Driving the Point Home

Jim Cowhey, president and CEO of Park Ridge, Ill.-based Land and Lakes, also has experimented using the PAC on mixed residential and commercial routes. So far, he has purchased four of the devices and says that a 10 to 20 percent increase in productivity has been the main benefit since drivers can service more homes in the same shift. But, Cowhey also was looking to reduce driver injuries caused by lifting, and he says he's seen a decrease in worker's compensation claims from drivers.

Cowhey says that overall, the PAC has taken the drivers a little getting used to. “But, once they do, it's less labor intensive for them,” he adds. For the driver, it's mostly a matter of becoming proficient at operating the joystick to pick up the can with the arm. “The younger drivers — the ones good at playing video games — pick it up quickly,” he says. For those on both ends of the hand-eye-coordination spectrum, Perkins has sent engineers to train the drivers. “It usually takes the drivers a day or two to pick it up,” Cowhey adds.

Rob Hutzler, who manages a waste disposal operation in southwest California, also has noticed that having a fully automated attachment on the front of the vehicle is better for driver ergonomics. Rather than having to turn around to see what material is being dumped, it happens in front of the driver. He says this is particularly helpful when collecting recyclables because the driver can get out of the cab and take any contaminants out of the container before dumping it in the hopper.

The Right Fit?

Of course, this doesn't mean that front-load vehicles with fully automated attachments are suitable for every fleet. Aside from their issues with heavy wind, the devices also can be hard on a vehicle's front-end components because of their weight, Brown of Allied says. And, if a route isn't already automated, haulers sometimes have to convince towns to switch. Cowhey, for instance, says he plans to purchase more of the devices once the towns his company has been in discussions with agree to convert to automated systems.

The purchase also needs to make sense financially. “Each company needs to look at their balance sheet,” Becker says. For instance, he was already purchasing 32-yard rear-load trucks at $180,000 each and then went to automated side loaders at $225,000 apiece. To switch to a front loader equipped with a Curotto Can was $245,000 per truck. “For us, it wasn't that much of an increase. But for a hauler buying a 20-yarder at $100,000 that would be a major purchase.”

Fully automated attachments, though, are another piece of technology that could make sense for some haulers. “Whether it's tires, brakes or anything else, if you aren't taking advantage of every opportunity that comes along you're going to be left behind,” Becker says.

Jennifer Grzeskowiak is a contributing writer based in Laguna Beach, Calif. She is the former managing editor of Waste Age.