Electric Garbage Trucks!

[AFTT47]

My community recently got a new trash provider (or more accurately, collector). They came around and dropped off huge, wheeled trash receptacles, one for each house. The first time they did a collection, there was tremendous rumbling like thunder but no engine sounds. I got to see it for the first time today. There is a side-mounted device to lift the trash receptacles and dump them. That was the rumbling I had heard. But the truck's propulsion was dead-silent. So strange to see this big-ass garbage truck accelerate away like a rocket and not make a sound.

I had thought before how electric propulsion makes huge sense for vehicles that make very frequent stops and spend a lot of time idling. Same-day delivery vans, mail trucks and busses are obvious candidates. I never thought about garbage trucks but someone obviously did. Electric cars can be pretty glamorous with their huge touch-screen displays and insane performance but electrifying the humble garbage truck is hugely practical. The difference in operating costs and maintenance has got to be enormous.

Now that I think about it, it would have made more sense from a practical standpoint to have started the electrical revolution with commercial vehicles like this. They get much more use than private cars and trucks so payback on the initial purchase price will come much faster. There is no range issue as these vehicles don't make long trips. In terms of making transportation more green, I would make an educated guess that replacing one fuel-burning commercial vehicle with an electric one will have an effect equal to replacing at least ten cars. Not that electric cars aren't a good thing but I can't help but think they missed the boat by neglecting commercial vehicles. Tesla did the semi but that is the one type of commercial vehicle that requires a lot of range and therefore the least practical to electrify! Dumb!