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When it comes to deciding on carts, everything from hard knocks to the weather must be taken into account. By Peter Hildebrandt A cart takes tremendous abuse in the course of its lifespan. Choosing which product to purchase may begin with costs, but the amount of hard use a cart, a container, or a bin will receive and the climate and the local conditions may also play a role in the selection process. Other issues, such as rising resin prices and the practicality of the long-standing 10-year warranty on carts, have started to heat things up on the manufacturers’ side. These matters may spill over into the market as customers find things changing at cart-selection time. From around the country, we hear from manufacturers and communities about what works for them and the factors still driving their decisions regarding collection containers and carts. From North to South “The Schaefer cart had characteristics we were looking for in a container,” says Marr. “After working its way through subcommittees and counsel, Schaefer won the bid. We purchased 120,000 Schaefer carts. “We took things a step further, purchasing 65- and 35-gallon containers for a volume-based program. The customer pays one rate for a 95-, one rate for a 65-, and another rate for a 35-gallon container so households control their own destiny in terms of cost. Doing the right thing by recycling and other waste-reduction activities would also bring their bill down.” Marr is now solid waste administrator in Greenville. Carts were purchased as an inventory item, not as part of the solid waste system. Greenville is evaluating its current funding mechanism for solid waste and recycling services. Alternatives are being evaluated to determine what is in the best interest of the city and the customers it serves. “Over the next few years, I’m sure I’ll be getting into an enterprise system and a volume-based program similar to Buffalo’s. “Schaefer’s a great partner for this type of program, with a quality product and excellent service. It’s also helped with an education program providing literature and an experienced staff. Such wealth can be drawn upon to make your program even better.” Marr also found the company quick to change the configuration on its lifting bar when it came out with a new model. He’s never had any warranty problems. The carts hold up well within the first 10 years and beyond. “We even made a request to change the type of bar they had, and they also went to a different type of pin which locked the bar in place, instead of the rings they’d used,” says Marr. “Their engineers arrived, we showed them the performance issues we had, and they made the modification at the factory and started making the changes we recommended. “Garbage must get picked up every day, and the quality of the service reflects directly on us. To have that kind of a response from a vendor is invaluable.” Injection Molding May Be an Answer “Prices are within pennies of each other, and no matter what the specs say, price is still the number-one driver,” says Knaub. “Of course quality, service, and reputation come into play, but after over 30 years in the cart industry, my experience is that price still dictates the decision. “But our industry is at a point where I feel we need to rethink the 10-year warranty we have on a $50 product. Containers are abused weekly by trucks, cars, homeowners, and whatever, yet we still find it necessary to put a 10-year warranty on them. I’d like us to rethink that.” Nestable Carts Save on Space During Transport “Our carts are also nestable. When fully assembled, one may be placed down inside another cart, and they are fully stackable. This makes a difference when carts are being delivered. Approximately three times as many Toter carts may be placed in a truck than non-nestable carts, leading to great fuel savings as well as labor savings because crews can deliver more carts per trip. “Toter carts tilt more easily due to the placement of the axles closer to the cart’s center of gravity—taking less energy to angle a cart back—and because our handle is lower than on most other carts. Grabbers on trucks are kept from damaging the cart’s wheels due to the protected location of the wheels. Blow-molded wheels add durability, with their 200-pound-per-wheel load ratings. Pal-nut installations make it unlikely wheels will come off. “We construct carts from a multicolored plastic called ‘granite,’” continues Pickett. “Despite some misinformation in the market, this isn’t a coating or a spray-on but multiple colors molded into one plastic piece retaining the different colors. This ‘granite’ looks like that of a countertop. “Aside from the aesthetic advantage, carts look neater: Dirt and scratches caused by the lifters remain hidden. Solid-colored carts, though nice and shiny, cannot hide each nick or mark—like a black car needing to be cleaned each week. Our granite is forgiving in terms of keeping the cart attractive a long time. This fact is born out by how often our customers request granite colors.” With a 10-year, non-pro-rated warranty, every component on the cart is covered. This means if a lid gives out in the ninth year, a full warranty is given, despite the proximity to the end of the warranty life. Toter has such a low warranty claim rate (its average annual claim rate is 0.02 of 1%) that the company has no problem with the 10-year warranty, according to Pickett. “Regarding total cost of