Every Drivers Dream- 4×4 Garbage Truck

Now that Ocean City’s Department of Public Works has seen its custom beach trash truck in action, officials want to buy a second one by summer 2018.

Earlier this week, Public Works Director Hal Adkins made his case to spend $296,000 on another “beast” truck that’s able to collect and compress trash from the 800 barrels along the resort’s 10-mile stretch of beach.

“When we did this last year, I envisioned needing a second truck … so we could rotate them out weekly so we’d even out the mileage. In peak season in July, with perfect weather, I could see running both at the same time,” Adkins said during Tuesday’s work session.

“The Beast” truck was designed to hold all the trash from 800 barrels without making a single drop at the 65th Street waste transfer station. Refuse on the Fourth of July filled it to capacity.

The old beach trash trucks, Broyhill Barrel Dumpers, weren’t close in terms of what they could hold. The three trucks were supposed to hold 28 cubic yards of waste. But Adkins said that once the metal plate compressor retracted, the waste would fluff out.

Since the Broyhills fill quickly, crews would unload a storage container at a dumpster — often near a residential neighborhood — and a new one put in its place.

“They’re loud when you off-load containers, so the new truck does away with the noise pollution,” Adkins said. “The [beast] can’t compare with other solid waste trucks, because we run those 365 days a year throughout the resort. This will be run 100 days in the summer.”

Public Works officials estimate the beast truck would last 20 years. If city officials buy a second one, Adkins estimates they’d last longer, because they would be periodically switched out and only operate in the summer.

The City Council will make its decision on the purchase request at the Dec. 4 regular session.