The road freight transport activity is growing and will nearly double by 2050. In this growing market, Cogo Bilance s.r.l. an innovative company producing electronic scales and weighing systems since 1773, stands out not only for its products (e.g. Sunsystem powering solution for truck scales) but also for its installation, calibration and maintenance services. Improving road safety is a prime objective of the European Union's transport policy. Reducing fatalities, injuries and material damage is its main purpose. Overloaded trucks make highways and roads much less safe as they damage the roads, have more trouble stopping, face mechanical failures and hit with more force. The European Directive 2015/719 establishes maximum gross vehicle weights and urges for regular weight checks for commercial vehicles in the 28 EU countries. Accurate truck scales are key for businesses large and small as well as transportation agencies delivering their products on the road, as they are used to determine the weight of bulk goods being bought and sold in truckload-sized quantities. Information from the scale is a crucial part of the business transaction functioning much as a cash register. Currently, the construction work, infrastructure and time needed to install a truck scale in a company’s facility results in a highly expensive burden. In addition, connection to the electric grid is indispensable and the heavy materials used make the installation and relocation of the scale a concern. This results in very expensive solutions particularly for SMEs, majority in this particular sector in the EU, than for larger firms, thus, hindering competitiveness. Sensolweighs (incorporating Sunsystem technology, pressure sensors, Wifi system and light container in a resistant material) is a truck scale being developed by Cogo that will greatly reduce not only installation time (by 98%) and costs (by >32%) but will be easily transported and will give the possibility to work off-grid minimizing the energy bill and carbon footprint. Overall objectives of the project are to develop a first prototype that will be tested at Cogo’s site to then be able to carry out field tests with customers and validate our prototype. Next, we will commercialize Sensolweighs in the European market driving Cogo’s exponential growth.
