I find the way the pickup is done in germany way more efficient. We got normal carts, without hooks for automated pickup and we only have rear loaders, where 2 guys are standing on little steps and hanging on to the truck, and when they arrive at a trash can, they jump off, grab the carts and place them into the emptying device, then they have a lever, that controls the hydraulics to lift the cans and empty them. If there is anything left in the can, they jolt the lever a bit until everything is out. Once done (5-10 sec), they place the carts back to the sidewalk and hop on to those steps. That way, we can place bulky cardboard or plastics, etc. next to the carts and even the carts can be very overfilled, they still take it all