Sustainability: here it means practical engineering solutions, energy conservation, recycling and using best practices.
Sustainability is defined as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”
At Oshkosh, sustainability means continuously improving how we make and distribute products. It’s about reducing the environmental impact of our products and production, improving workplace conditions, reducing costs, increasing value and being active in our communities.
At Oshkosh and all of its businesses including McNeilus, we are continuing to look for ways to build sustainable products in an environmentally responsible way.
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Here’s What Sustainability Looks Like at Oshkosh Corporation
Sustainable Products
McNeilus is at the forefront in developing CNG-powered refuse trucks and concrete mixers, pioneering environmentally sustainable vehicle solutions. We’re helping the construction and waste management industries become more environmentally friendly and control costs with our innovative CNG technology.
Our CNG-powered concrete mixers are the first commercially manufactured mixers on the market, and we are also a national leading supplier of CNG-powered refuse trucks. They save on fuel costs, cut noise pollution dramatically and run up to six times cleaner — reducing nitrogen oxide and carbon dioxide emissions.
McNeilus installs its exclusive CNG systems ready to work straight from the factory. All McNeilus CNG products are designed and tested by our certified technicians. And all of our CNG vehicles meet NFPA-52 standards. McNeilus service center personnel are also trained for three-year, 36,000-mile FMVSS 304 inspections.
Sustainable Practices
Each of the Oshkosh business segments have established waste and energy Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), and are developing and implementing plans to meet these goals. Sustainability efforts are in high gear at our McNeilus branch in Dodge Center, MN. In the final assembly stage, each refuse truck must meet a stringent hydraulic oil inspection. In the past, if oil did not meet this customer’s specifications, it was completely drained from the vehicle, placed in a bulk used oil tank and eventually sent off-site for recycling.
A McNeilus design engineer had a more sustainable idea and designed a portable hydraulic oil filter. If the hydraulic oil in the refuse truck is found to be outside specifications, the “filter buggy” is called into service. It takes approximately one minute to connect to the truck and 15 minutes to complete the cleaning cycle, resulting in an oil that meets that stringent specification. This new practice will filter and save 12,600 gallons of hydraulic oil per year.
McNeilus is a heavy buyer of commercial chassis to be fitted with concrete mixer or refuse bodies. The chassis are shipped from the OEM and are fitted with temporary light and mud flap assemblies for the on-road trip to the McNeilus assembly plants. In the past, these temporary assemblies were simply thrown away, adding unnecessary waste to the local landfill.
The McNeilus Logistics and Environmental departments teamed up to store the temporary assemblies and periodically ship them back in bulk to the OEM for re-use, eliminating tons of assemblies going to the landfill.
McNeilus also considers sustainability when it comes to equipment design and material usage. A cross-functional team led an initiative to reduce the carbon footprint associated with steel sourcing for multiple truck bodies and all tailgates.
The team implemented a project moving the source of steel from an ore-based process to a mini-mill manufacturing process that has one-third of the carbon footprint of ore-based mills. The project lessened emissions from both the manufacturing and transportation of raw materials, while reducing lead times and order quantities.