When it comes to waste management, having the right trailer saves time, money, and emotional energy.

By Joseph Lynn Tilton

Lighter Nets
Pushouts Still Popular
No CDL Needed in Most Applications
When Waste Is Part of the Operation
Onboard Scales Another Spec
Continuing the Quest for Improvements
Spec’ing for Smaller Operations

As the local garbage dump becomes more and more of an endangered enterprise, having the right trailers to transport solid waste from transfer stations to ever more remote landfills makes a financial difference in both private and tax-supported operations. Operators are also learning that solid waste composition, loading methods, geography, and climate are important considerations in deciding what kind of trailer to buy.

"As landfills get further and further away from collection points, it’s increasingly important to be able to transfer a lot of solid waste in one vehicle," says Dave Douglass, training director for Muncie Power Products in Muncie, IN. "The biggest thing that we have seen over the last few years is the increased popularity of [live] floor—type trailers. The dump trailer is not as well suited for refuse because the bed has to rise in order to dump material. Landfills are often on uneven or soft ground, and tipovers can occur."

Douglass points out the need for manufacturers, distributors, and users to be aware of the different hydraulic power requirements for dump, ejector, and live-floor trailers. "In the early days of the [live] floor, the tendency was for users or installers to use the same hydraulic pump and oil reservoir used on dump trailers. A typical dump trailer requires only 1,500 to 1,800 psi to tip the trailer and has a duty cycle of one to three minutes. A [live] floor requires upwards of 2,800 psi, with a five- to 15-minute duty cycle. The higher pressure and longer duty cycle require a pump capable of continuous operation at the higher pressure."

Douglass explains that hydraulic system temperatures should not exceed 140°F. "But with the wrong pumps, we’ve seen temperatures as high at 240° to 250° Fahrenheit, which damages the seals inside the pump bodies, damages hoses, damages reservoirs. Long term, users will save money because spec’ing the right pump reduces downtime."

Lighter Nets

Another major trend with solid waste trailers is saving weight. John Skelly, sales manager for Mac Trailer in Alliance, OH, also sees the move to live-floor trailers. "With the ejector trailer, municipalities were not getting the volume they needed. The blade, cylinder, and the rest of the apparatus took up to 8 feet of space, plus they raised the net weight to 28,000 feet. This limited load weights and gave trailers a maximum of 90 yards’ capacity. With the [live] floor, weights for the same trailer are down to 22,000 pounds.

"The lighter the trailer, the greater the payload. Now the move is from steel to aluminum, bringing the trailer weight down to 17,000 pounds. But trailers are very heavily abused. They’re carrying compacted loads and are often top-loaded by grappling hooks that also pound the trash, so the strength of the trailer can’t be sacrificed."

Skelly adds that tipper trailers were the next step of development, becoming an option in the late 1990s. "They weigh just 14,000 pounds and market for $10,000 less than the [live] floor. But the landfill has to have a tipper machine in order to unload a tipper trailer. So areas without tippers at the landfill still rely on walkers, which have been reliable."

Skelly reports that more and more solid waste contracts are multiyear contracts, with five years being typical. "Contractors are starting to write in provisos to cover fuel increases, but older contracts don’t have that provision, so haulers are looking for trailers that are more aerodynamic. Savings can be substantial. For example, if a tractor-trailer now gets 5 mpg, and it can pick up just 1 mpg, you’re increasing fuel mileage by 25%. That’s why I expect to see more streamlined, aerodynamic trailers. Double doors in the back, for example, can be opened so the empty trailer doesn’t catch the airflow."

He also cautions that too much emphasis on weight savings can yield downtime problems. "Downtime is a critical factor because operators cannot afford to keep spare trailers around. By the time you include towing, paying the driver, loss of productive time, as well as repair costs, $1,000 per day in downtime is not unexpected."

