Hydraulic Hybrid Garbage Truck Saving Fuel

Tacoma, WA – In July, the City of Tacoma began using the first hydraulic hybrid garbage collection truck on the West Coast and in its first few months of service, it’s showing significant fuel savings. 

The Environmental Services vehicle’s advanced hybrid drive system captures about 71 percent of a vehicle’s otherwise lost energy when the vehicle brakes. That energy gets stored in compressed hydraulic fluid that propels the vehicle from a stop when the driver steps on the accelerator. Since so much of a garbage truck’s miles are spent in slow stop-and-go conditions, the fuel reduction is significant.

So far, the City of Tacoma is seeing savings of about 33 percent over a traditional garbage truck. If efficiencies continue, reduced annual fuel savings will be about $8,000 to $10,000 per year, based on current fuel costs. The fuel that the truck does still use generally only occurs when the vehicle travels at higher speeds, and even that fuel is 20 percent biodiesel – as fuels the rest of the Solid Waste Management’s garbage and recycling truck fleet.

At $397,000 the hybrid truck was about 23 percent more expensive than traditional models, yet in addition to using less fuel the hybrid truck should also require less maintenance. Brake pads last longer because the brakes don’t contact the drums until the truck slows to about 2 miles per hour. Normally brakes are replaced every four to five months, but the brakes on hybrid trucks may only need to be changed every six years. Garbage truck tires, which number ten per truck and cost about $150 apiece, may last longer as well, due to reduced friction heat on the wheels.

Fuel reduction improves air quality and supports the City’s Climate Action Plan goal to reduce Tacoma’s greenhouse gas emissions.

For future purchases, City staff are also exploring compressed natural gas collection vehicles, which could be combined with hybrid technology in the near future.