Old favourites rejoin the fold

When Cleanaway needed an efficient collection fleet to service its expansive City of Mandurah contract, it turned to a familiar favourite in IVECO.

With the number of truck brands available in Australia, operators of refuse collection vehicles looking for cab chassis platforms can often be spoilt for choice.

Even for long ­­­­– term users of one brand, there can be a “grass is greener” perception that sees allegiances put on hold to try something different, or to see how different products match up.

Such was the case with Cleanaway, Western Australia, who had enjoyed a long and fruitful association with IVECO, before deciding about six years ago to try another manufacturer.

But Cleanaway’s recent success in winning new contracts with the City of Mandurah – Western Australia’s largest regional city – located some 70 kilometres south of the capital, marked the return of new ACCOs to the Cleanaway fleet. The contract, awarded in late 2017, complements Cleanaway’s existing City of Kalamunda contract on Perth’s eastern outskirts. Twelve new 6×4 models with Superior Pak side loader compactor bodies, ranging from 25 to 33 cubic metres, are now in the fleet and collecting waste and recycling for the company.

Dave Clarke, Cleanaway Workshop WA Manager, says the ACCO is one of the preferred vehicles of choice for the contracted application.

“When Cleanaway was successful with its latest tender, we thought that the ACCO would be ideal for the job. We’d enjoyed a strong relationship with IVECO over the years and the time was right to rekindle it,” Dave says.

“It’s a vehicle that was very well suited to the industry right from the earlier days, and many of these features and benefits are still relevant today.”

The trucks operate five days a week, normally accruing around 50 engine hours over this time.

Dave says that while the vehicles were not doing high kilometres, the nature of refuse collection meant that they were always working hard.

“In waste collection it’s start and stop, over and over again, and this ultimately takes its toll on the trucks,” he says.

“With this in mind, driveline longevity, parts availability and ease of servicing are all important considerations for this line of work.”

Although the new trucks will be serviced in-house at Cleanaway’s own workshop, Dave says that IVECO dealer support and overall parts availability for the model was strong. He says it is stronger than some of the other brand trucks in the fleet.

“Being manufactured in Australia, a lot of the parts are local. During the tender process, IVECO was able to provide us with the trucks we needed within our time scope, compared to imported equipment. IVECO is a solid company and we’re pleased to be dealing with them again,” Dave says.

Lloyd Reeman, IVECO Brand Ambassador, says the company works closely with customers and offers a level of customisation for its Australian clients that few other truck brands could match.

IVECO’s ACCO and Stralis models are all built at the company’s manufacturing facility in Dandenong, Melbourne, with the ACCO platform in particular providing a wide array of additional options beyond what’s listed on the specification sheet.

“ACCO models have been catering to the waste industry for decades and over time IVECO has honed and evolved this product to meet the industry’s exacting needs,” Lloyd says.

“The IVECO engineering team works closely with local bodybuilders and customers can efficiently modify the specifications along the assembly line to better suit the selected body. This reduces the time the bodybuilders themselves need to spend on the cab chassis in preparation for body fitment.”

Lloyd says bolt holes and other fastening points can be customised, as can the positioning of auxiliary components, including fuel and air tanks, exhaust systems and other components.

“The engineering and production teams can be extremely responsive to customer’s needs, from building a one-off design to larger production runs. IVECO can also paint down the assembly line to suit customer livery, providing a fast delivery while remaining cost competitive,” he says.

Lloyd says that the new ACCOs have quickly found their place in the Cleanaway WA fleet and were performing strongly. They have also enjoyed wide driver acceptance.

“The drivers who have worked in our industry for some time and have previously driven ACCOs are always happy to be back in them,” he says.

“For some of the newer drivers, it’s a change in driving environment, so like getting into any new vehicle, they just need to familiarise themselves with it a little, but it doesn’t normally take long.”

Based on previous experience with the ACCO’s longevity and reliability, Cleanaway expect to have the latest 12 trucks in the fleet for around 10 years.

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