RAMCO and City Blu won new government contracts to help clean up the streets, and both chose Mercedes-Benz Atego trucks fitted with the fully automatic transmissions as recommended by the local Mercedes-Benz dealer.
The waste crisis hit the headlines in 2015 after a landfill site closed and no alternative was found. Rubbish piled up in the streets, mountainsides and beaches, and citizens lobbied the government to act.
City Blu opted for 15 Mercedes-Benz Atego 1729 trucks for its power and compact size, and says “fully automatic transmissions are essential” for its work. “The power is responsive, the gearshift moves smoothly, and performance is good,” reports Claude Hanna, City Blu’s workshop manager.
RAMCO collects refuse from Beirut and surrounding districts. It runs an 80-strong fleet of Mercedes-Benz Atego and Actros trucks, an increasing proportion of which include Allisons, so the company is well positioned to make a direct comparison between fully automatic Allisons and AMTs.
“We are really pleased with these trucks. After nearly two years on double shifts, they have had record uptime,” says Ayman Hilal, workshop manager for RAMCO.
“Drivers are interchangeable between many trucks of different brands, and most report better performance and responsiveness with the Allison transmission compared to AMTs or manuals in the same truck model.”