CITY'S 2-FUEL TRASH TRUCKS STUCK IN LOTS.Byline: Kerry Cavanaugh Staff Writer Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. has pulled its entire fleet of environmentally friendly Environmentally friendly, also referred to as nature friendly, is a term used to refer to goods and services considered to inflict minimal harm on the environment.[1] trash trucks off the road because throttles on the $250,000 vehicles are sticking, forcing delays in picking up recyclable materials as well as costly overtime, officials said Tuesday. With 172 diesel-liquefied natural gas trucks sidelined, the city has had to bring old trucks out of retirement and run them in two shifts. Black trash bins and green waste bins will be picked up in the morning, and blue recycling bins will be picked up in the afternoon, Bureau of Sanitation spokesman Mike Qualls said. Normally two trucks run each route, picking up the three bins in the morning. Trash truck drivers have to work 12-hour days to complete their routes, union officials said, adding to Sanitation's overtime costs. The bureau already expects its refuse-collection operation to be $1.8 million over budget for overtime for the fiscal year that ends June 30 because of the city's freeze on filling vacant positions. The City Council's Budget and Finance Committee on Tuesday recommended allocating $1 million to cover some of the overtime costs. The city previously had sidelined trucks assigned to the west San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. , but pulled the rest of the fleet over the weekend because of concerns about uncontrolled acceleration. The $250,000 dual-fuel refuse trucks are a new technology that uses 20 percent diesel and 80 percent liquefied natural gas liquefied natural gas: see under natural gas. Liquefied natural gas (LNG) A product of natural gas which consists primarily of methane. Its properties are those of liquid methane, slightly modified by minor constituents. . They are about 50 percent cleaner than traditional diesel trucks and meet air quality regulations that order Los Angeles-area trash haulers to buy alternative fuel trucks. Peterbilt makes the truck chassis with a Caterpillar engine and a device made by Clean Air Power to switch between diesel and liquefied natural gas. All three manufacturers have technicians working with the city, but are so far stumped stump n. 1. The part of a tree trunk left protruding from the ground after the tree has fallen or has been felled. 2. by the problem and haven't been able to duplicate the throttle throttle Valve for regulating the supply of a fluid (as steam) to an engine, especially the valve controlling the volume of vaporized fuel delivered to the cylinders of an internal-combustion engine. In an automobile engine, gasoline is held in a chamber above the carburetor. problem. ``We're giving them every indication we think the trucks are safe, but we haven't seen the problem,'' said Kevin Campbell Kevin Campbell is the name of:
The city bought 10 dual-fuel trucks back in 2000 to test the equipment. Those trucks haven't had the throttle problems and remain on the road. Two weeks ago, a handful of drivers reported sticking throttles that caused the trucks to accelerate without their control. City officials thought the malfunction mal·func·tion v. 1. To fail to function. 2. To function improperly. n. 1. Failure to function. 2. Faulty or abnormal functioning. was unique to the most recent delivery of trucks. Then officials learned of problems with older dual-fuel trucks and chose to pull all except the original 10 trucks. The city also temporarily stopped an order for additional dual-fuel trucks while manufacturers try to solve the problem. Jim Bonnville, director of fleet services Fleet is a motorway service station on the M3 near Basingstoke. It is owned by Welcome Break. It was originally built in a Scandinavian style and in 1992 won "Loo of the Year". for the General Services Department, said he's not deterred from the cleaner trucks by the problem. The trucks do need up to 15 percent more maintenance than traditional diesel vehicles but the city has a seven-year warranty with a manufacturer-funded, on-call mechanic. ``The manufacturers have always been able to step up and come up with a solution,'' Bonnville said. ``I have no problem with dual fuel. When everything is working, they work well.'' Kerry Cavanaugh, (818) 713-3746 kerry.cavanaugh(at)dailynews.com |
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