Jalopnik: garbage truck

Garbage Truck Acts As Mafia PR Play

Andrew Stoy — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 13:20:00 EDT

Waste Management hauls out their Dream Cruise garbage truck every year, often filling the back-end with Chinese-made trinkets to throw to the kiddies. Garbage, in other words. The pristine truck is always a crowd-pleaser, though, and no doubt engenders goodwill toward an industry better known for mob ties and landfills. Enjoy the full WMI Green Machine gallery below.

Follow the fun at our Woodward Dream Cruise tag for all of our coverage of the 2008 Woodward Dream Cruise, the largest one-day automotive event in the world!

And Now For Your Jalopnik Moment of Zen

Ben Wojdyla — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 19:00:00 EDT

You'd be speeding through Canada too. [2Flashgames.com]

Garbage Truck Bagged For Street Racing

Ben Wojdyla — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 12:00:00 EDT

Underground Garbage truck street racing is apparently the latest threat to civil society in Canada, because cops in Goderich, Ontario have busted a driver for 112 KPH in a 60 KPH zone. The part that has us furrowing our brow is there seems to be no opponent in this race. Which would simply make it speeding, which would mean the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP, yeah you know them) wouldn't be able to impound the truck, suspend his license and levy a minimum $2,000 fine.

Apparently what's going on here is the exercise of a new law on the Canadian books to combat street racing where the speeds exceed 50 KPH above posted limits. Remember the old man in the Olds arrested for racing? Same law. We fail to see how this is racing if there is, you know... no race involved in the situation. Leave it to the OPP to find a way to snag other peoples money. [Canada.com]

Volvo Hybrid Garbage Truck Proves Hybrids Can't Clean Everything

Mark Arnold — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 11:20:00 EDT

What's the best thing about garbage trucks? They're loud. At least that's what you think when you're seven. But once you grow into your big-boy pants, that monstrosity slowly lumbering down your street, waking you up at 5AM every Tuesday, gets to be just a tad annoying after a while. Well, now Volvo has a solution, a hybrid garbage truck. They claim it can operate almost silently, and feel so confident about it they've provided a video of it in action. Currently the trucks are just being tested in select parts of Sweden, but we certainly wouldn't mind seeing these, and not hearing them, in our neighborhood. Press release after the jump.

The future of refuse handling is already here
Due to its productive personality, the Volvo FE has been recognized as a cost effective truck for city distribution and refuse handling. In 2009, the Volvo FE will be offered with a hybrid solution adding two main benefits: increased fuel efficiency and decreased emissions.

From a driver's perspective, the hybrid is also more pleasant to operate with excellent drivability characteristics and reduced noise levels.

A perfect fit for "stop and go" applications
Like the Volvo FM Hybrid, the Volvo FE Hybrid is equipped with a diesel engine and an electric motor. The latter powers the truck from startup and up to 20 km/h. At higher speeds, the diesel engine kicks in.

When the vehicles stops, the diesel engine automatically shuts down to avoid unnecessary idling.

Since braking energy is used to charge the lithium-ion batteries powering the electric motor, the greatest fuel saving potential is in applications with a lot of "stop and go" driving:
— up to 20% for refuse handling (up to 30% if the superstructure also rely on the electric motor)
— between 15-20% for city distribution

Low on emissions and close to noiseless
Any savings in fuel means equal savings in CO2 emissions, meaning that the Volvo FE Hybrid will contribute some 15 - 30% less to global warming.

The emissions of NOx and particulates are at zero level when the truck is operated in electric drive - and it is a very silent truck when accelerating and idling. These are both strong benefits when operating in sensitive urban areas.

Field test with customers
During 2008 and 2009, two Volvo FE Hybrids will run in daily refuse collection operations with the help of two Swedish companies.

The field test trucks are both prototype vehicles of the Volvo FE Hybrid that will be the commercial offer in 2009.

Volvo FE Hybrid Concept - Technical data
— Volvo FE with I-SAM (Integrated Starter Alternator Motor)
— Power 120 kW
— 7-litre diesel engine
— Volvo I-Shift gearbox

[Source: Volvo Trucks]

Waking Up In Garbage Truck May Be A Sign Of A Drinking Problem

Ben Wojdyla — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 14:45:00 EDT

When William M. Bowen, aged 27, awoke in the back of a garbage truck after a night of binge drinking, we hope he took it as a sign had a problem. We're no angels here and everybody has had their embarrassing alcohol-induced situations, but waking up in the compactor buried in garbage is beyond the pale. The man claimed to have been drinking with friends until around 3 AM at End Zone Sports Bar in Muncie, Indiana. Muncie, if you didn't know, is the home of Ball State University, one of the most notorious boozing schools year after year. Perhaps our boy Billy was just trying to recapture the magic of college, or maybe he's one of those 9th year seniors—both seem plausible. [The Palladium-Item]

Government to Test Hydraulic Hybrid in Garbage Truck

Mike Spinelli — Tue, 22 Aug 2006 09:55:04 EDT

The hydraulic hybrid-drive system the EPA may or may not have stolen appropriated from a guy named Car Man (or thereabouts) is ready for more real-world tests, the Wall Street Journal reports. The govs that be are planning to roll out their hydraulic system in a Peterbilt garbage truck, to be marketed by a Cleveland company starting next year. The truck uses a hybrid combination of diesel engine and hydraulic pump that saves braking energy as pressure, which it releases as force. UPS has been testing a similar system on two of its gajillion trucks since June.

EPA-Influenced Vehicles Get Set to Hit Road [WSJ.com]