How would a custom body boost your refuse operations?
Josh Swank
Humans produce waste. In fact, roughly 680 million tons of refuse is generated in the U.S. each day. And as the population continues to increase, so does waste production, making refuse management a real challenge. Managers work day in and day out trying to minimize the impact of waste in their landfills. Things can get chaotic in a hurry when thousands of tons of refuse come in for processing each day. Equipment use is the last thing that should bog down operations. That’s where custom solutions come into play.
Haul More In Each Pass
The most common off-highway dump trucks in landfills have a rated capacity of around 35 to 40 tons and a body that can hold roughly 30 cubic yards. But anyone who’s loaded refuse knows that nowhere near 40 tons fits in standard original equipment manufacturer (OEM) bodies. Refuse, especially that found in a municipal solid waste landfill, is light and fluffy, weighing an average of 650 pounds per cubic yard. If a 30-cubic-yard body on a 40-ton truck was filled to volumetric capacity with refuse, it only equals around 10 tons, which is just one-fourth of the rated capacity of the truck.
Using standard bodies is extremely inefficient because of the weight variable and having an finite amount of space. But most OEMs don’t deviate from standard bodies because of the extra cost associated to producing them. So operators are left to work with the inefficiency or seek custom solutions. Custom truck body manufactures recognized this challenge and devised a solution that offers three times the volumetric capacity, 90 to 100 cubic yards, while meeting (not exceeding) the rated capacity of the truck.
Based on the standard tank capacity and miles per gallon of off-highway trucks, we can assume it costs around $500 per fill. So, for example, if you have five trucks working to process 3,000 tons of refuse per day, each truck makes 15 passes if hauling at rated capacity. Because smaller OEM bodies mean less volume, most loads are only one-third of the rated capacity. So in order to move all the refuse, each truck ends up taking roughly 40 trips per day.
With the increased volumetric capacity achieved with a custom body, you’re hauling the same amount of refuse, but you are doing it at a faster rate for less money. If the five trucks from the above example were operating with 90-cubic-yard bodies, dump trips decrease to 20 per day for each truck. Assuming a 3-mile trip per dump load, custom bodies can save your operation more than $70,000 in fuel per year. Not to mention the maintenance and service savings that comes from fewer trips.
Increased volumetric capacity doesn’t mean the truck can haul more than the OEM rated capacity. Doing so may cause damage or violate the truck’s warranty. Loader operators use an onboard scale to ensure a truck isn’t overloaded because each load size is different. Having large truck bodies helps prepare for when material is lighter, ensuring each load is maximized. Not only do the custom bodies boost volumetric capacity and fuel economy, they speed up cycle times and simplify overall operations. It’s all about efficiency.
Streamline Operations
Because every landfill is different and poses unique challenges, custom refuse bodies are built for specific operational requirements. The width and height of the truck bodies are adjusted depending on loading equipment and surrounding structures. Bodies in construction and demolition landfills need to be built with more abrasion resistant steel than those used only in MSW landfills. Operations may choose to add a special lining to the floor and corners the body so refuse doesn’t get stuck. These might seem like small details, but the little things go a long way in boosting landfill operations.
Custom refuse bodies do great things for improving operational efficiency; custom refuse rear eject bodies take it even one step further. One hindrance of end dump trucks is the time it takes to stop, dump waste and wait for the body to completely drop back down before driving away. It takes roughly 12 seconds for bodies to lift and another seven seconds to drop back down. And that doesn’t include the time it takes to find steady ground and empty the truck. On paper this doesn’t seem like a significant amount of time, but in reality when trucks take dozens of trips each day, the time savings add up.
Refuse rear eject bodies eliminate the need to stop and lift during the refuse dumping cycle because of the ejector blade, so they can dump materials on the go as they loop around the top of the garbage mounds. And because gravity isn’t working against the truck, like when using a standard end dump, the ejector blade completely empties the bed each time. It even can push material out of the body when it’s backed up a refuse hill, an impossible task with standard OEM end dump bodies.
As the day starts to wind down, operations shift from piling refuse to compaction and prepping for the sand cap. The Environmental Protection Agency requires a sand cap, or some sort of covering, at the end of the day to control vectors, odors, blowing refuse and scavengers. Because there’s no economic benefit from these regulations, time spent on the process is profits lost. Custom refuse rear ejects minimize the loss by reducing time spent on post-dump operations by more than 50 percent.
Less time is spent on compaction and dozing because refuse is steadily ejected out of the truck while driving, evenly spreading materials on the pile, unlike the large piles left by end dump trucks. Custom refuse rear ejects also are a great tool for laying sand caps. Similar to refuse, end dumps typically leave sand in heaps, so it takes longer for dozers to spread sand into a consistent 6-inch layer. Rear ejects distribute sand evenly on refuse piles, which improves efficiency and makes dozing much easier.
Labor and fuel are the two greatest expenses associated with off-highway operations. When less time is spent on post dump operations, operators can be used for other revenue generating tasks. The monetary benefits of going custom are plain to see, but operator safety is another important factor to consider.
Keep Employees Safe
Even seasoned off-highway truck operators can’t anticipate when the soft, uneven refuse mounds will sink or give away. Often it’s necessary to drive the truck forward a few feet to ensure that all the refuse gets dumped. This uneven footing can cause a truck to tip or roll, resulting in equipment damage and personal injury.
On top of the potential injuries and worker’s compensation claims, there’s the damage to the truck and cost of repairs when rolls occur, which can cost more than $250,000. This is a major loss for companies, especially if it’s an old truck with a depreciated insurance value.
Custom refuse bodies put manager’s minds at ease. The expanded width and low center of gravity of the custom bodies increase stability when lifting to dump or driving up steep piles. With a rear eject refuse body, operators are even safer because the truck doesn’t lift.
Less Maintenance, Less Downtime
Equipment unavailability is detrimental to landfill managers. Staying up-to-date on routine maintenance is an essential piece of operations, and equipment that requires little maintenance goes a long way to minimize costly downtime.
Some OEM end dump bodies possess several hydraulic controls, pins and grease points, which work together to lift the body, drop the tailgate and bring the body back down. Even some OEM rear-eject bodies come stacked with moving parts, which makes them susceptible to breakdowns.
Custom body manufacturers know that fewer moving parts mean minimal breakdowns and maximum uptime. So they’ve engineered models with low-maintenance hydraulic controls, no grease points and tailgates that rise and fall at the rate of the ejector blade.
When a body is custom designed for refuse hauling, there’s no guessing game on how long it will last. In fact, some refuse bodies last more than 20 years, which is impressive when thinking about all the different materials it comes in contact with.
Most custom refuse bodies and ejectors can be outfitted on an off-highway truck the landfill already owns to maximize savings. Though the initial investment is high, the return is seen after just a few months of use. It really is easy to see the benefits of going custom.
Maybe one day humans will stop producing waste and landfills will only cross people’s minds when thinking, “remember when.” But until then, the quest for improved efficiency remains. After all, 680 million tons of refuse a day is nothing to sniff at.
Josh Swank is Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Philippi-Hagenbuch Inc. (Peoria, IL). He has been with the company for 12 years and oversees the mining industry sales group. Philippi-Hagenbuch has been building equipment for off-highway haul trucks since 1969, and become a global leader in off-highway truck customization. In addition to custom truck bodies, lowboy trailers, VRTs, rear eject bodies and trailers, Philippi-Hagenbuch designs and builds tailgates and water tanks for nearly every make and model of articulated and rigid frame off-highway truck available. For more information, call (309) 697-9200, toll-free at (800) 447-6464 or e-mail [email protected].