Cool Fleet Runnings

The suburbanites are sound asleep when the waste collection truck pulls up. Loaders heave bags into the loader, putting their noses to the grindstone in the pre-dawn cold to remove the previous day’s trash while the rest of the world slumbers.

Hopefully, everything goes according to plan. But what if the driver hears the notorious crunch of metal on metal? What if a gear screeches as it grinds into another gear—one that’s poorly oiled?

And what if the truck sputters to a halt? What then?

These are the realities for waste collection employees if their fleet’s trucks aren’t kept properly greased and if the hydraulic oil isn’t regularly checked and replaced. While a laborious and tedious task, regular lubrication maintenance can make the difference between accomplishing a job on time and having to call a repair team, costing valuable hours. Consequences can get worse—like having to replace a collection truck or even causing a fatal accident, says Kevin Chapin, reliability consultant and International Council for Machinery Lubrication MLT-1 certified professional for Kansas-based Lubrication Engineers.

He says if lubrication isn’t properly considered, companies could be putting other drivers on the road and their own collection teams in serious peril.

“Consequences are Number One: Safety,” says Chapin. “Beyond that, the fleet will incur heavy costs of maintenance operations by using cheap, inferior lubricants to maintain their fleet. Systems will constantly leak, causing oil to contaminate wherever it travels. Oil consumption will be high, creating a constant usage beyond what is needed. Grease consumption and parts will also be high, causing a large impact on the bottom-line cost to operate the fleet.”

Maintenance checks on systems that require lubrication can prevent parts from failing and can lead to a longer life for these parts and for fleets in general, ultimately saving man-hours on laborious repairs and replacements.

“Regular maintenance allows to systems operate at optimal levels and extends the life of these components,” says Mike Thompson, inside service manager for Autocar Trucks, of Hagerstown, IN. “These factors lead to increased efficiency and decreased downtime, which leads to increased profits. A well-maintained piece of equipment will provide owners years and years of service.”

There’s also another big reason why lubrication changes and checks and regular greasing are essential: avoiding budget-breaking repairs.

“There are many moving parts to any type of garbage truck that pivot [and] slide even thousands of times a day,” says Sean Benson, president of Western Refuse & ­Recycling Equipment, based in Chandler, AZ. “It is imperative that each moving point has the proper lubrication to prolong its life cycle. A properly planned and implemented PM schedule can help avoid repairs that could turn catastrophic quickly.”

When considering the business impacts, those consequences can run up an extensive and expensive bill, he adds.

“For instance, if a technician is regularly inspecting units, he will notice when a bearing is worn and needs to be replaced before it can no longer perform its duty,” he says, “and the pivot point it is designed to protect becomes damaged in a way that much larger and more expensive parts need to be replaced. These types of repairs often cost thousands of dollars.”

Brian Schmidt, reliability-based lubrication performance manager for Chevron Lubricants, says when considering your budget, lubrication doesn’t take up very much of the equation. But a leak can waste valuable oil and cause unexpected fines, disrupting your bottom-line.

A typical maintenance budget to maintain a fleet of vehicles is estimated at 3% spend on lubricants, 12% on miscellaneous supplies, 45% on maintenance labor, and 40% on replacement parts, he says. Lubricants play a significant role in contributing to the overall success of a maintenance program depending on how they are used, monitored, and selected.

At the end of the day, proper lubrication, oiling, and greasing practices save money and time. If ignored, they can become your company’s Achilles’ heel.

Where to Grease
So how should municipal solid waste employees avoid such a cataclysmic event? Knowing what parts need to be regularly serviced—and which parts need special attention—can literally make or break your collection fleet.

Several parts of municipal waste collection trucks that require or help facilitate lubrication should be regularly checked, including but not limited to the emergency brakes, hydraulic arm, universal joints, tie rod ends, and slack adjusters.

But the general industry wisdom boils down to this: If a part moves, it’s going to need lubrication.

“Proper greasing techniques and/or use of grease systems that automate greasing to the chassis are critical to chassis part life,” says Chapin. “Proper choice of chassis grease in today’s day of huge lubricant improvements is key to increasing life and decreasing the amount of grease being used. A tacky, high Timken, non-washout grease can make vast differences in the number of parts.”

Thompson says some parts are known for frequent failures if they aren’t lubricated, such as the powertrain components.

“Powertrain components are typically the most critical items that require the most maintenance,” he says. “Engines, transmissions, and axles all require regular maintenance, including oil changes. It is fairly safe to say that if a component moves, it will need some sort of regular maintenance like greasing, adjustment, or inspection.”

Thompson says these type of parts should be checked every 150 hours for efficacy, and there are some extra steps he recommends when doing this maintenance, even though they aren’t related to the lubrication systems of a truck. Think of it as a “two birds, one stone” situation to improve efficiency.

“Rubber components such as bushings, engine mounts, and radiator mount bushings should be inspected during services,” he says. “Most fleet maintenance personnel understand that engine oil changes and chassis lubrication on a regular basis are important to extending the life of their equipment, but sometimes these items can be overlooked. Inspection of these items during the servicing of other systems can help identify worn components and allow for the replacement of these components before critical failures happen.”

