Supplier news

Leck Waste Services adds 3rd Eye vehicle data suite

Leck Waste Systems, a waste hauler based in Ivyland, Pennsylvania, serving commercial customers throughout Bucks County, Montgomery County, northeast Philadelphia and southern Lehigh County, has added a 3rd Eye vehicle data suite to its operations. Katy, Texas-based 3rd Eye’s Enhance vehicle behavioral analytics (VBA) is designed to provide vehicle-based data collection and reporting solutions.

3rd Eye says it has developed technology that digitally interprets chassis and body system inputs and communicates this information in real time through its Hurricane Gateway. In addition, the company says camera data can be transmitted through the gateway, allowing Leck to view and report on situational inputs immediately.

Founded in 1971, Leck Waste Systems operates more than 35 commercial vehicles ranging from commercial rear loaders and front loaders to roll-offs. The company also offers compactor, baler, shredding and portable toilet service.

“With 3rd Eye’s Enhance VBA, I can respond much faster to service requests as well as validate proof of service in real time,” Jason Leck, vice president of Leck Waste, says. “But it also lets me know how the body systems are performing in concert with the chassis. My operations manager uses this information to schedule maintenance. It’s like the vehicle is talking to me and telling me how it’s feeling. It’s a game changer.”

Dover’s 3rd Eye, based in Downers Grove, Illinois, was formed in 2001. The company provides real-time vehicle function/route performance analytics and uses camera systems to capture and document in-cab and external events designed to improve the safety, reliability and profitability of collection fleet operations.

JCB receives Pillar of the Industry award

JCB, with North American headquarters in Savannah, Georgia, was honored with a Pillar of the Industry award by the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM), Milwaukee. JCB says the award reflects its work throughout the past year to improve the business environment for the equipment manufacturing industry, its advocacy for promanufacturing solutions and its participation in AEM’s I Make America grassroots program.

“As a leading construction and agricultural equipment manufacturer, we’re grateful at JCB for the opportunity to promote policies that support manufacturing jobs and help America’s manufacturers to compete on the global stage,” Richard Fox-Marrs, president and CEO of JCB North America, says.

“And we’re especially proud to have supported AEM’s ‘I Make America’ campaign, which has struck a chord with our state and federal leaders and our workforce and helped remind all Americans that a strong manufacturing base is a national asset to be valued,” he says.

This year’s I Make America campaign, themed Our Products. Our Jobs, brought a record number of elected officials to AEM member companies’ locations across the country, AEM says. In addition, AEM members went to Washington in September for the first-ever I Make America Fly-In. Member company executives visited with 100 congressional offices and administration officials to advance the industry’s policy priorities.

Wastebuilt acquires Refuse Parts Depot

Wastebuilt Environmental Solutions LLC, a Bolingbrook, Illinois-based provider of parts, equipment and service to the waste and recycling industries, has announced its acquisition of Refuse Parts Depot (RPD). RPD is a refuse truck parts provider headquartered in Lexington, Kentucky.

RPD has built a parts operation that provides superior service to its refuse customers, Wastebuilt says. The acquisition will expand Wastebuilt’s reach in the east and Midwest.

“We are delighted to welcome the RPD team to the Wastebuilt family,” Dave McKeon, chief operating officer for Wastebuilt, says. “RPD represents an exceptional fit with Wastebuilt’s Stepp-ID Parts line in terms of geographic footprint, product portfolio and customer-centric operating philosophy.”

“We are excited to be partnering with the Wastebuilt team,” Jeff Wellman, president of RPD, says. “With the combination of high quality service and a more comprehensive product offering from Wastebuilt, we will be able to better serve our customers. This is a great opportunity for our customers and employees alike as we combine with an industry leader to serve the waste industry better than any other parts provider.”

“I could not be more excited to have RPD join the Stepp-ID Parts team,” Jim Pfeiffer, executive vice president of parts for Wastebuilt, says. “By adding a great group of people and three more locations to our team, we can provide one-day shipping to over half of the country with the same great customer service and quality that customers have come to expect from each of our companies.”

Hino Motors opens plant

Hino Motors Ltd., Novi, Michigan, has announced its plan to purchase the former Cold Water Creek distribution center in Mineral Wells, West Virginia, and convert it into its new truck assembly plant. The new plant, located close to its current plant, planned to be operational in early 2019, also will house cab assembly, an operation currently conducted in Japan.

“The new plant, which is four times the size of our current plant, will allow us to combine several assembly operations under one roof which will provide significant efficiency gains,” Takashi Ono, Hino Motors Manufacturing USA president, says.

The total investment in the new plant will be approximately $100 million, creating about 250 new jobs in early 2020 over a two-shift operation.

In addition to producing Hino’s current line of conventional trucks, the new truck assembly plant will produce a new line of Class 7 and 8 trucks that Hino plans to introduce in 2019. The truck will be powered by Hino’s A09 9-liter engine designed with a horsepower range from 300 to 360.

“These are truly exciting times for Hino in the U.S. Our growth and customer acceptance in the Class 4-7 market are enabling us to introduce wider variety of products” Yoshinori Noguchi, CEO of Hino North America, says.

Hino is consolidating all operations in its Novi corporate headquarters, including sales, marketing, service, engineering, purchasing and manufacturing.

Hino’s Insight Diagnostic Center, which monitors vehicle performance and uptime for all Hino trucks equipped with Insight, also will operate out of the headquarters. Investment in the new corporate office, which consolidates all the operations, totals $20 million.

Eriez hosts 2017 Business Conference

Eriez, a supplier of separation technologies, hosted its 2017 Business Conference at the Bayfront Convention Center in Erie, Pennsylvania, which is where the company is headquartered, in early October. The two-day event celebrated Eriez’s 75th anniversary and attracted more than 120 attendees.

