Trucks Case Study
More Power, Quieter Efficiency
Potluck Pick-Up purchases a quieter, more efficient truck from Wayne Engineering and sees immediate results.
Potluck Pick-Up, located in Allendale, MI is a small, locally owned company that provides residential, commercial and roll-off services to approximately 10,000 total customers in western Michigan. In business since 1983, the company currently sends out seven trucks daily and employs a staff of 13.
In March of 2012, Potluck was in the market to replace their existing commercial front loader truck due to the age of the vehicle. They began to research the industry for those that supplied the type of truck that they needed. After demonstrating a number of different trucks, they finally tried out Wayne Engineering鈥檚 (Cedar Falls, IA) Titan Ecoforce. Andy Katt, Sales Manager for Potluck, emphasized that out of all the options they saw, this was the best truck option they had seen, 鈥淚t was the quietest and had the most efficient fuel mileage. We also knew that it had an Eaton POD system implemented on the truck and liked the way that it handled as part of the functional truck. After we demonstrated the truck with the POD system, we became even more interested in the truck as an option for us.鈥�
Latest and Greatest
Wayne Engineering is a leading manufacturer of chassis-mounted productivity solutions for the solid waste industry. Their Curbtender ASL is one of the first automated trucks introduced into the industry in the 1970s. Wayne鈥檚 existing small-body rear and side loaders have received various engineered enhancements, and their products, including the commercial-class Ecoforce front loader, full-size rear loader and one-man commercial container handling system, give Wayne Engineering a complete product lineup for any type of residential or commercial refuse collection.
Since Wayne Engineering and Potluck already had an established working relationship due to Potluck previously demonstrating a regular front loader from them, Wayne Engineering was ready to be among the companies to show Potluck their latest model. Says Scott Kanne, Executive Vice President for Wayne Engineering, 鈥淲e proposed the Titan Ecoforce as our latest and greatest model and stressed that it had this POD system on it as well鈥攕omething that would make their truck even more efficient.鈥�
Kanne explains that Wayne Engineering had previously used the Eaton POD system on their line of street sweepers and after seeing great results, they decided to develop and implement the system first onto their Curbtender automated truck. 鈥淚t had been a decade since anyone had really done anything new and innovative for a front end loader truck and I believe that Eaton鈥檚 POD system is the game changer. We truly believe that this is the future of front loaders. We were actually able to increase our performance and cycle times on our packer and it runs faster and smoother,鈥� says Kanne. 鈥淭he whole idea is that the entire packer system can operate at full speed with the truck in idle and also operates when the truck is driving down the road or in gear. When you are not using a function on the truck, the hydraulic system is not drawing any horsepower or demand on the engine which helps in the fuel efficiency. The POD system works in front loaders like the Titan Ecoforce as well automated trucks. It鈥檚 already taken off big for us鈥� (see Eaton Provides a Solution for Wayne Engineering sidebar, page xx).
And that includes Potluck Pick-Up鈥檚 purchase of the Titan Ecoforce. Katt concurs with the fuel savings and efficiency on their newly purchased commercial vehicle, 鈥淭he Titan Ecoforce definitely saves fuel over what we had before. Based on some of the official numbers that we鈥檝e gotten back so far, we鈥檙e getting about 9 to 11 percent better mileage than the old truck, which means that over a year, I am going to save about $6,000 in fuel with this truck and POD system. Katt evens points out that the truck is so quiet that he鈥檚 received customer complaints that the company hasn鈥檛 picked up the trash for that day. 鈥淭hey don鈥檛 even know that the truck has been there because it鈥檚 so quiet,鈥� says Katt. And once all of the truck鈥檚 pressures and settings were correct, Potluck has not had any problems. 鈥淲ayne Engineering worked with us to make sure the pressures were set right because of the heavy weight of some of the dumpsters.鈥�
Because nothing is needed to maintain the POD system in the truck, Katt expects the truck鈥檚 life expectancy to be seven to 10 years. 鈥淭his was really a prime opportunity for us to get this truck. We tried it out, we really liked it and we have been happy with it ever since. Recently, we demoed the residential arm truck with the POD system and that will be considered for a future purchase as well.鈥�
For more information about Wayne Engineering, contact Scott Kanne at [email protected].
