Why Scale Houses Should Be Made Out of Shipping Containers

Many industries—from agriculture to recycling—rely on large scales to weigh materials. Often, the weight of these companies’ products directly correlates with revenue, operational productivity, and daily workflow. Thanks to scale houses, companies can easily monitor scale equipment and help move trucks in and out of facilities with ease.

Recently, we’ve worked with several companies that chose modified shipping containers for scale houses. The choice for a container option was clear; only a shipping container would fill the need for a durable and easily transportable scale house building that could be set up in a matter of hours. Here’s why shipping containers were the obvious choice for these companies.

What is a Scale House?

First thing’s first, scale houses are much more than structures near weigh stations, they’re vital shelters for computing equipment and station employees. Many scale houses provide storage space to protect equipment and office space for onsite employees to monitor passing trucks.

Both traditionally constructed scale house buildings and container-based buildings can be designed to accommodate a company’s required layout. Additionally, either option will allow a company to accurately weigh materials. The difference boils down to scale house set up process and reliability.

Setting Up Scale Houses

Shipping container scale houses are fast and efficient solutions, especially compared to traditional construction options. Three reasons stand out:

1. Containers minimize site disturbances.

Thanks to offsite shipping container modification, container-based scale houses aren’t manufactured where they end up. This minimizes the hassle of navigating a construction zone that lasts for months. Onsite teams can instead spend time focusing on installing scale equipment and getting up to speed.

 2. Containers make delivery easy.

Because containers are manufactured offsite, a truck driver will deliver the structure after it’s fully complete. Delivery is often a simple process since manufacturers create containers to travel by truck. Imagine the ease of a scale house delivered to you, ready for set up.

3. Container set up is fast—like really fast.

When companies pre-pour foundations or otherwise prepare for scale house arrival, set up only takes a matter of hours— including electrical connections! This keeps onsite work moving efficiently.

Relying on Scale House Durability

Containers are intended to travel for many years as cargo boxes at sea, making them long-lasting solutions by nature. For example, that means a potato processing company—that only uses a scale house a few months out of the year—can remain confident that its structure will withstand the offseason and many more off-season’s to come.

A well-maintained container-based building can remain in good condition for over twenty-five years. Alternative traditional structures of comparable prices are likely to become weaker over time. Choosing durability—especially at remotely located facilities—is likely to pay off many years down the road.

“We are in the hot desert and our staff already notice the difference of the insulated building. We will definitely order from Falcon Structures the next time we need another structure that can be built from a container.” – CHT Resources, on using a container scale house

Get in Touch

If you’re ready to take the next step and discuss a container-based scale house, give us a call! We’ll discuss your project and help you determine if containers are the right fit for your scale house building. Reach us at 512-231-1010  or email us at Sales@FalconStructures.com to talk to one of our experts.