Monash City Council procured a multirail hooklift with an adjustable hook to provide a flexible bin collection service.
There are currently no mandatory bin standards across Victoria, which means bins can come in all shapes and sizes. This diversity can present issues for transporters, as not all hooklifts can move all designs.
While Monash City Council primarily uses its own bins, the council wanted to ensure its hooklift would be able to handle those supplied by other carriers, if only to move them out of the way.
For this reason, Derek Naylor, Monash City Council Coordinator Fleet and Operations Centre Management, says the council selected a BoB ITK 26 hooklift fitted to a Volvo FM410 8×4 cab/chassis from distributors Vaclift and CMV Truck and Bus.
Derek says that the BoB hooklift provided several features that made it stand out compared with the other applicants, including the ability to use the same vehicle for wider and narrower bins.
“The council’s bins are fairly consistent. However, the multi rail allows us flexibility to move or transport other bins if we ever need to,” he says.
The BoB ITK 26 has an articulating jib with a specially designed hook that can pick up containers with pin heights between 1430 millimetres and 1610 millimetres automatically.
Derek says that prior to taking receipt of the new vehicle, the council had found that three of the four contract trucks weren’t able to pick up council’s bins.
“It came down to as little as 10 millimetre’s difference in rail width at times that restricted the loading,” he adds.
Another factor that influenced the procurement decision was the system’s additional front support arms and integrated front stability locks, which provide an extra two points of contact and support for loaded bins. The locking system engages to the front of the bin, providing greater security while in transit. Derek says having redundant capacity with the additional clamps gave confidence to council under the new Chain of Responsibility legislation.
Monash City Council expects the hooklift to travel 80,000 kilometres per year, which will make it one of the most travelled vehicles in the fleet. Derek says safety was one of the council’s major considerations, so the additional security was easy to justify.
“Hook trucks are inherently dangerous machines, as operators can’t always be 100 per cent confident about the load inside the bin. With the additional stability arms, we feel the driver is more able to feel any shifts in the centre of gravity.”
Derek says after-sales support from Vaclift and CMV Trucks has been excellent, with training provided the council’s drivers and mechanics about the Volvo chassis and detailed operation the hooklift and attached hydrotarp system.
“The team at Vaclift and CMV provided excellent documentation and individual hands-on coaching as each driver loaded bins and drove the loaded truck with the instructor on-board to provide real time instruction and guidance,” Derek adds.
“They gave us valuable feedback of our driver’s performance and provided us with an assessment of their skills at the end of the day. The driver’s feedback of the experience was very positive.
“Council expects many years of reliable operations.”