Benson says hydraulic filters and strainers should be replaced often, and hydraulic oil should be checked for contamination regularly.

“Any pivot point on a garbage truck requires very regular greasing due to wear and contamination from the harsh environment that the units have to perform in,” he says. Basically, when deciding what parts to grease, Benson recommends “every point that can be greased, as well as all chassis parts that require oil or lube of any kind.”

Long story short: Grease, grease, and then grease some more. Then maybe a little more after that, just in case.

Oil Changes
Benson says engine and transmission oils should be changed “very regularly” because daily work can dirty the oil quickly. Hydraulic oil also needs regular checking.

Schmidt says there are several ways collection fleets can undergo regular oil changes and checks, including automated and manual service processes.

“Components requiring grease are serviced most frequently either by automatic onboard systems or manually when the vehicles are available in the shop,” says Schmidt. “Using a high-quality product for this severe application—such as Chevron Delo ESI EP Grease—can help reduce the frequency of re-lubrication in providing better retention and lubrication protection compared to other low-quality products.”

Schmidt says there are multiple variables to consider when choosing hydraulic oil. It’s best to select an oil that will perform well through the life cycle of a truck, including situations such as cold start-up and high-temperature conditions.

He says it’s best to choose a high viscosity index (VI) oil that will hold up in a variety of environmental conditions. It’s also important to choose a hydraulic oil that meets cleanliness specifications set by the original equipment manufacturer.

A buyer can determine the cleanliness of the oil by checking it against the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) cleanliness code—also called the ISO 4406—which represents the number of particles allowed in hydraulic components. (The International Organization for Standardization is abbreviated ISO due to the non-governmental organization’s choice to have a shortened name that doesn’t change between languages.)

Starting out with clean oil will increase the longevity of a collection truck, Schmidt says.

“Modern design of hydraulic systems has placed more demand on the fluid and the internal working parts due to higher operating pressures, temperatures, and overall demand,” he says. “Proper maintenance with hydraulic oil systems will help avoid costly unexpected failures.”

He adds that hydraulic pump failure can lead to expensive repairs and replacements. It’s difficult to flush the entire system to remove grit and debris from the failed pump, not to mention the cost associated with keeping a truck off a job while it’s being fixed.

He says establishing a regular oil sampling program for hydraulic oil will help find problems before they become major issues, and he recommends setting an oil cleanliness standard company-wide for any oil added to collection vehicles so your employees know what standard to maintain across the system.

Monitoring the condition of in-service oil can help you establish the most efficient oil drain service interval, he says, especially to double-check whether the hydraulic filters are doing their jobs in keeping the systems clean.

Engine oil also needs special attention. Schmidt says engine oil drains and filter replacements are typically included in every company’s preventative maintenance schedules for every vehicle in their fleet.

“During this preventative maintenance, the engine oil is commonly drained, sampled, and the filters are replaced,” he says. “Other maintenance tasks are also performed such as checking vital fluid levels and samplings, such as hydraulic, transmission, coolant, and final drives.”

Chapin agrees that engine oil is the type of oil that is changed most often.

“We have two 15W-40 fleet engine oils that will extend the drain intervals from 600 [hours] to 1800 hours or 30,000 [miles] to 100,000 miles, which is a massive increase in the current intervals of 300 hours or 15,000 miles,” he adds. “This has a huge impact on the environment as it decreases waste oil by three to six times.”

Keeping engine oils clean and grit-free is critical for the long-term health of your engine. Soot can accumulate in the engine and the oil itself can dilute over time due to stress associated with difficult and dirty driving conditions. If too much soot is ingested by the engine, it can be abrasive to the machinery as the engine oil loses its tackiness and water resistance.

“The engine is the most costly to replace and therefore requires great care,” says Schmidt. “Using a premium engine oil in combination with oil analysis is the key to optimizing the durability and overall performance of the vehicle. Different operating conditions also have a big impact in establishing oil drain intervals. Monitoring the condition of the in-service oil for each engine while comparing to the entire fleet and a much broader database with similar engines will help minimize risks and provide better information to make solid decisions regarding oil drain service intervals.”

What Contaminates Oils?
Why are regular maintenance and checks on oils required? Several reasons, but mostly the answer boils down to difficult environmental conditions, internal wear and tear, and contamination from improper operation by the driver.

“Regular and proper maintenance of waste fleet hydraulic systems is critical due to the nature of the environment and use,” says Chapin. After all, “landfills are dirty” and dust and dirt don’t do the collection truck any favors.

Municipal collection trucks have to deal with repetitive, cumulative buildup of contaminants from the weather, road conditions, and the condition of landfills.

“Chassis parts are more prone to wear due to the location near the ground and the nature of being in and out of a landfill all day. The dirt, mud, debris, gases can wreak havoc on these areas,” says Chapin.

