Maintenance workers and truck drivers can now operate safely. Not having the hassle of climbing the tank reduces the risk of falling thus permitting safer working conditions. The time saving is also a great factor to the equation of investing in this new product.