Andrew McKinna, West-Trans National Sales Manager, explains how West-Trans’ dog trailer and hooklift combinations help mitigate transport cost and ease the tyranny of distance.
Regional communities face a number of waste management challenges, notably access to recycling markets and expansive distances between remote towns, waste processing facilities and landfills.
To avoid associated fuel costs and limit driver backtracking, rogue operators have been known to cart overloaded waste bins, in breach of vehicle mass limit legislation.
Andrew McKinna, West-Trans National Sales Manager, says while breaking Heavy Vehicle National Law is never acceptable, the challenge of rising transport costs is very real for the waste industry.
“Waste infrastructure is often pushed to the periphery and not well placed within wider transport and freight networks. This means transporting material from a local transfer station to a metropolitan recycling facility can be costly and even unviable,” he says.
“Additionally, as existing accessible infrastructure begins to reach capacity and the end of its life, those costs are likely to rise, with the risk of illegal dumping and stockpiling rising alongside them.”
According to Andrew, long-term infrastructure and market development solutions are needed to fully address the issue. He adds however that West-Trans’ built-in tri-axle dog trailer and hooklift combinations can facilitate relief in the meantime, with the addition of a dog trailer allowing operators to cart multiple bins at once.
“West-Trans offers custom built dog trailers as a matched combination to our HL20 and HL20A hooklifts, with both tipping trailer and simple rail-and-lock-trailer options available,” Andrew says.
“Drivers simply lift the first bin onto the truck, reverse back to the dog trailer, then pick up the second bin, lock both bins, reconnect the trailer and hydraulics and drive away. The set-up caused daily drop-off numbers to double for multiple operators.”
Andrew says that when a vehicle has to travel several hours between the generation point and facility drop-off, investing an extra 10 minutes to fit a second bin far outweighs the cost and time required to run multiple trips.
“The productivity benefits of the dog trailer hooklift combination allow waste companies to fulfil large contracts across vast areas, mitigating Australia’s infamous tyranny of distance,” he says.
“With a fuel burn of roughly 2.5 kilometres per litre, it doesn’t take long for the economics of a dog trailer to add up.”
West-Trans manufactures a range of fit-for-purpose dog trailers capable of carrying multiple bin sizes. Andrew adds that all custom trailers can be supplied with a swing away west-transcover tarp tower system.
“Drivers never need to climb onto their vehicle to secure a load after our tarping system is installed, which enhances safety and streamlines operations,” Andrew says.
“Additionally, our user-friendly cab gives operators the ability to control everything from inside the vehicle including weighing and reloading.”
Andrew says West Trans’ hooklifts are equally operator friendly, with 29-tonne lifting capacities and both fixed and articulated models available.
“West-Trans’ hooklifts are constructed with high tensile structural steel, using the latest available manufacturing technologies and production techniques,” he says.
“The geometric design keeps the lifting hook close to the rear driver when lifting, which improves lift performance and truck stability, while the rugged billet steel hook is secure yet easily placed from the driver’s seat.”
All HL20 and HL20A hooklifts feature fabricated bin rests, billet steel bin locks and standard hydraulic tipping frame locks. According to Andrew, this makes West-Trans hooklifts some of the most durable on the Australian market.
“West-Trans has been operating in Australia for over 25 years, and in that time, has developed a deep understanding the unique requirements of an Australian environment,” Andrew says.
“With a combination of tough engineering and clever geometry, we build strong equipment that’s built to last.”
Related stories:
