A CLEAN AFFAIR - SCHÖNMACKERS IS ALREADY TAKING CARE OF TOMORROW WITH THE NEXT GENERATION eCANTER

With a FUSO eCanter 7C18e for the container change service, the disposal company Schönmackers is now delivering new waste bins to its customers. All in the spirit of sustainability – quiet and emission-free.

“Take care of tomorrow today”, the slogan of Schönmackers Umweltdienste GmbH & Co. KG from Kempen could not be more appropriate than the labelling for the new Next Generation eCanter 7C18e, which the disposal and recycling company took over in mid-February. Schönmackers is one of the leading service providers for sustainable disposal solutions in North Rhine-Westphalia and serves more than 50 municipalities with a total of over one million inhabitants. Schönmacker’s 1,600 employees at 23 locations are committed to ensuring that household waste collection, emptying of bio-bins, bulky waste disposal, recycling of recyclable materials and also professional and environmentally friendly special waste disposal work smoothly.

As a responsible operator of the circular economy, Schönmackers is committed to its slogan and plans to upgrade its fleet, which currently comprises around 650 units, sustainably and emission-free within its scope. The new FUSO eCanter makes the start. Schönmackers welcomed the all-electric newcomer Michael Lohse, Kurt Reinartz and Peter Lövenich in their roles as technical manager for the Rhineland region as well as operations manager and workshop manager at the Kerpen site, where the eCanter will be used in the future.

“The first step for us is to learn with the vehicle. It’s a little adventure that we’re embarking on, but I’m pretty sure that we’re doing everything, what we have planned to achieve with the eCanter – and then we will gradually look at what else is possible and how far we can extend the radius of the tours,” says Michael Lohse. Schönmackers has planned the eCanter for the so-called container change service. The eTruck transports empty waste containers with a capacity of 60 to 1,100 litres, which are replaced or made available to customers.

The Next Generation eCanter comes with body-mounting capability

Theo Böckels Nutzfahrzeuge GmbH from Willich equipped the 7.5-tonne eCanter with a special body for this task. With its generous special dimensions and lightweight design, the case is perfectly tailored to the requirements of Schönmackers. A cargo liftgate with a load capacity of 1.6 tonnes as well as an additional side door and a fully welded aluminium floor pan for wet or dirty cargo are among the equipment features. With a wheelbase of 4,450 mm and a body length of 6,100 mm, the vehicle has a total length of 7,880 mm. Nevertheless, thanks to its compact cab-over-engine design, the eCanter remains agile, manoeuvrable and also easy and pleasant to drive on narrow roads within smaller towns and residential areas.

As a long-standing partner for Schönmackers, Böckels takes care of almost all bodies required in the waste disposal industry and also advises on carrier vehicles with its expertise in new acquisitions. “This is how we came to the FUSO Canter for this project, because it is simply the benchmark in this segment, even if an electric version is in demand,” explains Roger Dollen, Sales Manager at Böckels. The fact that the industry likes to call the Canter the “payload giant” is no coincidence for him: “In contrast to the uprated 6.5-tonne trucks of the competition, we have a real 7.5-tonne truck as a light truck. It has so much reserve in the chassis and in the axles and even offers a chassis load capacity of around four tonnes as an eCanter, depending on the battery pack. Someone has to imitate that first.”

The Böckels team also learned about another major advantage of the eCanter during the bodywork. “It comes with a completely flat hole pattern frame. There are no protruding components that interfere with our operations. This makes our job easy and will also work perfectly for all other body types,” confirms Roger Dollen. There is a reason why he puts the FUSO brand at the heart of his customers. “In addition, the service network at Daimler Trucks is just right and we at Schönmackers with the Penders dealership can recommend a service partner for the eCanter in the immediate vicinity,” adds the bodybuilder. 

The new eCanter is suitable for almost all applications thanks to its variety of variants

“We have been a FUSO partner for service and sales for 30 years and are particularly pleased to be contributing the 7C18e eCanter chassis to this project,” explains Wolfgang Penders, Managing Partner of Autohaus Penders GmbH in Mönchengladbach. “Of course, the transformation towards electric drive is a challenge for us. But we are behind it and we can see that customer interest is growing. Although still with some scepticism, the enthusiasm is great at the latest when someone has driven the eCanter. That’s why it’s important to actually get customers to the vehicles now.” According to Wolfgang Pender, there are already some customers who are dealing intensively with the matter and whose use cases can be implemented very well with the Next Generation eCanter. 

Felix Felsch from FUSO Bodybuilder Management explains why this is the case, as he took over the instruction in the technology and functions of the vehicle. “The Next Generation eCanter is a mature product that offers a huge variety of variants. Four tonnages, six wheelbases and three different battery pack options in sizes S, M and L, each with one, two or three batteries and ranges of up to 200 kilometres,” says the product expert. He explains the advantages of the state-of-the-art LFP (lithium iron phosphate) batteries, which do not require critical raw materials such as nickel, cobalt or manganese and promise a long service life. He then shows Michael Lohse, Kurt Reinartz and Peter Lövenich how easy the charging process of the eCanter is and what needs to be observed – and yes, the plug should be unplugged and the charging box closed before departure.

During a tour of the vehicle, future eCanter users will find out where specific safety equipment such as the emergency stop button, which deactivates the high-voltage components, is located. Felix Flesch points out the sensors for the standard safety systems Active Brake Assist (emergency braking system), LDWS (Lane Keeping Assist) and Active Sideguard Assist (Turn Assist) and explains how they work. He then climbs into the cab of the eCanter with the employees of Schönmackers and discusses the interior, the digital displays and the special features of the eCanter in detail. For example, the four different recuperation modes and how they can be used for energy recovery.

The test drives really made an impression on the colleagues at Schönmackers

After the theory and the official key handover, it is time for the test drives, the second part of the briefing. Accompanied by Felix Flesch, who provides support with tips and tricks, the three colleagues from Schönmackers will take a few first laps on the large Böckels site. Regional Manager Michael Lohse starts off quickly and then leaves with a very broad smile. “It was really fun to drive it. Operation is simple and user-friendly. I think our trips, which we initially estimated conservatively at 120 to 160 kilometres despite the L battery package, will not be a problem.” 

He hands over to workshop manager Peter Lövenich, who returns with positive impressions: “So the power development is wonderful, of course, but I also like the high-quality workmanship at first glance and the quiet soundscape inside, which I immediately noticed. I think it will definitely fit well with our fleet in Kerpen.” 

After him, operations manager Kurt Reinartz gets behind the wheel, admitting in advance that he has never actually driven an electric vehicle before and is therefore a bit excited. He is also really surprised afterwards: “I have to say, amazing! It goes really well and is really easy to handle. I am responsible for ordering the diesel for our company filling station, which is routine, but we are now gathering completely new insights that will also reduce our CO2 emissions. I’m really curious and excited about that and I’m looking forward to it!”