They've Bin Everywhere: North East Bin Hire Ramping Up Fleet With Isuzu

The bass rumble and chink of a bin truck isn’t a symphony heard only in metropolitan Australia. ​ 

Waste and skip bin experts such as North East Bin Hire are also doing their part in keeping the rural and regional areas of the country in good (and sanitary) working order. ​ 

The team are based at Albury Wodonga on the New South Wales-Victorian border and have a hardworking fleet of 15 trucks that are utilised in construction and commercial waste removal, as well as disaster relief and recovery when needed. 

Slotting into the roster is a freshly minted Isuzu FRR 110-240 aptly dubbed ‘8’ (Skip 8), which assists with tackling jobs on the trickier routes and terrain of the Albury-Wodonga hillsides. ​ 

Owner-operators Tom Hogan and Shannon Miles manage their 20 team members and capital assets including 900 skip bins in a feat of self-described ‘organised chaos’ aiming for a holistic approach to waste management. 

“At North East Bin Hire we try to give a complete service to our customers,” said Tom. 

“Whether it's local builders, renovators or homeowners, we provide them with skip bins, then process those through our sorting pads, diverting as much waste as possible from landfill and recycling steel and timber.” 

Shannon is the man behind monitoring the movements of the fleet with Tom taking on day-to-day tasks and jumping behind the wheel as the schedule demands. ​ 

“The waste industry is great to be involved in and Albury has such a great landscape, so it’s a fun place to work and drive,” Tom said enthusiastically. ​ 

“But we support a large radius of clients even from Falls Creek to Shepparton.” 

Fleet of foot 

Taking on the business of North East Bin Hire in 2020, Tom and Shannon found themselves in possession of a mixed truck fleet that was overworked, and ageing. 

To maintain efficiency and reliability of service they went seeking a new truck with a generous payload that could fit their Merrill skip lift mechanism. This would replace a 21-year-old Isuzu NQR 450 that had done its time. ​ 

They headed to Blacklocks Isuzu in Wodonga to speak with Richard Pineros about the medium-wheelbase FRR 110-240. 

“Blacklocks Isuzu are a big part of the community in Albury and working with Richard has been really good,” said Tom. 

“With the lifting mechanism on the tray and needing to carry skip bins, payload was extremely important for us with the new Isuzu truck. 

“We went with manual transmission for the mixed terrain—that first gear is so low you can pull up hills with no worries.” 

The rugged FRR 110-240 delivers on payload with a GVM of 11,000 kg and GCM of 16,000 kg, supported by a 4-cylinder turbocharged engine producing maximum power at 177 kW @ 2,400 rpm and 765 Nm @ 1,600 rpm torque. 

With an eye-catching all-over wrap applied by Andrew Reid at Signarama, Skip 8 is delivering great service, no matter what the day throws its way. 

“In terms of size, the FRR is fantastic, and the manoeuvrability was a huge selling point.” ​ 

“It's great to drive, with a better turning circle than my dual-cab ute,” Tom noted. 

Safety on the road 

Isuzu’s Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) has presented a new era of technology for Tom and Shannon's team to acclimatise to, and Tom shares a positive view of the awareness it has fostered in drivers’ habits. 

“The safety assistance tools and driver aids which came in with the new FRR make my drivers more aware of their behaviours on the road and provides another tool for our team to use,” Tom explained. 

“It’s started conversations around safety and improving their actions as drivers on the road, and just checks them a little bit, which is what we want as a safe and reputable company on the road.” 

The ADAS suite includes active features such as Advanced Emergency Braking, Forward Collision and Lane Departure Warning, a Distance Warning System and all the features that drivers have come to expect from an Isuzu truck such as ESC, ABS, ASR and more. 

Whole package 

Tom believes their business of skip bin hire and waste removal is one of the hardest-wearing applications there is on a truck. ​ 

They’ve had no issues with their new Isuzu, which is backed by consistent servicing at the Blacklocks dealership. Knowing that parts are also readily available from the Isuzu National Parts Distribution Centre in Melbourne brings some additional peace of mind to this hardworking operation. 

“Our trucks work hard, they’re getting loaded and unloaded multiple times per day in all sorts of situations where we are reversing over gutters, trenches and dirt at work sites. ​ 

“So the consistency of parts design is one of the things I really appreciate about Isuzu trucks as a fleet manager. 

“If a driver nicks a panel out on a work site or breaks a mirror, I know that I will be able to replace it easily and quickly. 

“Isuzu is really setting the pace for providing a comfortable truck for us to use, with enough power and tools to get the job done,” Tom continued. 

“The consistency and reliability of these trucks for owner-operators is assured.”