The 2017 Business Conference began with speeches from Eriez’s chairman, president and other key executives. Kelly Riggs, a sales and leadership coach, delivered the keynote address. Attendees also toured the Eriez headquarters plant and Wager facility in Erie. Also included were educational roundtables and an evening reception where a number of attendees were recognized for their achievements and service.

To further commemorate its anniversary, Eriez will release From Pioneer to World Authority in Separation Technologies, an update of a book it first published in 1992.

Microdrones launches aerial methane-inspection package

Microdrones, Rome, New York, has announced the release of a professional aerial methane-detection solution, the mdTector1000 CH4. The mdTector 100 CH4 is an aerial methane-inspection package built for professionals responsible for methane gas infrastructure. MdTector1000 CH4 from Microdrones makes it easy to detect methane gas via a fully integrated aerial package, according to the company.

The mdTector1000 CH4 has a Pergam gas sensor, mounted and integrated with the Microdrones md4-1000 UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle). The company says users will be able to see aerial shots of what they are detecting with the laser sensor in real time. The carbon-fiber UAV is designed to easily navigate terrain that’s too dangerous for traditional foot crews. Microdrones says its aircrafts are sturdy, stable and resistant to wind and weather, as well as to dust and dampness; this is designed to allow the user to fly wherever and whenever the job needs to be done.

The mdTector1000 CH4 can be used for:

• natural gas line surveys;
• tank inspections;
• gas well testing;
• plant safety; and
• landfill emission monitoring.

According to the company, the product is low cost compared with the expense and risk of traditional gas detection methods. It offers a broad range of detection, is lightweight, easy to transport and is easy to deploy and operate, the company says.

Microdrones’ mdCockpit Android App is a part of the package, designed to allow visualization to be maintained in-flight. A special mdTector app is designed to allow users to visualize and present all postflight data on one map.

Stadler expands North American parts and service facility

Integrated recycling system provider Stadler America LLC, based in Colfax, North Carolina, says it has expanded its parts and service facility to demonstrate its commitment to customers throughout North America.

“With our rapidly growing customer base, it was imperative that we expand to meet their needs,” Marty Kennedy, Stadler America chief operating officer, says. “The volume of inquiries for advanced system designs and Stadler core components that we’re receiving has been nothing short of amazing. We see this investment as part of the work being done to prepare ourselves to meet continued growth in customer demand.”

Stadler opened its North American headquarters, parts facility and technical support center in March 2016. The expansion doubles the company’s parts inventory and increases the availability of its technical support team, according to Stadler America.

“We understand how important providing after-sales support is, not only in word but also in action,” Nico Sherwood, after-sales program director for Stadler America, says. “This commitment grows our parts inventory considerably. Combined with our U.S.-based support staff and after-sales team, it’s a demonstration of the importance Stadler places on supporting our customers. We want customers to know that they can rely upon us long after they place an order with us.”

Automatic Load Cover founder retires

Roll-Rite LLC, Gladwin, Michigan, has announced that John Birden, founder of Automatic Load Cover LLC (ALC), Torrington, Connecticut, retired Sept. 22, 2017.

Starting the business in 2000, Birden created and built a manufacturing company serving the heavy-duty truck and trailer industry in New England.

The company credits Birden with designing its automated covering systems serving the waste, recycling, scrap, municipal and construction markets.

“John’s time with Roll-Rite has been assisting with integration of ALC into Roll-Rite, including the transfer of product knowledge and people development within the Torrington facility,” Roll-Rite CEO Brad Templeman says. “While these are big shoes to fill, I, along with our Roll-Rite teams across the U.S., wish John and his wife, Debbie, the best in their next journey.”

Roll-Rite acquired ALC April 29, 2016. The Torrington facility services Roll-Rite truck and trailer tarp customers in the northeastern region of the U.S.

Los Angeles to add two electric garbage trucks

Motiv Power Systems, Foster City, California, is deploying two electric refuse trucks to the city of Los Angeles. The announcement follows earlier news that California’s first electric refuse vehicle (ERV) would be heading to Sacramento.

As a continuation of a demonstration project funded by the California Energy Commission, these Class-8 ERVs use the Motiv all-electric powertrain to drive a chassis by Crane Carrier, Tulsa, Oklahoma, with an automated side-loader body built by Amrep Inc., Ontario, California. Amrep will build the trucks in LA. They are projected to be delivered in the first quarter of 2018.

LA Sanitation plans to run the ERVs on residential trash and recycling routes and expects to save as much as 6,000 gallons of fuel per year.

Upon delivery, Motiv will have a total of three electric trucks operating in California and four within North America.

As LA develops pathways to meet an 80 percent greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction by 2050, reducing air pollution from mobile sources plays a key role, the company says. Motiv’s scalable electric powertrain can help public works and city service vehicles contribute to GHG reductions by reducing diesel emissions from a wide variety of vehicles, from refuse and work trucks to school and shuttle buses, the company says.

Rather than having customized vehicles provided by a variety of vendors, Motiv’s modular design allows the same powertrain to be used across the full range of a city’s work trucks, from Class 4 through Class 8. The use of a single electric powertrain system for all the city’s electric work trucks simplifies maintenance and operation of a growing municipal electric vehicle fleet, reducing the cost of spare parts and training, the company says.

The trucks used in LA will have a payload capacity of 9 tons and 1,000 pounds per cubic yard of compaction force. All Motiv ERVs are equipped with 10 battery packs, expandable to 12 packs if needed for future route expansion. With up to 212 kilowatt hours of power, Motiv ERVs supply enough electricity to move the truck and power the electric hydraulics throughout the day, the company says. Using the Motiv universal high-power charger, ERV batteries can be charged overnight.