Today I’m going to take you on a tour of my assigned company vehicle, a front loading refuse truck. C-32 is the 2nd oldest piece of equipment my company operates and the oldest that is operated daily as its sister truck sits in on the back of the bench, only to come out during peak demand or to cover for another unit that has broken down. When my truck was built Reagan was in Office and I was in 2nd grade.
Here is what the drivers controls look like:
Wheel, Gauges and Shifter
Packer Body Controls, Back Up Camera and Billing Computer
As the C-Series proved, medium and heavy duty trucks can live very long and productive service lives. In the realm of class 8 trucks, specialized vocational vehicles (where the upfitting costs 3-4X+ the cost of the underlying vehicle) can be darn near immortal. When purchased new in 1989 this truck cost ~$200,000 in today’s dollars. On the used market with packer body in good condition and fitted with a smog filter I’d estimate that this truck would sell for $25k. As a frame of reference our newest truck was $275k fully loaded with dual controls, 3 backup cameras and a prepped for the side loader adapter kit.
It’s a 1988 Peterbilt 320 with a 13 speed Eaton Fuller Transmission and a Cummins L10 Engine. A few years ago it was fitted with a $15k Cleaire Horizon diesel particulate filter to comply with California smog regulations. While it cuts down on the soot in the air it also acts as a very restrictive exhaust that strangles the engine. It has 264k on the odometer and an estimated 31,400 hours on the chronometer.
From the published specs for the L10 and my seat-o-pants dyno testing, I’d guesstimate that the engine is putting out 260HP and 900lb-ft. It also has the strongest exhaust brake of any truck I’ve ever driven; with proper gear selection I can go down miles of 8-9% grade at a steady 45mph never having to touch my brake pedal.
It sounds like a lot of power, but my truck weighs 32k lbs empty and 52-54k fully loaded. With a full load on the truck the power to weight ratio is approximately half that of the traditional USDM slowness benchmark of the old air cooled VW. Climbing a 9% grade slows the truck to 25 mph when full. Acceleration when empty: 0-25 mph takes about 15 seconds, 45mph is a 45 second wait and getting to the ludicrous speed of 60 would take a good 90+ seconds empty with the engine screaming at 1900 rpm in top gear. Optimal cruising speed is 45-50 mph. Fuel consumption ranges from 2.5 to 4 MPG depending upon weather and the route.
The Maxon Packer body is something of an orphan; when the refuse industry went through a big wave of consolidation in the 1990s they found themselves out of favor with the handful of larger buyers. They went bankrupt in the mid 90s and exited the refuse and cement mixer markets, retreating to their core business of lift and rail gates for delivery trucks.
On my truck the build plate gives it a 38 cubic yard capacity. As a practical matter it equals 400-600 stops on a residential route; 60-80 yards of commercial dumpsters or 45-55 yards of construction debris.
For severe winter conditions there is no vehicle I’d rather be in. I have 8 drive tires with at least 20k lbs of weight on them and the ability to chain 6 of my 8 driven wheels, combined with an air actuated limited slip power divider. It is not uncommon to be the first vehicle on unplowed residential streets breaking a trail through 12-18 inches of fresh plowed snow.
My truck likely has one or two years left until the next equipment purchase cycle gives sends it off to its date with the grim scrapper’s torch. It will represent the end of an era of simple, rugged trucks with mechanical injection that were cheap to operate and maintain. While the new Pete that replaces it will be decades ahead in ergonomics and process automation it just won’t have the same soul.
Now this is a prime example of why I like this site so much.
Dumb questions: what is a Class 8 truck? Who classifies them? What about classes 1 through 7?
Well here thats called a 6 wheeler 24 tonnes GVM and that chassis would be trailer capable up to 50 tonnes with a H trailer requiring a class 4 licence for the truck but class 5 if you tow with it, obviously you wouldnt be mounting a compactor for other work and it kinda low powered for our country once you get outa town This was the 50 tonne Btrain I was flying last 3 weeks
Lets see a road train write up!
