Grapple trucks are becoming increasingly popular in the United States as a means of aiding communities with garbage collection and improving working conditions for employees. The traditional method of waste collection involved a normal flat-bed or garbage truck and two or three laborers either walking alongside the vehicle throughout the route or entering and leaving the cab as needed to remove garbage from the streets. This method is sufficient for the collection of normal waste disposal bags and smaller objects; however, it became problematic with bulkier trash that is set out on the route.
Manual Operations
As even smaller communities can generate thousands of tons of waste material every year, manual collection tends to be difficult for the laborers. The difficulty escalates for garbage collectors when faced with the removal of large or heavy objects such as broken machines; goods like refrigerators and ovens; furniture; and bulky waste such as severed branches and stumps. Handling any of these objects is dangerous and any kind of manual heavy lifting carries a risk of back and knee injuries to the workers that must perform such tasks. Even if heavy waste is properly handled, the regular occurrence of bulky objects on a garbage route can be increasingly difficult for workers over time.
Automatic Operations
By introducing grapple trucks or attachment to the routes, many communities have managed to take a lot of weight off the backs of garbage collectors, both literally and figuratively. Driving alongside a regular flatbed truck, a grapple truck is able to lift all kinds of heavy or bulky loads from the street and deposit them onto a flatbed without the driver ever having to leave the vehicle. The immediate health implications of this technique are obvious, as the ground workers are now able to use available time to collect lighter loads and scraps that are too small for the grapple to handle. For solid objects without movable pieces and well-sealed refuse sacks, laborers may not need to be involved at all as the grapple can handle such loads alone.
Cost
Although the introduction of new equipment does come with an added cost, community budgets can be managed efficiently by establishing a separate schedule for bulky trash collection, allowing for the use of a grapple truck on certain designated days. Some communities have introduced regulations that prohibit disposal of bulky waste exceeding a certain volume, although such a method does not solve the issue of removing heavy loads.
This automated method for the removal of heavy waste is becoming increasingly popular in the United States and is being adapted in innovative ways. This technology uses truck-mounted metal arms to pick up and empty garbage and trash cans automatically. Some states favor traditional loader model trucks over the grapple, generally because of the extra training that is necessary for drivers to become accustomed to operating these new machines. In other states, collecting garbage automatically with the grapple truck has revolutionized local waste management. Collecting garbage with grapple trucks can indeed become a very automatic and beneficial addition to any community!
