You'll find hundreds of vehicle left running whilst the driver goes about his work, car transporters and pressure road tankers being two obvious examples with engine driven hydraulics and/or compressors, though sensible drivers of the above who have to work in dodgy areas (anywhere other than where david cameron and his cronies live) will have a second key to lock the cab with whilst they go about their business.

Maybe there is a locking mechanism on the refuse vehicles concerned, similar to police and paramedic vehicles which will be left running for extended periods whilst they go about their work.

Some refuse drivers don't leave the cab, maybe the round concerned the driver is doing the general public a favour by helping and speeding the job up as well as making the day for all of the team shorter, though they better be careful cos another half a dozen new suits will be recruited and before they know it the round will be extended because they are too efficient.

Edited by gordonbennet on 13/04/2018 at 14:28

<< If you are comparing to cars can you think of a situation where you would need to leave the engine running whilst outside of the car? >>

If it's your car you would make sure not to do that. Not many likely thieves for a bin lorry though.

those drivers have been helping the men for years after the cutbacks were brought in, so its nothing new, my late father used to be foreman on our council who helped repair them untill the work was sent out private

even the rams on the rear are all set to max pressure, where years ago they did not need to be, but as they are doing more clearing in less time they need to compact it more

and if councils get there way clearing times will be 4 weekly instead of 2 for most things including recycling

Edited by bolt on 13/04/2018 at 14:44

Whilst Reg 98 MV Con and Use Regs 1986 place a prohibition of leaving a vehicle with engine running there is a specific exemption where the machinery is required to be worked for a purpose other than driving the vehicle; i. operating the bin lift at the rear.

Dvd

At least one council in my area uses a system where by the driver of the bin lorry has an electronic transponder attached to his belt. Thus if he leaves the driving seat it inhibits the movement of the vehicle and if I remember correctly it achieves this by not allowing the hand brake to be released.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WxnkqYkrdw This is how they do it in big cities in Spain: the driver oversees the picking up and emptying up remotely via a control panel with CCTV so he can stay inside the warm, dry cab. It's a very quick operation and doesn't hold up the traffic too much. Once a week a cleaning truck does the rounds and lifts up the container to give it a swoosh with disinfectant. General rubbish is collected six nights a week and there are separate trucks for organic waste, bottles, plastic/metal containers. (Yes, that's six nights a week; it wasn't a typo!)