Skelly adds that because of top-loading challenges, his company’s trailers feature a 6- x 9- x 5/8-in. corrugated top rail. "Also abused is the rear door frame because of heavy loads, going on and off highways, hitting potholes, and such put a lot of tension on the rear of the trailer, so we’ve installed two 5_- by 7/8-inch cross-members under the last 12 inches of the trailer floor. This keeps the back from breaking up."

Pushouts Still Popular

While live-floor floor trailers seem to be growing in popularity, the older pushout trailer still is a favorite spec, reports Michael Turley, president of Steco in Enid, OK. Turley says Steco manufactures live floors, pushouts, hydraulic-end dump, and tipper trailers, in either steel or aluminum. "More and more, weight is becoming the biggest factor we deal with. Hauls are getting longer and fuel costs are escalating–thus, weight is king. All things being equal, the better the weight, the more likely the sale."

He adds that locale makes a difference in the specs. "In the northeast, the biggest concern is a strong and durable trailer that can withstand severe abusive applications. Operators are less likely to run a 13,000-pound trailer up there but will run a heavier live floor or pushout because the hauls are not as far as in other regions."

Turley reports a variety of factors determine trailer life. "Some customers are using aluminum live-floor trailers and replacing them every three to four years, while others have trailers that are 14 years old that still look new. So much depends on composition of the loads, loads per day, distance they’re running, and the care of the loader or operator."

When asked about the role looks play, Turley responds, "I don’t think trailer aesthetics are that important. They certainly don’t make the operator money. But anytime a guy spends $50,000 on a piece of equipment, he wants a finished product."

Aiding in that is the shift to air-ride suspension as opposed to leaf springs. "Air-ride suspensions, especially for aluminum trailers, help reduce damage. A trailer running empty can sustain as much damage as when its loaded. Vibration is a factor, particularly on the aluminum trailer."

Another factor currently affecting this manufacturer is delivery time. "Everyone wants that trailer within four to eight weeks."

One end user of pushout trailers is the City of Dallas, TX. Nim Cash, fleet manager, reports there are three transfer stations in Dallas. "We’re hauling everything from household refuse to brush and tree trunks, and we haul it all together. The only type of trailer that takes the punishment and the wear we give them is the hydraulic pushout." Transfer operations average 400 tpd each at both the Fair Oaks and Southwest sites, with the Boughman station designed to handle 2,000 tpd. "We load from the top and load on scales, running those loads as close to 80,000 pounds as we can get them, or until the trailer fills up."

Cash reports the pushout trailers are user-friendly, and a short training session is all it takes to make a newcomer comfortable with the trailer. "Just a half day or even two hours is all a new driver needs. We team new drivers with experienced drivers for a week, though, so they can learn our routes and our traffic patterns."

Cash expects his pushout trailers to last five to six years, with a medium amount of maintenance. "We’ve modified our hydraulic hookup and put the hose on the trailer with a breakaway valve that lets oil circulate in the hose when the valve has to close. This keeps us from blowing up the PTO. Without the valve, if you put the PTO accidentally into gear, you’ll blow the PTO. Since the modification, we’ve had no blowups."

Other equipment used by the city’s solid waste operation includes front-end loaders with 4- or 6-yd. buckets, while the landfill has a D-9 Bulldozer, a D-8 Bulldozer, and a 973 Caterpillar used as its dirt machine. "We excavate all the way to shale, about 30 feet down, then keep packing material up as high as we’re allowed, which is no higher than the highest natural point in the metro area." One concern is to avoid making solid waste a concern for local air traffic.

No CDL Needed in Most Applications

Another consideration is whether operators really need a commercial driver’s license, especially in operations where smaller trailers answer the need. Don Sharp, sales manager for Wastequip Holt Specialty Equipment in Eagleville, TN, states that his company makes two trailers: one a bumper hitch and the other a gooseneck. "Payload capacity is about 3.5 tons. They’re designed to accommodate 6-, 10-, and 15-yard bathtub containers. The also can take 8- by 12-foot equipment decks and can be pulled with a _-ton pickup truck. They’re a favorite for construction and demolition operators, roofers, as well as for schools, smaller municipalities, shopping centers, playgrounds, et cetera." In addition, an 800- and 20,000-lb. truck hoist is available, carrying the same containers, in addition to a 20-yd. open top.

