Having relied on the Mack Trident since 2014, waste and recycling business Remondis is now progressively replacing them with the new Mack Anthem for its south-east Queensland operation.
Remondis Australia is the Australian operation of one of the world’s largest recycling, service and water companies. It has been in operation down under since 1982 and now operates from 39 locations, with a fleet of over 560 heavy vehicles.
At the south-east Queensland division, there are currently sixteen 2014 Mack Tridents, along with two 2021 Mack Anthems. Another five Anthems are scheduled for delivery in 2023.
“They’ve been the backbone of our local fleet for nine years but we work them pretty hard, so we’ve decided to start replacing them with Anthems before we wear them out,” explained Sarah Collins, resource recovery manager at the Remondis Swanbank Renewable Energy and Waste Management Facility.
According to vice president of Mack Trucks Australia, Tom Chapman, the Mack Anthem is a natural progression for Remondis in renewing and improving the efficiencies of their fleet.
“The Mack Anthem has built a strong reputation for itself in terms of fuel-efficiency. Paired with mDRIVE-HD with deep reduction gears, the benefits are compounding in applications such as this one where controlled manoeuvrability on sometimes uneven, steep or low traction surfaces is critical,” Chapman said.
“For us, success is really forged in the strong relationships we build with our customers. Remondis perform the waste removal functions of both our factory and head office operations at Volvo Group Australia, so there’s great trust in the partnership and it swings both ways.”
The trucks travel between the Swanbank site and transfer stations at Rocklea and Northgate, making up to six trips a day, five-and-a-half days a week. Averaging about 60,000 kilometres a year, the Macks are hauling single trailer and B-double payloads in side-tippers, carrying close to 36 tonnes.
“The fleet is NHVAS Mass and Maintenance Accredited and is enrolled in IAP so that we can operate Higher Mass Limits (HML), so we’re maximising our payloads on every trip,” said Collins.
Commercial customers bring loads of waste to the transfer stations, where they’re compacted and loaded onto the trucks.
Collins explained, “At the transfer stations the trucks drive into the loading tunnel at the end of the pit, and we drop the compacted waste into the tippers. We have a weighbridge in the tunnel and another on the way out to ensure our loads comply with approved axle mass limits.”
This kind of efficiency in loading is matched at the other end at Swanbank, where the Macks manoeuvre to the edge of the landfill to unload.
“The side tippers just open up like a big mouth, it’s very cool, and they’ve made a huge improvement in our productivity. We used to use trailers with walking floors, but the side-tippers are significantly faster to unload,” Collins added.
As the trucks do most of their travelling on the motorway, the real issue is getting the trailers up to the top of the disposal site.
Collins explained, “It’s a steep slope, and if the weather is bad it can take a lot of low-end torque to get the load up there. The Anthems don’t have any trouble at all. The mDRIVE-HD with an extended range of deep reduction gears, is ideally configured to climb steep slopes – a key safety consideration for us – so they’re more than up to the task. They’ve also proven to be fuel-efficient, which is increasingly important to the business.”
The new Anthems are fitted out with Mack’s Full Safety Pack. “Our drivers spend a lot of time in them, and VGA delivered a complete product, fully outfitted. Our drivers are really chuffed with the new Anthems and are happy we’re buying more of them,” said Collins.
With five scheduled for delivery in 2023, the Mack Anthems will soon be a familiar sight on the highway.
“We’ve been using Volvo Group products in south-east Queensland for over 20 years now,” said Collins. “And they’ve proven to be reliable and an ideal fit for the task. We’re looking forward to bringing the rest of the new Anthems into the local fleet and enjoying the continued support of Volvo Group Australia.”