I’ve been lucky that I’ve pulled Triples and RMDs in NV but I can only imagine what its like to have 3-4+ large trailers behind you.
We are only allowed 2 trailers on turntables due to many tight corners thats a B train or 1 46foot semi and 1 drawbar trailer behind it is called an A train pulling its no problem backing not so much
It’s a function of GVW, class 8 is over 33,000 lbs. The numbers appear to be from the DOT see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truck_classification
FWIW Class 7 & 8 are over 26,000 GVW and thus require a CDL.
Awesome.
Ian, how are the brakes? In Maine a year or so ago, a loaded packer went downhill through a crossing gate and was hit by the Amtrak Downeaster. Never seen a collision do so much damage to both road vehicle and train. I assumed the driver was “impaired” but my Dad (decades in the truck equipment biz) said he thought the rig was overloaded and simply couldn’t stop in time.
The brakes are solid. They actually work a bit better once I have some weight on, when empty and stopping down hill my rear axles will lock up easily as more of the weight has shifted toward the front.
I love having a strong Jake, it allows me to preserve all of my service brakes for the unforeseen circumstances that driving throws at you.
Exactly Ian middle pedal only for emergencies and holding at stop lights if you need it going downhill youre in the wrong gear
I see what you’re saying. Not so much a matter of weak brakes, it’s that the driver needs to know their limits and adjust to the load and the road.
Thanks for the story, and for answering noob questions from us Curbside Clueless. 🙂
Very interesting, Thank you. Gives us a glimpse of what a refuse truck is that we don’t normally aware of. Anyway, what dual control? Who’s the second control for?
Also, noticed that tiny fan hanging in the cabin. So the county can spend for all those nifty features on a truck that cost $200,000, and not spring for an air conditioner?
Oh, and does it have 13 speed Eaton manual tranny (without syncromesh) or an automatic ones? Manual would be quite a chore, I guess, with all those stop and go driving combined with double clutching, would wear up one’s left knee in a hurry.
Anyway, thank GOD monitor technology has advanced quite a bit before back up cameras were common in cars today, otherwise you’ll have this big ol’ CRT hanging from the headliner…
In the mid to late ’90s I worked as a delivery truck driver, driving the big “box” vans – you know the Econoline dually with a big box on the back? Yup, that’s what I rolled in.
From experience, in town with a lot of stops you don’t actually want an air conditioner. You get used to the heat being out in the back of it and it’s really a shock to your system if you get back in the air. In addition to that, companies didn’t opt for them because of fuel mileage and maintenance impacts, when you are running a fleet that puts on a million miles a year – a 1-2 MPG difference is a big deal.
That said, for the longer routes the trucks without A/C were downright brutal. I’d beg and plead on the summer Kansas route to get one of the trucks that had A/C.
You want an air conditioner in these trucks for two reasons: one, in these cab forward trucks the engine is under the “dog house” between the the two seats and it throws off a lot of heat; two you are dealing with garbage and being able to keep the windows rolled up and the a/c on is very important if you don’t want your drivers to quit.
13 speed manual is a breeze to operate autoshift sucks big time take it from a linehaul truckie once your rolling there is no need to use the clutch just apply and release torque to shift remember your not trying to race anyone.
Dual controls and Right Hand drive are common in the refuse equipment. If you are operating a side loader or throwing the cans by hand it saves a good 15 steps per house if you’re running the route solo, times the 600-900 stops per route this adds up. Our newest truck is driveable from both sides and also is plumbed and wired for a side loader adapter. Operating a side loader from the Drivers side has significant blind spots on the curb side.
Video of a similar adapter in action:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pDqanc5YLk
At my company the class 8 equipment from the past ~10 years has AC. The newer frontloaders tend to cook the compressor as the 2003 and newer engines run much hotter to meet emissions. Meeting the current EPA 2010 emissions standards adds $15-20k to the cost of a new truck.
