Maher Terminals LLC has installed the Kalmar Collision Warning System on 36 of its straddle carriers, with a further 68 machines to follow in 2024 and 2025.
Maher Terminals is a multi-user container terminal operator running North America’s largest marine container terminal in the Port of New York and New Jersey.
The system is robust for area awareness and active obstacle detection for straddle carriers, according to Kalmar. It is designed to prevent or reduce the severity of a collision by informing the driver of a potential collision by visual and/or audible alarms. The system has a high ingress protection rating, is shock and vibration resistant and is designed to operate over a wide temperature range.
The Collision Warning System uses sensors fitted to the Kalmar straddle carrier to survey the surrounding area and actively warn the operator of any obstacles in the path of the machine, its spreader or the container being carried. The system reportedly allows operators to take immediate corrective action to reduce the risks of accidents, collision and damage to machines or containers, increasing the safety of the employees and saving the terminal time and money while extending the life of the equipment fleet.
In addition to warning the driver of any obstacles in the path of the machine, the system detects and warns the driver if the spreader or the container being carried is too low when going towards the stack of containers.
Maher Terminals collaborated with Kalmar to develop and install two original prototype Collision Warning Systems that were placed into service in September 2022. Implementing the solution on 36 machines in the straddle carrier fleet has reportedly increased the safety of employees at the terminal already.
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“Nothing is more important at Maher Terminals than safety,” said Louis Allora, Chief Engineer at Maher Terminals LLC.
“Since installing the [Kalmar] system, we have seen fewer straddle-to-straddle, straddle-to-vehicle, and straddle-to-container collisions at our terminal. Impact-related maintenance costs and reliability have also improved on the straddle carriers that have the system installed.”
