Technology is now redirecting that spotlight to feature the cart. “Technology is driving the industry,” says Scott Lukach, director of sales for Rehrig Pacific Co., Los Angeles, CA. One way it’s changing the industry and refocusing attention on the cart is with RFID tags and web-based software management that can verify delivery of carts as well as manage work orders for replacement, switch-out or pick up-all in a paperless environment.
“It’s a big trend,” Lukach continues, adding that Rehrig is a leader in the field, as one of the first to incorporate RFID tags in Toronto. “It differentiated what we do.” Now, he says, it’s growing; it’s more prevalent. “It helps customers manage distribution and inventory.”
RFID technology is becoming far more prevalent in the public sector as municipalities learn “the vast advantages” that a cart program with RFID chips can bring, indicates Tim Phanco, vice president of sales for Otto Environmental Systems North America, Inc., based in Charlotte, NC. Thanks to expanding interest, Otto is actively involved in supplying RFID-equipped carts to a number of municipalities across North America. The company is currently using Alien Technology “Squiggle” tags because they are reliable and durable, as well as universally accepted by the industry as compatible with most readers.
Phanco believes the advantages of this technology are limitless. However, he cautions, “contrary to many urban myths, the RFID chip cannot and will never become the “˜spy chip’ that has found its way into a few city council meetings recently. It will never be able to communicate the type of recycling materials or waste materials contained within a cart or any other intrusive information.” Advantages of the chip include helping haulers and municipalities verify service and assisting with cart logistics, inventory tracking and container management during the life of the cart.
Not only does it assist with container management optimization of routes for efficiency by managing collection, it also adds productivity through service verification. Nonproprietary RFID tags give each cart a unique identity past deployment. That grants residents the ability to communicate with the city, notes Maria Frizzell, executive director of sales and operations for Schaefer Systems International Inc. in Charlotte, NC. With hand-held readers that can scan the cart, customers can track repairs, maintenance and warranty claims or check the schedule for services such as leaf pickup and holiday routes.
Schaefer’s Wistar program gives the customer more value, she says. The software package allows the customer to track service verification and run reports on participation (helpful for campaigns to get more recyclables). By tagging the cart with global positioning to guarantee delivery, it provides full visibility of the deployment of carts in real time and permits the customer to manage the data of investment and inventory.
An important consideration for many municipalities is the visibility added by RFID and software.
“We’re trying to divert more into the recycling stream and less into landfills,” Lukach explains. “Haulers are picking up two to three streams-organics, garbage, and recyclables.” The software facilitates billing based on the stream. It also allows haulers to see who is recycling, so they can “target the message to low participation areas,” he says.
“The industry desire to better track cart inventories and repairs and measure recycling participation by residence has led to the increased use of RFID tags in carts,” confirms Jim Pickett, vice president of municipal sales for Toter Carts in Statesville, NC. Toter, which he says put its first RFID tag on a US cart in 1989, offers a fully integrated menu of hardware and software, through Routeware, that fits any customer’s unique RFID technology needs. Ultra High Frequency, or UHF, embedded RFID tags are ideal for both fully automated cart collection and commercial container routes, and are commonly used.
It’s in the Can
Carts in the United States fall into two categories, Pickett explains: injection molded commodity carts and rotationally molded Toter carts. “Toter carts differ from commodity carts in several ways,” he says. “The biggest difference is our manufacturing process, Advanced Rotational Molding, which creates carts that are stronger and more durable than injection molded carts.” Rotational molding is the same stress-free process used to produce durable products such as kayaks, chemical tanks, highway impact barriers, and front-load waste containers. Contributing to their strength and durability, Toter carts are made of Medium Density Polyethylene, which is more resistant to cracking than the high-density polyethylene typically used by injection molded cart manufacturers.
Toter carts nest when fully assembled, reducing transportation and delivery costs. The leakproof carts are available in sizes including 32 and 48. The 15- to 20-year service life is supported by a 10-year non-prorated warranty, although Pickett says they have an “extremely low failure rate: less than 0.2% per year,” which means claims are infrequent and easy to honor.
