Might be the same contractor as my previous upload, but what a contrast between the truck in that video and the truck type in this video! The Mercedes Benz Econic had existed as a cab chassis overseas for many years, but only around a decade ago did it hit Aussie shores. Initially this was down under as a low entry truck for rear loader applications, but eventually a dual control model was released to compete on the side loader market. From what I’ve seen, a handful of councils have purchased the dual control Econic, but the former SUEZ did the biggest uptake. They sent a number of dark blue Superior Pak side arms out onto WA roads, however nothing matches their order placed for some 30 Bucher bodied units for the City of Parramatta contract in Sydney. I attended a work related meeting prior to the SUEZ/Parra contract starting and queried the decision to procure a fleet of Bucher/Mercs, it simply came down to this being the lowest cost option, money talks ey!
It was in November 2017 when SUEZ took over the Parra contract from Cleanaway and these low entry Merc Benz trucks hit the streets fulltime. Now into their final year of service, over the past 6 years there have been some trials and tribulations with these machines, and I’ve gathered their acceptance hasn’t been overwhelming in a positive way for use as side loaders... so I'm not sure the product launch reached the intended ongoing success. I must admit it was cool to see another cab chassis alternative enter the market, as oddball and unconventional as they look, the Merc Econic has been something different. At one point I did have a little drive of one to see how they run, which wasn’t much to go off, nor have I tried out a regular rear loader version to properly judge them. I’ve heard mixed feedback from others - a common point was poor air con performance in the beginning, also a lagged take off between bins which you may notice in this video.
When things were still fresh, I only managed a brief video of a garbage truck, providing more of a teaser rather than a thorough upload. Later in April 2021, I was out videoing some Blacktown Council action and passed through the Parra area on the way home to finally catch better footage of these different collection vehicles. On this Friday I scoped out the large suburb of Carlingford and promptly located both a 35m GenV emptying recycling bins and a 29m GenV on a garden waste run. With council mergers that happened in 2016, this current City of Parramatta contract absorbed a big chunk of The Hills and Hornsby Monday service areas, so it worked out I caught SL822 doing yellows in the former Baulko region and SL825 on greens in the former Hornsby region.
Cheers to both drivers for being cool with me grabbing some clips, glad I came across a couple decent operators that made this an easy catch. They did alright with the signage on these trucks and the different rear wheel guard set-up is a nice change, but otherwise I don’t really find this equipment overly exciting... I lost most interest in Parramatta once the fleet from the 2007 contract was moved on. Anyway a little instalment on the AussieGarbo channel of modern day Parra waste collections, but there’s no shortage of additional footage of these trucks elsewhere on RU-vid if you want to see more. Also be sure to watch this in the 720p setting for better picture quality!
6 окт 2024
