THE UK's first eight-wheeled, low-entry refuse trucks have taken to the roads of South Yorkshire wearing the three-pointed star of Mercedes-Benz and the colours of leading waste management specialist Onyx. The five Econic 3233s are on household waste collection duties in Sheffield, where Onyx has a 35-year contract with the City Council to provide a comprehensive range of refuse and recycling services.

The new model was developed by Mercedes-Benz in response to a specific request from its customer. Onyx is already Britain's biggest Econic operator with a fleet of some 200 units, the vast majority of them six-wheelers, working nationwide. Onyx was looking for the extra payload productivity offered by an 8x4 chassis with 32-tonne gvw, but without sacrificing the low-entry cab height so crucial to the health and safety of its crews. No other manufacturer currently offers such a combination.

The idea was first mooted by Onyx's Fleet and Procurement Director Rob Stubbs in the spring of 2004 and following an intensive development phase, in which the operator's Chief Engineer Phil Ellis worked closely with his counterparts at Mercedes-Benz, the first five Econic eight-wheelers left the production line at the manufacturer's specialist truck conversion facility in Molsheim, France.

The new unit is based on a 6x4 chassis, but has a thicker frame and an extended, 5.1-metre wheelbase. To this, Mercedes-Benz has added the mid-steer axle from a 6x2 Econic. This fourth axle is positioned in front of the first drive axle to give a triple axle bogie at the rear, rated at 24 tonnes. The new 8x4 Econics have Faun Variopress compactor bodies with 27 cubic metre capacities. Crucially, payload is up from the 11.5 tonnes offered by a typical six-wheeler, to more than 15 tonnes!