Strong yet flexible, Toter carts don’t break during collection, particularly when used in fully automated service. “Fully automated trucks have supplanted semiautomated cart lifters in most areas of the country,” Pickett points out. “While this significantly increases productivity, the wide variety of automated grabbers increases cart failure rates in weaker, less flexible carts. Some cart manufacturers have learned to limit their carts’ service life to 10 or fewer years and will often blame the grabbers and collection workers for poor cart durability.” Building on 40 years of engineering in Germany before Toter came to the US, the manufacturer continues to work with haulers to adjust the arm and their collection procedures in order to reduce damage to the container.
Injection-molded carts like the new Otto Edge can also provide durability in both semi- and fully automated lifting systems. Otto, a leading supplier of injection-molded carts with more than 70 million carts currently in service, pioneered the injection molded two-wheeled cart in Europe in 1965.
A former waste hauling company, Otto has experience with the unique challenges of waste and recycling collection and services and offers a wide variety of cart designs in the industry to fit each customer’s unique needs, such as the Millennium cart, with a lower profile and lower center of gravity, for better curbside visibility, superior wind stability and maneuverability. Otto’s Evolution carts offer the advantages of an ergonomic foot pocket with step and a European-style integrated front-lifting pocket.
One of the advantages of injection molding, Phanco says, is to be able to provide the material to very specific areas of the cart to increase the durability and performance. “Our injection molding process provides the ultimate in longer term strength and durability.”
Because of that process, however, a cart designed to be used primarily for semiautomated rear-load lifters may not be the optimal design for a fully automated side load lifter because the forces imparted on a cart by a semiautomated lifter are different than those from a fully automated lifter. However, he adds, through state-of-the-art computer-aided design of the injection molding manufacturing process and finite element technology, a cart designer can place the right amount of material and geometry in precisely the right place to optimize a cart’s design so that it could be lifted by either a fully automated lifter or a semiautomated lifter. Otto’s new Edge carts work with either a semi-automated lifter or a fully automated side load lifter.
Schaefer Systems’ injection-molded cart has long been recognized as a durable, quality product, Frizzell says. “We understand and design around stresses, providing extra support to counter the effects of automated steel arms.” Using historical data to determine the stress factor of the arms, the company builds around continual stresses. Crumple zones at the stress points are built into the body of the cart so that, as it is squeezed by the arm, they maintain memory.
Like Toter, Frizzell says Schaefer can help haulers improve service by looking at the operation of the arms, but that doesn’t mean Schaefer avoids responsibility. “We stand behind our products with a 10-year warranty, which is the industry standard,” Frizzell specifies. “That’s important for municipal governments.”
Buying Decisions
Municipalities often have restrictive budgets that necessitate realizing every bit of value from purchases. “When customers make buying decisions, it starts with superior design that fits well with automated and semi-automated,” says Lukach. Rehrig uses high-quality materials, he says, and “beefs up” high-wear areas where failures occur first. “A thicker wall can improve performance.” Caution must be used, though, because while weight is important for stability and durability, a cart should not be too light or too heavy.
Another advantage Rehrig offers that Lukach says can be an important consideration is ease of assembly and disassembly for delivery at the curb. Delivery itself is also essential. “This is a customer service business. Customers want to get the product in time.” With five plants, Rehrig maintains close proximity to the customer, resulting in the shortest freight lanes, which equals the least emissions. “Delivery is economical and environmentally efficient. We provide quicker delivery for less cost.”
Celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2013, Rehrig has seen containers evolve from wood to wire to plastic. Through it all, Lukach says, the company has always stood behind the product as well as its commitment to customers. “Our products have unmatched durability,” he boasts. “Our 10-year warranty is our strength.” He adds that if there is a failure, Rehrig created an easy process for replacement.
“There’s value in service behind the product,” Frizzell concurs. She says that being veterans in the industry with years of experience is a benefit. “We know the industry.”
When it comes to public versus private haulers, Frizzell says “they’re different but they’re not.” Private haulers are usually awarded a contract and must provide the container, but she considers a municipality’s residential rollout the same type of project.
