The human capabilities know no boundaries, but at the same time, they don’t have anything more significant to offer than our ability of improving at a consistent clip. This unwavering commitment towards growth, regardless of the circumstances, has really enabled the world to clock some huge milestones, with technology emerging as quite a major member of the group. The reason why we hold technology in such a high regard is, by and large, predicated upon its skill-set, which guided us towards a reality that nobody could have ever imagined otherwise. Nevertheless, if we look up close for one hot second, it will become abundantly clear how the whole runner was also very much inspired from the way we applied those skills across a real world environment. The latter component, in fact, did a lot to give the creation a spectrum-wide presence, and as a result, initiated a full-blown tech revolution. Of course, the next thing this revolution did was to scale up the human experience through some outright unique avenues, but even after achieving a feat so notable, technology will somehow continue to bring forth the right goods. The same has turned more and more evident in recent times, and assuming one new partnership ends up with the desired impact, it will only put that trend on a higher pedestal moving forward.

SSA Terminals LLC has officially completed the objective of its partnership with Stäubli Electrical Connectors, a partnership which was supposed to provide automated charging connections for 33 terminal tractors at the Port of Long Beach, California. Dubbed as one of the biggest mechanized charging programs for electric vehicles at active ports in the United States, the development is part of a $50 million Port of Long Beach grant obtained from the California Air Resources Board’s (CARB) Zero and Near Zero Emission Freight Facility (ZANZEFF) program. ZANZEFF, by the way, is an initiative to finance transformative emission reduction strategies at fright facilities throughout California. It is also a part of California Climate Investments, a program that pulls billions of cap-and-trade dollars to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, strengthen the economy, and improve public health and the environment, particularly in disadvantaged communities. Anyway, talk about why SSA Terminals picked Stäubli to realize the given value proposition, the answer resides within the latter’s QCC system which uses an enclosed pin-and-socket design that is self-cleaning, touch-protected on both sides of the connector, and easily corrects for misalignment. In the context of this project, Stäubli’s QCC systems will automatically connect chargers, manufactured by Tritium, to an electric receptacle on each terminal tractor. Such a mechanism should go a long way in creating a safe and high-performing charging system. But what are some granular level features in play here? Well, we begin from the prospect of a zero-touch operation where all tractors can be charged simultaneously with no manual intervention whatsoever. You see, the operator just has to pull into a charging station and the QCC deploys to plug in the tractors during breaks or shift changes for maximum charging uptime, and optimal labor utilization. Next up, we must dig into the system’s robustness against environmental factors that reveals itself once you learn how each QCC is power-rated in excess of one megawatt. These QCCs further feature UL-rated components that withstand contaminants known for damaging port equipment, including salt air, high humidity, and airborne rust and rubber. Now, you might be tempted to think that a system of this sort will likely require high maintenance efforts. However, in reality, the 100,000 mating/plug-in cycles rated QCC system requires no such thing, and that’s how it’s expected to stay for its 20 to 30-year expected service life. Moving past the operational prowess, the whole project also brings the setuo to meet the needs of a Clean Air Action Plan created in collaboration by Port of Long Beach and Port of Los Angeles. In case you weren’t aware, the stated action plan has a goal of achieving 100 percent zero emission terminal operations by 2030

“Stäubli is grateful to SSA Marine for the opportunity to link the vehicle to the infrastructure, demonstrating innovative zero emissions technology that will improve operational efficiencies without polluting the air in our environment,” said David Rababy, Head of E-Mobility Sales at Stäubli Electrical Connectors North America.

Providing further significance to this project is, of course, the Port of Long Beach itself. To understand the same, we only have to look at the fact that it supports more than 2.6 million trade-related jobs, while simultaneously handling trade worth $200 billion per year.

Founded way back in 1892, Stäubli has today reached a point where the company’s industrial and mechatronic solutions stretch across four dedicated divisions i.e. Electrical Connectors, Fluid Connectors, Robotics, and Textile. This scale is also visible in Stäubli’s footprint, which is fully established in 28 countries. Having said so, the agents of the company are, at the moment, present in over 50 countries.

As for SSA Terminals, a subsidiary of SSA Marine, it is currently one of the world’s leading independent, privately held marine terminal operators, delivering activities at more than 250 terminal facilities. Not just that, the company’s rail operations run throughout geographies in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Central America, South America and Asia.