Ken Barnhouse has been in the metal recycling business since 1997. Over that time, he has seen many changes in this evolving business, primarily in the equipment. Some of those changes increased efficiency and throughput, while others proved too unreliable to provide sustained advantages. But when Alter Metal Recycling chose an 80-foot SURVIVOR® OTR truck scale to replace its mechanical predecessor, it made Ken’s life easier.
He was working for a metal recycling business in Washington State at the time, and when he took the job as facility manager at Alter’s Eau Claire location, he was pleasantly surprised with the new equipment.
“We had just installed Rice Lake OTRs at the Washington State plant,” Ken remembers. “The ease of installation was one of the great selling points, and it works as it should all the time. There is very little maintenance and it interfaces very well with our software. We couldn’t ask for anything more.”
SURVIVOR OTRs are not only a favorite of Ken’s, but they have become a good solution for many Alter Metal Recycling facilities. The 45 regional locations of this privately held recycling company (one of the largest in America) are turning red with Rice Lake. “As the old scales complete their life span or new state regulations demand an update, we’re moving to SURVIVORs,” Ken explains. “Rice Lake is easy to work with and the product quality is excellent. It’s a proven solution. Accuracy and durability are very important in our business,” he adds. “I need to be able to tell someone that this is the weight and be confident when saying so. The equipment needs to be consistent, and the OTR is just that. In the three years we’ve had the scale, I haven’t had to replace a load cell but I do appreciate the easy access to load cell pockets. That will make any future maintenance quick and easy.”