One user of the smaller trailers is Billing Ellington, the recycling supervisor for St. Landry Parish, LA. The parish has 500 mi. of paved road in a largely rural country, with a semitropical climate and challenging rainfall. "Instead of trailers, though, we’re using truck beds from Wastequip. We have a lot of pulls at small businesses, and we find a truck more flexible to get in tighter spots than with a trailer. Since our two F550 Ford 1-ton trucks weigh less than 10,000 pounds each, our operators don’t need a commercial driver’s license."

Ellington then explains that private companies handle waste collection while his operation’s focus is on recyclable products. "We have 100 bins, some slated for cardboard, with others for paper, plastic, and steel pickups. We also have a flatbed truck for picking up baled material." He particularly likes the covered 13-yd. bins for cardboard. "Dry cardboard is easier to pickup than wet cardboard, and we were the first in the US to ask for covered bins for cardboard collection."

Recycling gets a strong emphasis because there’s just one landfill in the parish. "It still has a 20-year lifespan. Our garbage collection is funded by an 0.8-cent tax, so there’s no collection fee for residents, although commercial users pay their own way."

When Waste Is Part of the Operation

In Perry, KS, The Hamm Company, founded in 1949, has waste transfer as part of an operation that includes road construction, asphalt, and quarry work. "We use 13 tractors and 50 trailers," reports Jeremy Hamm, general manager. "We have our own landfill and own our own transferring and rolloff containers. We have 11 county transfer stations and service an area about 150 miles north and south and 200 miles east and west. We’re transferring everything to our own landfill. We handle C&D but no hazardous waste."

Floor and wall durability are two major concerns for this private operator, but aluminum is preferred for their tipper trailers. "We’ve run Guthrie’s, which are lined with plywood, since 1992 and haven’t worn them out yet. We’ve had aluminum since 1994 and haven’t had to replace any walls or floors, so I’d estimate our trailer life at 10 to 15 years." When Hamm buys a new trailer, an older one is moved to a location with less daily mileage requirements. "Some we just use for a spare because you never can have enough spares in the trash business when you’re running six days a week, 400 to 450 miles a day."

Hamm reports weight is not a problem unless the solid waste is really wet. "Dry trash will weigh 20 to 22 tons, and the limit is 25 tons. There are scales at most of our stations, which allow us to maximize our gross weight before hitting the highway."

The biggest threat he sees in solid waste transfer is hidden objects, such as concrete slabs or large pieces of steel. "It all boils down to good management, to inspecting every load that comes in and then, when there’s a piece of concrete or steel, setting it aside until the trailer is half-loaded. At that point, you can use the trash as a cushion."

He recalls the time a 4- x 4-ft. piece of concrete 2 ft. thick was hidden in a receiving load. "That was the first piece thrown in the transfer trailer. It went all the way through the floor, broke four I-beams. We had to pick the trailer up with a backhoe and move it out of the way, and we had to redo the whole floor before we could put the trailer back in service."

But when it comes to spec’ing trailers, durability and low maintenance are the first concerns. "Next is tare weight, with price a close fourth. Then comes looks. Looks are important, but they’re a ways down the list."

Onboard Scales Another Spec

An ongoing challenge with waste transfer is weight control. Not only do tickets cost money, but time lost to dealing with enforcement is another factor. While many operators find onsite scales effective, others worry about time spent crossing the scales with an almost full load, then returning to the pit to top it off rather than travel all those miles with an underweight load.

