Promenade
Maintenance Improves Green Fleet
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By Lookout Staff
October 16 – The Promenade
Maintenance crew got greener last
week with the arrival of four zero
emissions trucks that can pick up
twice as much trash as the old vehicles.
Marking the third generation of electric
vehicles used to clean the Promenade
and surrounding streets and parking
structures, the new “E-ride”
represents the latest and best technology
in utility trucks, maintenance officials
said.
The trucks, which the crew has nicknamed
baby “Hummers,” boast
nine 8-volt batteries, weigh 1,750
pounds and operate with a drive system
of 72 volts, officials said. The trucks
cruise at speeds of 25 miles per hour
and have an undercarriage that is
as flexible as any main line pickup.
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| One of four
new trucks added to the maintence
fleet. (Photos courtesy of Promenade
maintenance crew) |
“The 72 volts gives us more
fire power, and the size of the truck
gives us double the capacity,”
said Eddie Greenberg, who heads the
maintenance crew. “It will cut
down on fuel costs and will definitely
improve efficiency.”
The new $25,000 machines will empty
some 400 trash containers, as least
four times daily, and six times on
the weekend, crewmembers said.
“Former electric trucks were
only 36 volts, and had difficulty
climbing our six parking structures,
and five satellite parking facilities
in the constellation of our duties,”
said Susan Trier, a member of the
crew.
“Older technologies were more
crude, sacrificing comfort and practicality
for introducing the infancy of the
‘Green Revolution,’”
she said.
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| Eddie
Greenberg and Susan Trier say
goodbye to old technology. |
The new trucks will also be easier
to maintain, Greenberg said. Unlike
the old vehicles, which could sit
idle for six weeks while a part arrived
from Utah, the new trucks will be
serviced with parts from a distributor
in Orange County.
“The parts should be available
overnight,” Greenberg said.
The “Hummers” will also
boost the maintenance crew’s
cutting-edge green image, Trier said.
“We anticipate that these new
machines will make a major contribution
to the visual authenticity, that the
Bayside District maintained by our
city, is truly a cradle of the ‘Green
Revolution,’” she said.
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