|
Several manufacturers and service suppliers got together recently in the UK to investigate the advantages - or otherwise - of two different types of truck chassis commonly used on waste and recycled materials collections in the UK and Europe.
While the use of conventional 4x2 or dual drive rear bogie 6x4 chassis is probably the most prominent where waste collection operations still depend on unloading at landfill sites for disposal, the resulting increase in waste transfer facilities - which do away with the need for suitable off-highway traction - have enabled more specialised chassis, such as low-cab entry cabbed units to be used.
But while there is no question that a full-sized three, or four axle chassis offers the highest potential payload, what is the best chassis configuration for when operations include tight, narrow streets in an old quarter, or narrow rural highways where a full-sized truck could hold-up the traffic? A number of manufacturers, such as BMC (based in Turkey), or Dennis Eagle (based in the UK), produce 'narrow track' chassis, using narrower axles to get overall width down below 2.4 metres. While the majority of chassis sold by Dennis Eagle worldwide still shows the dual drive 6x4 as being the most popular, according to company spokes person Andy Graves, there has been increased customer interest in narrow track 4x2 and 6x2 rear steer chassis in recent months.
But while a narrow width chassis will obviously pass through a width restriction that would require a normal-width chassis to make a detour - or require the purchase of smaller 'lightweight' chassis with a lower payload, other major truck chassis manufacturers, such as Mercedes Benz, report a growing acceptance of conventional width (Mercedes, along with most major truck manufacturers does not produce a specific narrow track RCV option) 6x2 rearsteers. So where does the rearsteer score over the narrow track option?
Trials held recently in the UK, involving Geesink Norba, Mercedes Benz and major UK specialist truck rental company Gullivers Municipal Hire, were held to find out the answer. Held under the auspices of the Chartered Institution of Waste Management (CIWM), the leading professional trade association in the UK, both a 6x2 Mercedes rear steer and a comparable 'mid-lift' axle 6x2 Dennis chassis were run over a trial course (marked out by traffic cones) to enable both fleet managers and drivers from commercial and council (commune) operators to try the different characteristics first hand.
And the winner was? The narrow track obviously had advantages between physical objects, but the wider rearsteer 6x2 was able to make tighter turns due to a reduced drive axle wheelbase on a comparable capacity body specification. A word of warning though - rearsteering axles result in a significant 'kick-out' to the rear hopper on tight turns - which could result in damage to the rear compaction hopper, or injury to passers-by.
So the moral of the story is? Driver training is essential when making any significant fleet changes.
