ISO-Veyor enters North American Market with sale to Lafarge NA

Lafarge North America's Montreal office completed a highly successful trial with the 20 ft. PH type ISO-Veyor for a marine shipment by Oceanex of cement powder to Newfoundland customers from the Port of Halifax and Montreal in April 2006. The ISO-Veyor is truly intermodal, facilitating easy transition between road and rail and sea. It consists of a cylindrical vessel with a 25 m³ capacity constructed within the frame dimensions of a 20ft ISO unit. It can be handled exactly as a standard ISO container, utilising currently available trailer chassis and rail car rolling stock. It can be filled at source and remain sealed until the point of delivery thus removing the need for intermediate handling or storage of the contents.

Once the ship arrives at the port, the ISO-Veyor is lifted from the Quayside onto a conventional skeletal trailer. The rest of the journey takes place by road. On arrival the ISO-Veyor can be loaded onto the ground. It now becomes a temporary silo. No need for the driver to wait around. The ISO-Veyor can be stacked up to 9 high. The units can be drawn upon and discharged as demand dictates, ensuring a smooth and seamless supply of cement and cement substitute materials. The ISO-Veyor represents a step forward in dry bulk transportation. Pressurised dry bulk containers have been available as tipping tanks which require hydraulically operated tipping chassis.

These are expensive and also carry H&S issues at many sites, as there is the possibility of being blown over during high winds. So far, horizontal discharge tanks have been an extension of the "belly tanker concept", where the internal cones take up valuable space and reduces payload. InBulk Technologies recognised a significant opportunity to extend their 30 years of expertise within the dense phase pneumatic conveying industry by applying their knowledge to pneumatic discharge tank containers.

Jim MacLean, InBulk Agent for Canada and North America comments: "We are delighted with our sale of the first ISO-Veyors to Lafarge NA. We hope to build on this contract with other cement companies in the US and Canada as the whole flexibility of this solution is an excellent way for cement suppliers to minimise the risks, keep costs to a minimum and maximising their supply chain efficiencies whilst recognising their sustainability obligations".