Pride in Performance One Team One Business Innovation Award Water Cart Numbering

Pride in Performance One Team One Business The Problem Other drivers struggled to identify water carts at night. Light vehicles are required to make positive radio contact prior to overtaking and as Callide has four water carts it was confusing and potentially dangerous when light vehicles were attempting to overtake. The problem was made worse by the poor rear vision from a water cart particularly when the sprays are on. Solution had to be extremely resistant to corrosion given the arduous conditions on the back of a water cart and at a reasonable cost.

Pride in Performance One Team One Business The Solution Numbers approximately 800mm high and 400mm wide were cut from 6mm aluminium plate and mounted on the back of the water tank, numerous amber LED clearance lights were then mounted on the numbers. Each light cost $14.20 and they can be replaced individually which helps keep cost low. Another benefit of using LED lights is the low power consumption (they can be connected to the tail lights without the need to change or modify the tail light wiring).

Pride in Performance One Team One Business The Solution

Pride in Performance One Team One Business Innovation and Originality This simple cost effective solution could be used in any industry where vehicle visibility and identification are a problem. The combination of the cut out numbers and the LED clearance lights is an original idea. It is innovative in the use of readily available reasonably priced reliable materials and components which when combined more than adequately addressed the problem. Very little requirement for maintenance and cleaning. During the development of the new water cart number identification system there were no new hazards identified and since in use feedback has also proven the effectiveness of the design.

Pride in Performance One Team One Business Benefits / Effects The addition of the illuminated numbers has made it extremely easy to identify a water cart from the rear even at a distance of 500M, this has allowed drivers following a water cart to call up the operator and ask if it is safe to overtake knowing they are talking to the correct operator thus greatly reducing the chance of a collision. Being able to identify the water carts from such a distance also alerts the driver of a vehicle approaching from behind that the road surface may be wet and slippery.

Pride in Performance One Team One Business Water Cart Numbering