Data Collection and Development of New York City Refuse Truck Duty Cycle

As part of a multi-city demonstration project of hybrid hydraulic technology in refuse truck application, a New York City based refuse truck was instrumented with datalogging equipment to obtain operational and route specific data. These data were used to develop a drive cycle that is representative of the fleet's residential refuse collection operation and can be used to aid in the development of propulsion and emission control strategies for refuse truck applications.

The instrumented truck was operated in the fleet service for a period of 6 months and rotated through a number of different routes. The fleet operates on a wide variety of collection routes which were well suited for collecting vehicle operational data representative of a greater portion of the refuse collection industry in the U.S. The large database of information was analyzed by separating it into several categories representing different parts of refuse collection service. Each category was further analyzed by using multi-variate statistical analysis techniques, where the statistical metrics and distributions of individual microtrips were evaluated. Based on the analysis, the most representative microtrips from each category were combined to generate a driving cycle. The driving cycle presented in this work, in addition to the speed and time trace, also includes details of engine operation including power requirements and fuel consumption. Modal and transient analysis was performed on the whole and individual segments of the developed duty cycle. This data will serve as a basis for development of hybridization strategies for the hybrid hydraulic project and can also be used by fleets and truck manufacturers to better understand refuse collection operation.