When considering lubrication efficiency, Lubrication Engineers recommends in a 2011 white paper that managers ­consider using the LETS mnemonic—Load, ­Environment, Temperature, and Speed. Environmental conditions are just as important to consider when thinking about stress on your truck’s system as how much of a load it’s hauling.

“For years, many have stated that when selecting a gear lubricant, or any lubricant for that matter, one must consider only temperature, speed, and load. More recently, this advice has been expanded to include environment,” Lubrication Engineers’ 2011 white paper states.

Picture this: A collection crew member is bundling up for another morning where it’s -10°F, plus snowy wind. Six months later, in another state, another solid waste collection driver is sweating as she maneuvers into a landfill during a 120°F heat wave. Just like a municipal solid waste fleet’s employees have to be resilient to endure these temperature changes, a company’s lubrication also has to cope with these ranges of extremes.

Wind, rain, snow, sleet, and other weather conditions can also introduce contaminants into the system.

While everyday wear and tear from regular operations can’t be helped, avoiding contamination due to operator error is entirely possible.

In some cases, more inexperienced drivers might accidentally dump refuse behind the blade, introducing significant contamination.

Drivers should also be regularly cleaning out from behind the blade to keep that area clear and to avoid grit from entering the hydraulic system.

“The task of keeping a garbage truck in good shape starts with the driver. Drivers should perform daily inspections and perform minor tasks such as cleaning behind the packer blade which will help in prolonging the service life of a truck. An incentive program should be in place for drivers to keep their trucks clean and in good running condition,” suggests Prince Motors USA in a blog post.

Safety is Paramount
To see what happens when these systems are not properly maintained, one only has to look to new reports on recent hydraulic spills from collection trucks.

In smaller towns, the traffic impact is often minimal, although it does present a headache for residents if two-lane rural roads are closed because detours can be far out of the way.

When a hydraulic line broke on a garbage truck in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador (NL), Canada, in June 2016, the hydraulic oil that spilled onto the road caused concern while city crews worked diligently to clean up the oil before it could get into the city’s water supply, according to the Canadian Broadcasting Company (CBC). The news report stated that the hydraulic oil used was biodegradable, so the human health impact may have been minimal, but the spill was still cause for concern.

In some cases, hydraulic leaks manage to persist or reoccur over the course of weeks, frustrating customers on collection routes.

In San Jose, CA, The Mercury News reported that one garbage collection customer was frustrated that hydraulic fluid had been leaking on his street several times over the course of months, prompting him to write to the newspaper in 2013.

“I keep getting assurances that they’re working on it,” the customer wrote to The Mercury News in 2013 regarding the waste collection company. “They’ve really been just terrible at fixing the problem.”

While that case may seem like small potatoes, such leaks erode the pavement over time. They also erode trust between customers and waste collection companies.

More serious incidents like a ­70-gallon hydraulic leak in September 2017 that caused a significant public safety incident by making roads slick and undrivable, reported the Sun Herald, a local newspaper in Biloxi, MI.

“The primary danger was definitely to public safety,” Nick Hatten, state on-scene coordinator for the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality, told the Sun Herald. “A number of drivers reported fish-tailing.”

Such incidents require Hazmat cleanups and can prompt environmental fines, such as in the case of a 2014 hydraulic oil spill in Southwick, MA, MassLive reported, a Western Massachusetts regional news publication. The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection fined a company $4,500 for a 15-gallon spill caused when a hydraulic line broke. They were fined for not reporting the spill promptly.

“The company’s employees made attempts to contain the spilled oil and contacted a contractor to clean up the lost fluid, but did not notify the DEP or the Southwick Fire Department for several hours,” reported MassLive.

These types of toxic spills put people and local ecosystems in jeopardy from exposure. Another safety concern is the loss of control of a truck if a part malfunctions mid-job.

Municipal waste collection isn’t an easy job. On top of that, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics’ most recent report on the country’s most dangerous jobs, in its 2016 Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries, listed refuse and recyclable material collectors as the fifth most dangerous job in the nation.

The bureau releases statistics each year for the calendar year two years prior, hence the reason why 2016 was released in 2018. The statistics are measured via a percentage of the workforce, and 31 on-the-job deaths were reported, giving the waste and recycling collection industry a fatal injury rate of 34.1 workers per 100,000 workers. The overall fatal injury rate for the US workforce is 3.6 people per 100,000 people.

However, the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries’ updated records stated that 33 fatal injuries occurred in the waste collection industry in 2016—25 of whom died in traffic-related incidents. The details of those traffic incidents were not elaborated upon in the census.

But just in case, Chapin emphasizes that proper hydraulic preventative maintenance can keep rare incidents from happening, given the importance of the hydraulic system.

“All areas of safety concern should be checked and rechecked,” says Chapin. “If there are worn parts, parts with any ‘play,’ brake leaks, loose wheel bearings these can be potentially deadly if a failure occurs. Heavily loaded trucks and traveling on highways are hard to stop rapidly.”