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<br />Recent improvements in the design of garbage trucks mitigate some of the impact on <br />pavement. At the April 20 meeting, Mark Stoltman of Randy' s Sanitation (not currently . <br />licensed in Falcon Heights) gave a most informative presentation on garbage truck <br />technology to the Solid Waste commission. The relationship between truck weight and <br />street wear, he demonstrated, is not sin1ple. Other factors to take into consideration are <br />the nunlber of axles, the number of stops a truck makes and whether the truck is center <br />loaded or rear loaded. Rear loaded trucks bear disproportionate weight on the rear axles, <br />while center loaded trucks distribute the weight more evenly, reducing the impact of each <br />axle. <br /> <br />However, the Michigan study and the ESAL factors considered above are based <br />specifically on axle weight, not gross weight of the vehicle. According to the Michigan <br />report, axle weight is still the main determining factor. Clearly, the introduction of <br />newer, better designed trucks into the refuse hauling fleet can reduce the impact of each <br />individual truck. <br /> <br />Haulers also referenced research that indicates the number of stops and starts may have a <br />greater impact than the number of trucks. This factor is also covered in the UMTRI <br />study. But the number of stops on any given street in Falcon Heights is a constant. It <br />does not change. The only variable is the number of trucks. <br /> <br />Furthermore, the Roseville report also cites the Michigan study evidence that "repeated <br />starting and stopping (especially stopping) will increase the damage to streets by 50% to <br />100% depending on the speed of the truck and the weight of the load being carried." (7) . <br />In other words, the faster a truck is moving when it stops, the greater the stress to the <br />pavement. A truck Vvith fewer, more widely spaced stops is moving faster between stops, <br />thus having more impact. The more garbage trucks that serve a street, the smaller the <br />average share of the total number of stops each truck makes and faster the average speed <br />of each truck between stops. Therefore, although the total number of stops remains the <br />same, as the number of trucks increases, the greater the amount of damage from each <br />stop. <br /> <br />All the evidence seen by the Commission indicates that the one change that can do the <br />most to reduce the impact of heavy garbage trucks on our streets and alleys is to reduce <br />the nurnber of trucks. <br /> <br />Air and Noise Pollution <br /> <br />Wear and tear on city streets and alleys is not the only impact garbage trucks have on our <br />neighborhoods. In 2002 INFORM, Inc. a national environmental research organization <br />released a comprehensive study of the nation's garbage trucks. The study found that the <br />estimated 179,000 garbage trucks in the United Statcs make up one of the oldest, least <br />fuel efficient and most polluting fleets ofvehicles in the nation. (8) <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />City of Falcon Heights Final Report on Organized Collection <br />October 13, 2004 <br /> <br />14 <br />