Rick Talbot, marketing and sales manager for Vulcan On-Board Scales in Kent, WA, explains, "Onboard scales help maximize legal payloads and reduce the time it takes to reach that maximum. They also eliminate overweight fines where a site doesn’t have certified scales. Plus, a lot of operators are much more sensitive about liability issues. If an overweight trailer is in an accident, it becomes liable, and one of the first things the DOT [Department of Transportation] does with a truck involved in an accident is get a weight on it.

"The big payback with onboard scales is moving maximized loads. Cautious operators without onboard scales tend to run 10% underweight, but with onboard scales they can load within 1% of the legal limit." Best of all, when an operator takes the option of adding onboard scales, the net weight of the trailer is increased no more than 150 lb. "If the tractor and trailer are on air suspension, the weight of the scale itself is just a few pounds."

Peter Powell of Air-Weigh in Eugene, OR, manufacturer of onboard scales for air-suspension systems, agrees. "It’s a matter of productivity," he suggests, pointing out that it makes no more sense to leave the loading area to check the weight than it does to take out a light load. Air-Weigh employs a single-screen system in the cab to display information from as many as six axle groups. A chassis-mounted display allows the driver to check information from the ground, and "the system has a net payload function that lets the driver track additions to the load," Powell points out.

When asked about cost, Talbot replied that being able to safely maximize loads has given some operators a return on their $2,000-$5,000 investment in as quickly as three months. The complete Air-Weigh system (less an optional onboard receipt printer) costs $1,500.

"Yard time in loading prompted our move to onboard scales," reports Matt Chapman, equipment maintenance supervisor for the Solid Waste Authority of Palm Beach, FL. "We have 55 tractor-type units and 65 trailers. Before we went to onboard scales three years ago, we’d send out units underscale a ton rather than go back down in the hole after weighing the unit. Right now we’re loading 79,500 to 79,900 pounds. It’s taking us just eight to 10 minutes to reach the limit, compared to 14 to 20 minutes when we were making extra trips back into the hole."

Chapman reports they experimented with two units, and the initial payback, thanks to closer load limits, was just five months. Another advantage is that, despite the DOT setting up at the entrance of the landfill, no Palm Beach County trailer has been asked to cross those scales in the last two years.

Their success with onboard scales also has prompted Palm Beach to look to switching from steel to aluminum for its live-floor trailers. "They seem to be holding, so we’re ready to go out and get some more. We’ve already taken 1,800 pounds out of the original steel trailers, but that’s not enough now," states Chapman.

In Anchorage, AK, the switch has been from electronic to air-ride scales. "Every load crosses the state scales, so it’s critical we’re legal," comments Rick Nissen, general foreman for the Municipality of Anchorage Solid Waste Services. "We opened this facility in 1987 and had onboard scales. But electronic scales were not performing to our needs. It was a product and support issue, as well as cost. Maintenance sessions on our electronic scales were costing close to $2,000 and would take a full shift to repair, but with air scales, $250 is typical for about one hour’s work. Maintenance is quick and easy, and we’re able to have a full load when we leave the transfer station."

Their trailers average six 35-mi. roundtrips per day, running about 850 mi. a week, with winter temperatures as low as -30°F. "Other than brakes and lights, the single most maintenance item is the trailer flip tops."

Live floors are the trailer of choice. "We had some ejector trailers in an earlier operation, and they were just a nightmare," Nissen recalls. "Due to the bird-control system, tippers wouldn’t work. Average trailer life is five to seven years, then it’s surplused to the public."

Weather is a challenge because colder temperatures inhibit compaction, so loads will drop from 22 tons in the summer to 17 tons in the winter. "I don’t think an aluminum trailer would survive here," Nissen candidly states. He adds that a coat of epoxy primer with a minimum of 1-mil thickness, followed by two coats of polyurethane enamel–each 1 mil thick–help combat rust.

