Since these trucks weigh about 33,000 pounds empty, they have a legal payload of about nine tons. However, the shorter wheelbase of garbage and recycling trucks results in a much lower legal weight - usually around 51,000 pounds. Long-haul trucks and their contents can weigh 80,000 pounds. We also noted that the heavy empty weight of our trucks creates a significant problem under federal truck weight law. When NSWMA submitted its response to the two agencies’ proposal in late winter, we noted that our industry has every desire to use less fuel and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. If adopted as proposed, those regulations will create roadblocks for the green refuse packer due to the contradictory interplay of environmental and truck weight laws.Īs I noted above, solid waste trucks are heavy when empty. However, some speakers discussed the regulations proposed last winter by the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to lower fuel consumption and emissions of greenhouse gases from medium- and heavy-duty trucks. I have to admit, I enjoyed hearing that garbage and recycling trucks were good green candidates. Others cited tests of hybrid trucks to collect garbage in New York City and the use of liquefied natural gas or compressed natural gas for refuse or recycling trucks. Several speakers noted that gasoline created from landfill gas has the biggest carbon-reducing impact of any biofuel. In fact, garbage trucks were prominently mentioned as leading “green truck” candidates at the Green Truck Summit in Indianapolis in March. collection fleet has a relatively modest carbon footprint - well under one hundredth of a percent of all U.S. No wonder that haulers and recyclers have a great stake in making sure their trucks are as fuel efficient as possible.įortunately, the U.S. As a result, they consume a lot of gas, averaging less than five miles per gallon. In addition, these heavy-duty, short haul trucks constantly stop and go while on their routes, burning fuel and gaining weight as they collect materials. The reality is that the specialized equipment needed on garbage and recycling collection trucks makes them unusually heavy, even when empty. A smaller number of larger, long-haul trucks are used to transport these materials to disposal sites or recycling facilities. In fact, the public and private sectors use more than 130,000 garbage and recycling trucks to collect these materials. Yet they also are trucking industries, requiring large fleets to collect materials and transport them to transfer stations or processing facilities. Hauling is a public health industry, and recycling is a resource conservation industry.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |