Council approves $100,000-plus purchase for trash truck chassis

Holyoke City Council approved a purchase of about $103,500 at its meeting on Tuesday, April 4, for a chassis, or mechanical “skeleton,” that will form the foundation of a new trash truck. Holyoke currently owns three trash trucks, but has experienced difficulty with one as it grew older; for example, the truck may shut down for hours at a time if left idle. The new chassis from Freightliner is set to arrive by March 2024.

This purchase, according to City Superintendent Jeremy Thompson, will equal about $2,200 more than a chassis from International, but he believes the relative speed at which Freightliner provides the product makes up for the extra cost.

“I did finally get a hold of somebody who has bought International trash trucks in the last five years,” he told the council. “I talked to their head of streets and sanitation ... and asked him why I should buy International over Freightliner. He said, ‘I’m telling you right now, we just ordered a Freightliner for the next one.’

“It took them over two years to get this International,” Thompson continued. “He says Freightliners can come out quicker ... I said, ‘That’s all I needed to hear.’”

As for the current trash truck causing the city problems, Thomson said, “we can turn it into a snow truck, like we did the last one,” or trade it in or sell it. He does not want to commit to removing the current truck until Holyoke has a new one, noting he likes to guarantee the city has at least two at the ready.

“It is a luxury,” he said, “but it is a very needed luxury at times.”

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