ownership, or ‘life-cycle cost,’ the labor cost associated with going out to residences to make cart repairs, be they warranty or non-warranty related, is the cost that buyers consider in addition to the purchase price,” says Pickett. Acknowledging Climate “The only problem I have with the whole issue of the 10-year warranty is that it’s still just a 10-year warranty: You can have one on a Yugo or one on a Lexus,” says Barnett. “A car muffler warranty may turn out to be little help if the pipes to attach it still cost you $400. “What is usually covered when it comes to carts is a new body. But there is still a great cost in shipping and sending someone out to a customer’s house to pick up the old cart. We felt very strongly that we needed to buy the product that gave us the fewest problems, rather than going through the hassle and great expense of having a resident call up to tell us their cart’s broken.” Tight Squeezes Inside the Beltway In 2005 the city went to a single-sort recycling system. It put out just under 100,000 32-gallon carts for recycling as well as 12,000 32-gallon carts for garbage in the older sections of the city, those places without the room for the 96-gallon containers. “We handle a lot of carts,” says Henderson. “Our single-sort operation makes things much more convenient for the customer. Recyclables are now in a cart. Those waste materials stay cleaner, don’t get wet in rain or snow, and don’t blow around the neighborhood in the wind. Carts can also be rolled out to the curb, making things easier on the customer’s back. “Although we did get a 10-year warranty with the carts, we consider it a very low-maintenance product and have not had too much cause to report any damage.” Though it is better to have larger carts so that fewer pickup runs are needed, Washington has tight areas in older sections where smaller carts must be used. “For our sections clearly designed for older means of transportation—horses and buggies and canal boats—we’ll do pickups twice weekly, and the smaller containers must be used,” says Henderson. “But last year we converted as many people as we could from using conventional garbage cans to using the smaller carts, and we’re hoping we have a lot fewer workers’ compensation claims.” Automated Collection “They seem to be holding up really well,” says Bren. “Our warranty claims have been relatively low. Ameri-Kart has been very good in this area as long as the damage has occurred within the claim period. “They simply send us the parts we need, whether it’s lids, bodies, wheels, or whatever it is. I wait until I have enough of a buildup in need for those parts, then e-mail my request to the manufacturer, and within 60 days I receive the parts. We fix them ourselves unless the whole body is cracked. In that case we give [the customer] a whole new can.” The City of Provo, UT, which went to automated collection 20 years ago, uses mostly the same Heil carts it’s used for the past two decades. These have proven to be virtually indestructible, according to Randy Harris, Provo sanitation manager. “These are as tough as a tank, though unfortunately they aren’t manufactured anymore. We still have approximately 15,000 of these carts on our streets,” says Harris. Last year the city took some samples of rotationally molded carts to see how well they would hold up. Provo also has other demo carts still out, including a few hundred each of Toters and Zarns. “I will admit that in my experience the lowest bid is not necessarily the best,” says Harris. “I was looking at some that were within $10, but if I get 10 more years out of the pricier carts I also may have saved Provo several thousand dollars from having to order new cans. It’s my opinion, too, that climate influences things. I really think that people should go with what’s best for their climate in the long run; the initial cost is not as important as how the cart will hold up down the road. “Also, the recyclable carts, even though they may be mandated in some areas, may not hold up the best in the long run either.” Offering Three Processes Ameri-Kart has four plants from which it manufactures carts: Reidsville, NC; Springfield, MO; Shelbyville, KY; and Bristol, IN. “The industry has changed, and we, of course, have changed with it with new designs and new offerings,” says Eck. “I describe the different types of moldings as basically the Ford-Chevy-Dodge approach: They’re different names for something in itself not too different. Much of it comes down to personal preference of the customer. There are benefits or features to each cart and how it was produced. You don’t think about different features when you think of a trash cart, but we do in fact offer them. “There’s a perception out there that the methods meet various criteria. But it comes down to expertise in molding and resin selection. Anything will break if you don’t have the best design, utilizing proper resins for various applications, and have the best technical expertise in the manufacturing and molding process. Ameri-Kart has many decades of knowledge and expertise in all of these areas. “Bismarck is a good example of a place where our product works extremely well. It doesn’t get much colder than Bismarck in the winter, and we’ve had very few problems, very good success with the performance of our carts up there.” Eck adds if equipment is treated properly it will last, no matter which process is used to manufacture it. The company’s had great success with all product