Melbourne-based Delta Group associate company SKIPZ is growing its construction and demolition waste business on the back of the very first of the new Scania SUPER six-cylinder trucks  to be delivered in Australia.

With 20 trucks on the fleet working in Melbourne and four in Brisbane, SKIPZ bright red livery is not only eye-catching but designed for good visibility in built up urban areas.

New Scania SUPER 460 P 8x4 hooklifts have been racking up the miles hauling both medium bins and bulk bins, assisting Tier 1 & 2 construction companies to meet their requirements for waste recovery and recycling.

SKIPZ’s Safety and Compliance Manager Peter Andrews says the trucks have been performing well and that driver approval has been instant and intense.

“The drivers love these new Scanias. You can’t wipe the smiles off their faces,” he says.

“The trucks are comfortable, have great ergonomics inside and they have a lot of safety features.

“Because we’re working with big projects, such as hospitals, university buildings as well as road construction, there are a lot of pedestrians around our sites, so our drivers need to be very focussed. We have a warning system fitted to the left side of the truck to alert pedestrians that uses a voice message to announce a warning that there is a truck alongside them. I have seen people walking with their eyes on their phone screens and their ears filled with headphones who can just step out into the road without looking,” Peter says. 

“The team likes the Scanias because the visibility is great and the interior controls are in the same spot in every truck, which makes it easy to hop out of one into another. We have the same benefits with the controls on our standard HIAB hooklifts, which means the operators know exactly where they are on any truck.

“We have created a standard specification that suits our needs. We talked to Scania and HIAB about the rear lightbar on the trucks that we have had designed for our application and now we have consistent quality and functionality, and also it allows us to repair any damage easily and quickly.

“We are hauling mixed recycling waste from new builds to our transfer stations in smaller skip bins, and then use the bulk bins on the 8x4s to transfer sorted materials to recycling. There’s not much that goes to landfill. The mixed waste bins carry only around 3-tonnes and a lot of air due to the way they are loaded, but they can get up to 8-10 tonnes in the 6x4 and up to 12 tonnes on the 8x4 twin steers,” Peter says. “The single bins get tarped on the ground on site and the bulk bins use automatic tarping systems. There’s no more climbing on trucks.

“As a new business we are growing quite quickly. We have management that is very experienced in this area and we know exactly what we want from our gear and our drivers and we cherry pick as much as we can, especially drivers, because the driving environment is so challenging. They’re on the job 50-60 hours a week, stuck in traffic a lot of the time, and negotiating their way around work sites across the city, so the truck needs to be quiet, comfortable and easy to drive. Some trucks average only around 25 km/h so reducing frustration behind the wheel is important for safety and fatigue management,” Peter says.

“We would like to work at night when there’s less traffic, but at present you can’t get access to site at night, and there are noise regulations. I think we are close to tackling this with battery electric trucks, as the cost of ownership, range and tare is getting closer to where it needs to be.

“We have the trucks on the road all day and so night-time servicing is helpful. Scania Laverton has been able to service our vehicles overnight which reduces our downtime and gets us back on the road in time for the next day’s shift,” he says.

“Ideally, we like to keep one driver with one vehicle because the sense of ownership drives greater care, but we’re cross-training all our drivers so they can handle any job in any truck.

“Scania and SKIPZ have been working together with HIAB to ensure the trucks we deliver are the best specification for the job,” says Tevfik Onguc, Scania New Truck Account Manager.

“The 460 P SUPER is perfect for tight city driving, with plenty of performance and power and as the SKIPZ drivers have found, the cab is a perfect working environment. European quality ergonomics and comfort as well as exceptional safety equipment provide the drivers with a premium driving experience,” he says.