On average, Americans produce 4.4 lbs of trash every single day (global average: 2.6 lbs). That amounts to more than 700,000 tons of garbage daily! So where does all this garbage go? The trucks that come to collect trash in your neighborhood don’t transport all that refuse to the landfills. For such a massive trash hauling enterprise, roll-off trucks are the solution.
What Is A Roll-Off Truck?
A roll-off truck has a rectangular footprint, and utilizes wheels to facilitate rolling an open-top dumpster container back and forth from its lock-in place on the truck bed.
Roll-offs are indispensable in garbage haul, demolition, construction and other industrial-type sites today. However, they didn’t even exist before the 1950s. A trash mover from Portland, Oregon, named Harold Alexander was frustrated by the truck equipment he was using. Understanding the limitations of design-to-job, he created a blueprint of a roll-off prototype.
The roll-off truck continued to evolve after Harold Alexander set that ball rolling, and several innovations have been made since – such as a side hoist attachment for side loading – in the following years.
Additional Uses for Roll-Off Trucks
- Construction:
- Building work, especially in large-scale commercial sites, requiring high volumes of material to be ferried back and forth from the job area.
- Demolition:
- Any demolition activity in a construction site creates piles of debris that need to be hauled away quickly and efficiently, so building work can commence.
- Large-Scale Clean Up:
- All kinds of situations arise, like natural disasters, that leave an unexpectedly large quantity of debris in their wake. Roll-off trucks are indispensable in situations like this where time is of the essence for rehabilitation and renewal activities to begin.
What Is The Average Size Of Roll-Off Containers?
Containers used for roll-off trucks come in several sizes that are determined by the quantity of debris they can hold:
- 15 Cubic Yards:
- Ideal for heavy materials like concrete, dirt and sand removal projects.
- 20 Cubic Yards:
- This is one of the most common sizes and suitable for small to medium-sized construction and residential projects.
- 30 Cubic Yards:
- Capable of holding similar load as nine pick-up trucks, major demolition or construction projects often use this size.
- 40 Cubic Yards:
- Equivalent of 12 pick-up trucks, major projects like tree removal, large home remodeling, commercial construction, and community clean-up events use this size.
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