In a few cities one type of wagon is used for ashes and another type for rubbish. One new type of wagon has the body swung low on running gear, with dumping edges three feet, six inches above the pavement, and is pivoted at one end to facilitate dumping. It holds nine cubic yards and is divided by cross partitions into compartments, one for ashes and the other for garbage. The relative capacity of the compartments can be varied. Some of the types used in American cities are described in the accompanying tables.
Some American and German cities are using, and others are considering the purchase and use of, motor trucks for collection purposes. It is generally agreed that motor trucks are economical only where the haul is long. A discussion of the merits of motor vehicles as compared with horse drawn carts will be found in the chapter on garbage collection. In some cities where the haul to the loading stations is long, trucks with detachable bodies are used for garbage, ashes and rubbish. The bodies are lifted by derricks from the truck and placed either on the train or on the trolley cars. In a few other cities horse-drawn wagons are taken to a central point in a district and then as trailers are hauled by tractors to the dumping grounds. The best system to be adopted depends entirely upon local conditions.
Where should the can be taken from by the collector and to what place returned? The answer is important for it is one of the chief factors in determining the cost of collection. The location seriously affects the speed of collection. In Milwaukee it was found in 1911 that the average collector could enter from fifty to one hundred houses in an eight-hour day, and that the time consumed in cleaning one house was slightly over three minutes. The Cleansing Superintendent of London reports that a one-horse van of four cubic yards capacity, hauling to a dump two miles away, under normal conditions could make from 240 to 260 calls and collections each ten hours. If the can is placed on the edge of the curb, he says, it is possible to make 500 collections a day.
Some cities require that the can be carried by the residents to the curb. Others collect from rear yard, cellar, areaway or alley. In cities which collect during the day and require the cans to be left at the curb serious objections are reported because the array of cans and rubbish along the street on the day of collection makes the thoroughfare unsightly. To overcome this objection several plans have been carried out: