Described by many as the toughest vehicle application, some refuse trucks can make as many as 1,200 stops a day. This demanding work cycle, while hard on the vehicle and its body, presents service and parts sales opportunities.
“What you have is a rapid application of the brake and heavy use of the throttle as the vehicle jumps forward a few feet at a time to the next collection point,” according to Steve Gitner, vocational products marketing manager, Mack Trucks, Inc.
The vehicle also starts out empty and works its way to full, unlike many other applications that are operating either empty or full.
The refuse application is rather unique in that its fuel economy is measured in terms of gallons per hour and the irregular cycles make it difficult to optimize fuel economy.
Another thing that makes the application unique is the variety of trash it picks up – everything from concrete to household garbage with liquids in it, explains Joel Barnes, training facilitator, Heil Environmental.
Today’s refuse hauler has a variety of choices when it comes to truck bodies. To begin with there is the basic rear-load application. “This truck is very elementary. You have basic hydraulics running through a couple of valves and some cylinders,” says Jim Lindstedt, general manager of Mid Atlantic Waste Systems, Baltimore metro branch. Mid Atlantic is a Heil dealer with six locations in Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania.
“The front-end loader picks up an average of 100 containers a day and makes two to three daily trips to the landfill or transfer station,” explains Ray Leary, service manager of Mid Atlantic’s Chesapeake, Va. location. “This unit requires the body’s moving parts including the arms, forks and blades to be greased every 40 hours of machine operation,” he says.
