Mack hopes to keep NYC garbage trucks rolling

New York City’s garbage trucks eat a lot of gas of while picking up trash from the city’s busy streets — and in turn — release a lot of carbon dioxide and monoxide into the environment through tailpipe emissions.

The New York City Department of Sanitation is vowing to curb some of those costs, while at the same time showing a green thumb by using vehicles that emit fewer harmful gases.

For more than a decade, Mack Trucks has been the city’s primary supplier of garbage trucks.

But now, the Allentown truckmaker will go head-to-head in competition with Oklahoma-based truckmaker Crane Carrier in a yearlong trial to find out which company’s hybrid garbage truck works best in real-life city situations.

…Mack officials said the vehicle is the first hybrid for heavy-duty applications and meets the federal government’s stringent emission standards that take effect in 2010. The hybrid version can burn up to 30 percent less fuel and emit less carbon dioxide.

The Morning Call