For more information about Potluck Pick-Up, contact Andy Katt at[email protected].
Sidebar
Eaton Provides a Solution for Wayne Engineering
In the summer of 2010, Eaton Hydraulics personnel made a visit to Wayne Engineering located in Cedar Falls, IA. Wayne Engineering is a long time manufacturer of automated side loaders with their Curbtender model line, and is one of the first manufacturers to provide this style of truck several years ago. Eaton was anxious to show their POD solutions that were instrumental for success in similar applications, so the initial meeting was set up. Wayne Engineering was excited with the potential of POD style systems to save fuel, run faster and run with a cooler system. With that, a program was started and system proposals were presented and a relationship began. In the meantime, Wayne had just introduced a front end loader style truck, and Scott Kanne, V.P. of Sales and Marketing for Wayne Engineering, asked Phil Dybing, Program Manager and Systems Engineer for Eaton, if Eaton could provide a similar value proposition for the front end loader and use a POD solution. Dybing knew FEL-style trucks well and their current shortcomings with pneumatic controls and large gear or vane pumps, so he came up with a solution and presented to Wayne Engineering Management. Besides several other benefits, with the Eaton POD, the predicted results were that at least 3 gallons per day fuel savings could be attained when compared to a conventional truck.
Solution
Eaton delivered the solution with a tandem 420-load sensing piston pump along with a CMX160 3 section EH fully load sense control valve to command the arms, forks and packer functions. The balance of the system uses a variety of Eaton SICV custom manifolds to control the pumps as well as the top door and tailgate functions. Finally, Eaton Weatherhead hoses with ORS style fittings and adapters round out the system. ORS style connectors were selected to further minimize oil spills, one of the primary headaches of the refuse world.
The tandem 420 pump solution uses 80 cc rotating groups in both pumps as well as being driven off the transmission PTO with a speed increased output ratio. The tandem pumps combine their flows via a custom manifold to feed the single circuit. By using the tandem pump arrangement with a PTO speed increase ratio, enough flow is delivered to meet the required arm and packer cycle times at less than 800 engine RPM. The CMX160 valve provides full EH proportional control for the arms and forks. The proportional control on the packer allows it to extend and retract and again with the use of simple position sensors, decelerate to virtually eliminate any pressure spikes and resulting noise. Eaton SICV manifold solutions provide packer regeneration and retract dumping, pump combining and control, and finally, full e-stop shut off directly mounted onto the piston pumps. With positive shut off valves, only possible with a variable displacement piston pumps, the e-stop shuts all oil flow out of each pump into the high pressure and work lines. This is a key feature that allows trucks with a major fluid conveyance line rupture, to be able to be driven back to the service bay and more importantly, help alleviate severe oil spills on the highway.
With forward thinking in mind, Phil provided a solution that will also accept a residential style container that can be added without any added pumps, flow dividers or any other hydraulics. Instead, three hydraulic lines are plumbed into the system (pressure, tank and load sense) along with the electronic controls wire connections. The predicted fuel savings with a residential option will further increase fuel savings compared to conventional trucks with residential loader options.
The control system is a fully CAN bus control system that is able to interface with the engine CAN bus output signals. This prevents engine stall out as the proportional valves will pull back flow slightly to lower the torque demand on the engine. This is a key feature with the newer Tier 4 engines and diminished output torque at idle and especially critical with the increased usage of CNG style engines.
Results
The results have been better than predicted. The new Ecoforce Titan FEL is setting a new standard that no other FEL style truck can come close to. Fuel savings exceeded 3 gallons per day. The truck performs quietly and efficiently at idle, much quieter than a standard truck. Based on the excitement that the new Eaton POD system provided for the Titan, this truck model was completed first and production released with the Curbtender slated for early 2013.