Strategic fleet management meets waste industry challenges

The key role of repair and maintenance is covered by a customised agreement

with distributor Finning for its fleet of over 70 Caterpillor machines.

Comprising nine regional operating companies, located in East Anglia,

Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire, East Midands, Yorkshire, Cheshire, the

North West and North Wales, WRG has over 600 employees, manages 38 landfill

sites and handles some six million tonnes of waste

each year.

Waste handling review

Managing waste operations of this scale means that WRG is constantly

investigating new ways of helping to increase efficiency across its sites

and this recently led the organisation to review its waste handling

equipment requirements.

Stuart Court, Group Plant Manger for WRG, explains why the group has

expanded its equipment fleet: “A reliable and efficient waste handling

equipment fleet is essential to the overall productivity of the Group’s

landfill sites. Our machines have to perform to the standards we expect of

them, plus we have had to research ways of improving fleet productivity. An

important factor in our decision to specify new machines was to keep abreast

of advancing landfill technology.

“We required a number of highly specified, good quality machines featuring

technology capable of meeting future needs. This, in effect allows us to

cascade older machines to the smaller sites where cost per tonne is

critical.

“For example, we have purchased a number of Cat 963Cs that have replaced

953Bs and Cs which have gone to other sites. These three 963 purchases

resulted in five machine moves, allowing us to place the right machine, in

terms of age, size and value on our books, to the right sites.

“We like the 963 because it features a Computerised Monitoring System that

allows quick diagnosis of the power train and electrical systems and the

constant monitoring of all vital machine functions. This, of course, helps

the Finning engineers to locate and fix the fault as quickly as possible,

helping to minimise downtime of the equipment.”

Range of machines

WRG¹s latest order for machines comprises a range of nine Caterpillar

machines, including the UK’s first three 963C WHA track type loaders, a 953C

track type loader, three 826G landfill compactors, an 816F landfill

compactor, and a 962G wheeled loader.

The new 963Cs feature Caterpillar¹s full waste handling arrangement and one

of these machines is already helping to dispose of the some 150,000 tonnes

of waste that is treated and disposed of at WRG’s Milton site in

Cambridgeshire every year.

The specialist waste handling arrangement is designed to offer added machine

versatility and to ensure the Cat 963C WHA performs exceptionally well in

landfills and waste handling applications where it meets the site’s

earthmoving needs as well as acting as a back-up to the 826G. The

arrangement includes a bucket trash rack and side plates which effectively

increase the bucket capacity, thereby increasing productivity when handling

low-density waste material.

Featuring extensive guarding and heavy-duty components, the 963C is

protected from the type of damage that usually occurs in harsh waste

handling environments and the 963C’s trash pre-cleaner helps to supply

clean, filtered air to the engine. A wide core radiator keeps the 963C cool

and heavy-duty striker bars help to prevent waste gathering around the

undercarriage.

Stuart Court outlines the reasoning behind the decision to purchase the

963Cs in particular: “The 963C WHA was specified because, in my opinion,

there is simply no other machine on the market that could meet our

requirements so exactly. Its size was a crucial factor in our decision as we

needed a machine that could not only perform well as a loader, but was heavy

enough to tow bulkers off the waste face in bad weather using its tow

hitch.”

“Since it arrived at the Milton site, the 963C is performing extremely well

and the operators have been very positive about both of the new Cat

machines.”

WRG has not only invested time and resources finding the right equipment for

its needs; it also held discussions with Finning outlining its repair and

maintenance requirements, for its fleet of over 70 Cat machines. In

response, Finning has supplied a customised agreement designed to meet these

requirements.

Finning recommended a combination of Repair and Maintenance (R&M) and

multi-flex agreements as the most appropriate option for WRG.

Finning says that WRG was attracted to the idea of a multi-flex agreement

for older machines, because it enabled the group to set an agreed sum with

Finning to cover all fleet repair and maintenance costs for the year. As

part of the agreement, Finning and WRG hold quarterly review meetings to

monitor fleet costs and to ensure the package is running smoothly.