By RON WILSON
Director of the Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development at Kansas State University
The big truck pulls onto the scale as it prepares to make a delivery in Texas. It is essential that the weight be accurate when delivering these products. That scale was installed and calibrated by a company in rural Kansas.
Today we’ll meet a man whose company specializes in installing, calibrating, and servicing industrial scales used by all types of businesses to get the weight just right. You’ll want to learn this full story – it’s worth the weight.
Ron Travis is the owner and founder of Travis Scale Company. He grew up in Arlington, Kansas and joined the Marines. After his military service, he became a mechanic for various businesses.
One of his jobs included servicing scale trucks. He enrolled in a community college training program and was recruited to western Kansas to work in the scale industry.
In July 1997, Travis went into business on his own. Today, Ron and his wife Cyndi lead Travis Scale Company, which is certified to work in Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Colorado, Missouri, Nebraska and New Mexico. The company operates several service trucks and a full time construction crew. Technicians and a specialized engineer work to calibrate the equipment.
Cyndi’s son, Tyson McGuire, and his wife Danielle joined the business as well. They now work from Danielle’s hometown, which is the rural community of Delphos, population 302 people. Now, that’s rural.
“We sell, install and service industrial scales,” Travis said. The company specializes in precision balances, industrial scales and calibration weights.
“We use the latest technology backed by the best quality manufacturers in the world,” he said. Travis Scale serves the food processing, chemical, metals, automotive, trucking and transportation, plastics and manufacturing industries.
I never knew there were so many types of scales. Travis Scale can work on everything from airline baggage to wheel load scales. There are axle scales, bench scales, counting scales, crane scales, floor scales, lift truck scales, pallet jack scales, portion control scales, retail scales, stainless steel scales, washdown scales, and more.
The company also offers checkweighers, dimensioning systems, force measurements test stands, in-motion weighing devices, moisture analyzers and other types of equipment.
In addition to routine calibration and repair and maintenance work, the company offers short-term or even one-time scale rentals.
In southwest Kansas, customers often include grain elevators, feed yards, and railroad stations. For the livestock industry, Travis Scale began building its own prefabricated scale decks and cattle racks in 2002. Instead of using the recommended 3,500-force concrete, they pour 10,000-force concrete.
“This works to ensure longevity and durability, even in the most stressful conditions,” Travis said.
Quality and integrity are hallmarks for the Travis Scale Company. For example, moisture testers and liquid flow meters are important devices in the grain and fertilizer industries. “I think we have the best set of standards for flow meters and moisture testers in the business,” Travis said.
“Our testing program exceeds industry standards.”
Travis was a founding member of the Kansas Scale Company Coalition which works with the Weights and Measures division of the Kansas Department of Agriculture.
Travis is a member of the National Institute for Standards and Technology, a non-regulatory agency of the U. S. Department of Commerce, which serves as a measurement standards laboratory.
He also says that he is committed to family values. “I’m a big family guy,” Travis said. “Our employees are like family to us. We care for each other and we look after each other like family.”
He adds: “I’m a patriotic American. I love what we are and where we live.”
For more information, see www.travisscale.com.
The big truck drives off the scale in Texas. Everyone can be confident that the scale reading is accurate, thanks to this company in Kansas.
We salute Ron and Cyndi Travis, Tyson and Danielle McGuire, and all those involved with Travis Scale Company for making a difference with entrepreneurship in the weights and measures industry.
You might say that, when it comes to tipping the scales in favor of rural Kansas, they are leading the weigh.