PITTSBURGH — 11 Investigates found out that brand new electric recycling trucks purchased by the city of Pittsburgh have been sitting at a dealership for nearly a year.
With a broken and aging refuse fleet, the city is in desperate need of these new trucks. So what’s the holdup? Why haven’t they been put to use yet?
Chief Investigator Rick Earle got a tip about this, found the trucks and then went to city officials.
Earle said the city officials admitted it’s an ambitious project, as these trucks are the first fully electric heavy-duty trucks purchased.
While city officials expected some hiccups, they never imagined there would be so many problems and so many delays.
The city purchased eight electric recycling trucks for $5 million three years ago, using an EPA grant and American Rescue funds — both taxpayer dollars.
The battery-powered trucks will replace eight of the 12 diesel fuel recycling trucks.
The city also spent $1 million on charging stations.
But the trucks are still sitting at the dealership, and the charging stations are empty.
Earle went to DPW Director Chris Hornstein to get answers.
Earle: The city paid for the trucks and they haven’t gotten them yet?
Hornstein: We’ve been working with the manufacturer since the bids went out in August of 2022, so we are pushing on three years now. It’s a long time. It’s extremely frustrating.
Hornstein said the city conducted test drives last year and earlier this year, but found significant safety issues.
A letter obtained by 11 investigates from the city to the vendor, TransEdge Truck Centers, cited a dozen potential problems, among them the transmission slips into neutral at stop signs, steering is inconsistent, and the battery charge fell 10% after only an hour of driving with wipers, defrost and lights.
Earle: The trucks don’t meet your standards? They’re not up to par for the city to take them?
Hornstein: Yes, from our perspective, they’re still not safe to drive.
The trucks were also too heavy and had to be retrofitted with a drop axle.
While the trucks sit idle, city refuse workers continue dealing with an aging and broken-down fleet.
11 investigates obtained the minutes from a meeting last summer where a supervisor spoke out about the problems.
One front-line truck, he said, is a 2012 with 142,000 miles, often out for repairs. He said he doesn’t have enough spares to cover routes.
During one year, he wrote, he was short vehicles 201 days.
Hornstein acknowledged the dire situation.
“Imagine if you came to work, and you had a camera operator and no camera. That’s what we are facing every day,” Hornstein said.
Sources told 11 Investigates that also led to increased overtime and missed routes, including the neighborhood of city councilman Anthony Coghill.
“They didn’t pick up recycling for six weeks and I inquired about it and it was because they were broken down,” Coghill said.
TransEdge sent a statement to Channel 11 News.
“TransEdge is proud to support the city of Pittsburgh in its forward-thinking transition to battery electric vehicles (bevs) for its waste and recycling fleet. as with any new technology, especially one as transformative as electric refuse trucks, it’s expected that there will be a learning curve. We’ve been working closely with Firmin Marcus and other city officials to identify and address initial challenges, make requested adjustments, and ensure that these vehicles meet the city’s operational needs.”
Hornstein admitted that the program that began under the Peduto administration, with a goal of converting to a fossil-free fleet by 2030, was likely too ambitious.
Earle: If you had to do it all over again, would you not do the electric vehicles?
Hornstein: I think it would be appropriate to do like one or two, see if we could make those work.
Earle: But not jump all in with eight?
Hornstein: Not jump in with 2/3rds of our fleet. That’s absurd.
The city is supposed to test drive the trucks again sometime this week to see if they meet their standards.
An internal city memo just obtained by 11 Investigates indicated the trucks will be on the road by the end of this summer.
11 Investigates will continue to follow this story and bring you new information when it becomes available.
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