Automatics are better on route but are pigs when climbing hills and use 10-25% more fuel all else being equal. For most refuse and bus fleets they work..any where else the extra fuel consumption can eat all your profit margin.
That Volve I was driving was a I shift full auto matic or clutchless manual I find they tend to take too many gears on a hill and refuse to lug the engine properly it seemed to like revving out too much on upshifts too. Even at 45 tonnes gross a 480hp Volvo copes with upshifts at 1450 rpm and pulls from 1100 rpm but the auto would run to 1600 and downshift at 1300, to my mind that 250rpm too much each way Fuel is a big cost here Diesel is $1.56L and extra revs just burn fuel they dont pull any better than the next gear at less rpm
D’oh! nobody got this from the CC clue!!!! i was convinced it was a work truck but for reasons unknown I could not make the connection to refuse truck!!!
so close….
thanks for the write up Ian, very informative and highly entertaining.
The clue was a generic US truck dash make and model not so easy what it does harder again I regularly drive Mack chassis concrete mixer trucks similar dash its what behind the cab thats the tricky part the front bit is just a truck.
Great article Mr. Williams. Nice to see something other than cars once in a while, and I like heavy trucks! Especially apt coming from one who actually drives them.
A very nice write up, especially when it comes from someone that actually drives the featured vehicle. More features of this kind would be welcome.
“While the new Pete that replaces it will be decades ahead in ergonomics and process automation it just won’t have the same soul” And I’m sure that’s what was said when this truck was new too…
I worked for a private refuse company back in the late 50’s on summer break while in high school. We would have killed to have a truck like this one. We had to pick up the cans and throw them through a notch in the side of the bed. The kid in the bed emptied the can and threw it back. Then walked in the trash to compact it. Yes, it was just as bad as it sounds. Living out in the country there weren’t very many jobs to be had so you took what you could get. Picked a lot of corn and threw many a hay bale. The “education” we got ensured that none of us wanted to be laborers the rest of our lives. Please excuse the rambling of an old man. thanks.
wow… that sounds positively ghastly, 440 !
Sounds like the perfect summer job to refresh one’s motivation come the fall!
How many garbage dumps have a mountain view like that? (Probably every one in Nevada, where the only way you don’t have a mountain view is if there’s a tall building between you and the mountains.)
I’ve seen quite a few dual-control garbage packers. They’re set up that way so one guy can drive from the right and load cans in town, or so a two-man crew can work it more efficiently when the cans aren’t so close together.
I did some community service to work off a ticket. I chose the city garage. They used garbage trucks that had a closed body. For the scheduled maintenance, somebody had to climb inside to grease the hydraulics. Somebody else had to stand at the access hatch and hold the door open, the person inside could suffocate from the gaseous aroma. We also had ‘good’ maggot days, and ‘bad’ maggot days.
Absolutely fascinating! Great story.
That first photo is simply great! Love it. Never has a garbage truck looked so picturesque.
Great write up, I really have always loved garbage trucks. You have the exact same (crappy) backup camera my work truck has. Someday I should do a write up on it. But it’s much less interesting than yours.
Well, I wouldn’t have guessed that clue correctly in a million years. I’ve seen this style of Peterbilt (and Kenworth) truck around but never had one in the fleet or driven one. It might just be the camera angle, but that shifter looks like a case of tennis elbow just waiting to happen.
Good article.
Very interesting writeup. Thanks. When our garbage truck comes around you can hear it blocks away… chhh, rumble, chhh, rumble…always think it’s closer than it is. Fascinating beasts ….and tomorrow is garbage day! Get to hear that sound again!
I have to say, this blog post is pretty cool and you don’t find old classic’s like this anymore. As a former front load driver from Portland, your pictures and stories brought back memories from day’s when we would get severe snowfall’s and have to blaze the trails in the snow because garbage needs to be collected.
I read up on the history of your comany and its very diverse and interesting! Do you know of any surviving pictures of trucks your company has used in the past that I can possibly feature on our next website update?
Thanks so much!
Zachary