Continuing the Quest for Improvements

There are other improvements designed to make waste transfer even more economical. Mark Sabol, solid waste equipment product manager for East Manufacturing Corporation in Randolph, OH, declares, "The [live] floor still is the workhorse of this industry and will remain the workhorse because of its versatility. Six months ago we improved the electrical system by going to a complete wire harness, which has taken away all splicing and junction boxes. We also use full tubular extrusion for subdecking for the [live] floor, giving it a stronger support. A redesigned rear bumper can handle pushing in the landfill because it’s been integrated into the subframe and is more durable, more resistant to bending.

"[Live-] floor people have done a great job for many designs, but spec’ing the proper floor slats is very important. Also, putting the brake chambers and air canisters on top of the axles, rather than hanging them below, avoids problems and damages when going off-road in the landfill." Sabol notes that 0.190-in.-thick aluminum side sheets help ensure a lightweight yet strong trailer.

"Plus, air-ride systems can utilize air suspension to guesstimate the amount of load in the trailer within 1% of actual scale weight. Air-pressure systems also keep tires from losing air and keep them at the right psi for the best fuel economy. End users also can spec different tarp systems and lights. There are a lot of choices for what’s essentially a box on wheels."

One end user, Todd Samples, fleet manger for Norton Environmental, which built and operates the Medina County Central Processing Facility in Ohio, takes his boxes on wheels in two different directions. "One is flat terrain and the other is hilly. Improper loading techniques and poor material placement can really damage trailers and [live] floors. But running empty is also hard on the trailer because of bouncing. Fortunately, potholes are not a big problem in our area."

Norton Environmental operates a shredder and lines the bottom of each trailer with shredded material a quarter of the depth before dropping any bulk materials into the trailers.

Samples reports their live-floor trailers are compacted with front-end loaders. "We have records of every payload and are almost consistent at 20 tons, which keeps us legal. Overloading is a rare occurrence, and the only time we’re underloaded is if we’re hauling light materials. We recycle newspapers, cardboard, mixed papers, ferrous metals, aluminum, wood, and plastic."

He points out that taking care of equipment has doubled the life expectancy of their trailers, which will run 240-320 mi. per day in two shifts and are expected to last eight, perhaps nine years. "When new, all trailers look good. We wash our equipment every week to keep it looking good. We even have equipment in hometown parades, so looks are important."

Spec’ing for Smaller Operations

In Rexburg, ID, spec’ing trailers is especially important because the Madison County Solid Waste Facility operates with just two trailers. "We take in an average of 36 tons per day," explains manager Wendell Roth. "We’re hauling each 80 miles roundtrip to the landfill straight west of here in Mudd Lake.

"We got our current trailers in January this year. The only difference is the older trailers carried 96 yards and had hand-cranked cross tarps. We have lots of winter and cold here, so we decided we would go with a Donovan tarping system because it seemed easiest to maintain."

Roth emphasizes that although trailers can last longer, it’s best to replace them after three years. "That’s when you get the best resale, although they’ll go for $5,500 for scrap metal because they’re aluminum." He prefers aluminum because it’s lighter and maintains appearance in severe winter weather. "No problems with peeling paint, and there’s no rust. They also hold up better because they can bend farther and come back to the original shape. But once you bend steel, it’s dead."

He admits that while looks don’t make trailers roll easier down the road, they do help with resale value. "There’s not much resale with rust. Also, the public thinks more of your operation when you keep the trailers looking good."

Although it’s a small operation, Roth points out, "The waste keeps coming; we have to keep trucking. We have moved garbage when it’s 20 below zero. There’s no heat in the transfer station, and in the winter we send out loads immediately to keep them from freezing in the trailers. We’ll run the hydraulics 15 minutes before starting, stop at the rest area at the port of entry and let the hydraulics run, then run 10 to 15 minutes more before we start unloading at the landfill. We haven’t had a load freeze that we couldn’t unload with just a little bit of work."

Spec’ing the best trailer for the circumstances involved means that solid waste haulers everywhere are able to keep on trucking.

Author Joseph Lynn Tilton is a frequent contributor to MSW Management.