A City of Columbus automated refuse truck picks up plastic totes curbside on its weekly route.
Over the last six years, the City of Columbus, Ind., has added four new
Freightliner M2 106 trucks to its fleet of refuse trucks and moved from manual rear-of-the-truck collection of residential garbage cans to automated pickup of plastic totes.
The results are impressive: Four workers now do the work of 15 with the other 11 employees having been reassigned for a more effective use of manpower, workers’ comp claims are practically non-existent, the town’s budget stretches further, neighborhoods are cleaner and residents are delighted. Even the drivers are pleased. “You’d have to pry me out of this truck,” says Keith Huff, the first city employee to drive one of the new trucks.
Bryan Burton, operations manager for the City of Columbus, population 44,000, credits Huff’s willingness to step up to the plate as the first driver of that first truck as one of the keys to the program’s success. “I’d tell anyone who’s thinking about introducing a program like this to find a driver with a positive attitude and the willingness to give it his all,” says Burton. “Keith was essential in helping educate residents about what to expect.”
The new trucks got workers out of the weather into a safe,
comfortable, temperature-controlled environment. In a workplace where previously the two men at the back of the truck were lifting heavy cans of sometimes hazardous materials, there’ve been no injuries related to trash pickup since the automated trucks were introduced.
“I’d tell anyone who’s thinking about introducing a program like this to find a driver with a positive attitude and the willingness to give it his all.
—Bryan Burton, operations manager, City of Columbus ”
Today, four drivers in four automated trucks do weekly routes, covering more households now than they previously did with 5 trucks and 15 people, when each truck required a driver and two people at the back of a rear loader. The new equipment created job opportunities with more responsibility and better pay for those four drivers. And no jobs were lost; the other eleven workers were reassigned to other city department and maintenance jobs which created a more effective use of manpower.
All four of the new Freightliner M2 106s were equipped with Cummins engines and Allison transmissions. The first two were right-hand standups with dual drive; the third and fourth were sit-down dual steering.
Columbus’ successful program was definitely a group effort. Chad Asher from
Stoops Freightliner – Quality Trailer in Indianapolis worked with the city to spec the M2s, with bodies through
Best Equipment and upfitting completed by the
Labrie Enviroquip Group. Charles Parsley from Best Equipment attended all of the Columbus public meetings and provided demonstration totes. To learn more about the equipment and discuss the advantages of automation, contact Chad Asher from Stoops Freightliner at 317-916-6500.
This article was redistributed with permission from the Freightliner Severe Duty Report enewsletter. To sign up for the enewsletter visit FreightlinerTrucks.com.