Lukach describes the differences between public and private haulers more definitively. As a partner with Los Angeles and Toronto, Rehrig has an opportunity to have an impact on cities with a world-class program, he says. “We help increase recycling; reduce litter and odor; clean up the curbside and provide a safer work environment by bringing automation to the business and reducing workman’s comp claims. The downside of working with municipalities is that it can be a long process with a lot of red tape. The challenge is that cities draft a generic specification, so decisions are often made on price alone.”
Private haulers provide an opportunity to be a strong partner and get creative, Lukach continues. The benefit of dealing with them is strong decision making. “They know the product and they know what they want.” The downside is change. “There’s a lot of movement: new companies, new contacts at those companies… It’s hard to stay in front of them.”
Because public sector buyers are looking at the bottom line, Pickett says they appreciate the lower total cost of ownership of Toter carts, while private refuse and recycling companies leverage their “nestability” cost savings.
Both groups like the essentially maintenance-free cart that will withstand abuse from automated trucks, Pickett continues. “Customers do not have to worry about maintenance. Our fully sealed cart, including stop bar and axle journal, does not have any drilled holes penetrating the cart body, so liquids will not spill out.” Not only does that contribute to lower annual cart maintenance expenses, but waste haulers report fewer customer complaints.
Whether working with public or private haulers, Lukach says collaboration is important. “Rehrig provides a great product and great service and shares its expertise with the customer.” In fact, Rehrig helps educate contracted haulers and municipalities about how to care for the carts-and what information to give residents, such as don’t overfill the cart and don’t move the cart with the lid open. Rehrig’s tips for the hauler start with “Do regular PMs on lifters so they interface. Keeping them close to spec maximizes their life.” Other basic suggestions include cleaning the container regularly so items tip out easily.
Working at the Car(t) Wash
“Cart cleaning is big business,” states Steve Buchan, president of Aaqua Tools Inc., the biggest provider of wine barrel washers. “It’s important to the industry.”
Seven or eight years ago, Buchan says, he became aware of a problem with the solid waste industry. “Water quality is the issue,” he explains. “They can’t clean the container properly.” Noting that often, the hauler is responsible for maintenance of the carts, he says most clean them by hand with bucket and brush. “It’s tedious and inefficient.” Pressure washers are little better, producing overspray that contributes to health and safety issues.
Borrowing the technology he used to clean wine barrels, Buchan retrofitted his barrel cleaner as Cartblaster for the refuse industry. The cart rotates on a platform, letting the cleaning nozzle do the work. “It’s not glamorous, but it is more thorough and uses less water.”
Water usage was an issue in wine country, as were fluid costs and the cost of wood. High impingement created by low-flow, high-pressure hot water hitting the substrate was a way to enhance the life of the barrels while saving water. “It’s a great feature,” Buchan enthuses. No detergents are needed, but the wash water must be clean.
The technology was easily transferrable to other industries. Buchan says it’s used in the waste, pharmaceutical and food and beverage industries, where it can clean anything from a 5-gallon container to a small dumpster. “It’s a precision instrument for industries in which cleaning is critical. It makes a quick impact and takes [cleaning] to the next level. It uses less water and is a faster clean,” he says, clarifying that cleaning time depends on pump and water pressure.
Because it saves on labor and detergent costs, the return on investment is very short, despite a cost of $2,500 for the head. Buchan estimates about a six-month payback. An additional labor-saving feature is the Tip-too, which rolls the cart to the cleaning device, locks it in and rolls it over. “There’s no manual maneuvering,” Buchan elaborates.
The service life of the unit depends on water quality. In hard water areas, Buchan says it can be treated with muradic acid to knock scale off. Aaqua Tools does all repair work beyond regular cleaning because, Buchan says, “it’s complicated equipment.” To ensure that customers send it, they charge only one-hour labor for any repair.
So far, Buchan reports little competition and no dissatisfied customers. One happy customer, the city of Pocatello, ID, recently ordered five heads. Buchan foresees more municipal customers. Although the Cartblaster is used mostly for new customers or customers requiring a change-out, he envisions cleaning becoming an added service after the trash is emptied as a way to increase revenue. “In Europe, this is already part of their regular service.”