lines, including its latest addition, the injection-molded Mega-Kart line. “I feel the whole warranty issue is impractical,” says Eck. “Years ago, a five-year pro-rated warranty was the standard. As more competition entered the industry, different ‘marketing’ ideas were introduced, such as a 10-year warranty. While Ameri-Kart has had good success with the 10-year warranty, it remains a little puzzling to us as well as other competitors why a trash cart should carry a 10-year warranty. It is a tough call on cart damage sometimes; what really happened? Did a snowplow hit it? Was concrete dumped in it?” The Rising Price of Resin “We believe the basis of our success comes from long-term thinking, continuous improvement, and sustainability. We don’t compromise our quality in either our product or our service—even in tough times. Even when resins skyrocket we’re not going to compromise our quality and service. Thinking long-term, reinvesting in the business, and listening to the customer is our outlook.” Schwalbach isn’t surprised by the push for a shorter warranty period at the same time resin prices rise. He sees all the costs adding up. On the whole 10-year warranty issue in general, Rehrig Pacific listens to the market and asks questions regarding the expectations of the market. “The market has been telling us it would like a product that lasts 10-plus years,” says Schwalbach. “We continue to make a product for that warranty period, and until the market changes that’s what we’ll do. For us, this hasn’t been more onerous, because we’ve maintained this warranty position for the whole 15 years we’ve been in the cart market. “We expect our customers to not abuse the containers and to maintain their trucks and lifters, but at the same time, we understand the reality of efficient collection and the rigors of collection our carts need to withstand.” One of the biggest issues with carts after 10 years is simply the drop in quality from an aesthetics standpoint, says Schwalbach. “Customers at such a lifespan frequently want to replace a cart for other reasons than disrepair: The cart’s simply getting worn down aesthetically, and customers may look for changes in colors, graphics, instructions, sizes, or designs due to program changes.” Like some of the other cart manufacturers that are fairly large, Rehrig Pacific admits it must carefully consider a design modification due to a changing warranty. “Should we find ourselves having to adjust to a lesser warranty, that would be both a philosophical and a financial question for us because we believe in high-quality products,” says Schwalbach. “In such a case would there be liability relief with the amount of carts we produce? Sure. Would it change our price structure much short-term? Not really. “But the resin issue has meant we really cannot promise a price long-term anymore. Before, we’d bid on contracts and the customer wanted us to lock in our price for one to three years; we were carrying the risk. Now we strongly urge potential customers that this needs to be a price that can move with the raw-materials cost. For customers still insisting on a lock with the price, we will either not participate because we don’t want to take on that risk, or we must inflate our prices for that risk. “The rise and fall of resin prices used to be a wash for us. Now we know that if we lock in with our prices long-term, the volatile resin situation means we can also end up being a big loser in all this. We can’t take that risk anymore. We prefer to neutralize the whole resin issue by passing on to our customers the cost of a resin increase just as easily as we’ll pass on savings to them if the price of resin goes down—at the same time not sacrificing our quality.”
Keeping Carts Clean The trucks follow along behind a regularly scheduled route collection truck. In just 15 seconds, the truck can pick up an empty cart, high-pressure wash it, and place it back on the curb. The commercial container–cleaning cycle takes approximately two minutes. In support of new EPA MS4 runoff water regulations, there is a movement to be more conscientious about disposing of the residual water used to clean trash carts and containers, according to Paul Genn, executive vice president of sales and marketing with Blast-N-Clean. EPA guidelines restrict illicit discharges into stormwater systems. “For the homeowner or city residents, washing garbage cans cannot really be done as easily as before due to new EPA regulations,” says Genn. “Our system completely contains all the water used for cleaning before we take it to a designated sewer to pump the graywater. Any residual solid waste is dropped into another container for normal disposal. “People like to have clean cans, and with a GPS black box in our trucks we also know exactly which carts have already been cleaned, as well as which ones have broken wheels or lids, too much graffiti, or other problems. All data for the cans in a particular area are recorded on our system. At the end of the day we can even issue a disc with all this information on it for a whole area’s cart-maintenance program.” Blast-N-Clean typically contracts with cities to wash all their carts three times annually. One truck can provide as many as 150,000 washes per year. At present, the company uses GMC and Isuzu cabs for its residential trucks. Peter Hildebrandt is a writer specializing in science and engineering topics.
MSW - May/June 2007
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