COUNCIL ACTION FORM

PURCHASE OF WALKING FLOOR MUNICIPAL WASTE TRAILERS FOR RESOURCE RECOVERY

With the anticipated opening of the Resource Recovery Recycling Campus (R3C) in 2027, the City needs to purchase walking floor municipal waste trailers to haul refuse to the Carroll County Landfill and recyclable materials to a material recovery facility. It is estimated that over 65,000 tons of materials will need to be transported each year, resulting in over 2,600 truck trips annually.

Walking floor trailers use moveable slats along the bottom of the trailer floor. By sliding the slats in an alternating sequence, the payload can be shuffled to the end of the trailer and discharged. These trailers are costlier and more complex than telescoping dump trailers, but are safer to use for unloading on unstable or sloped ground or when it is windy, all of which can be experienced at a landfill face. These will be the first trailers the City purchases for hauling in this continuous, heavy-duty capacity. 

Funding for this purchase comes from the 2026/27 Resource Recovery and Recycling Campus Mobile Equipment Capital Improvements Project. This project contains $2,340,000 in contributions from the Electric Fund due to savings realized in operational expenses at the Power Plant once transfer operations begin and waste-to-energy operations cease. The purchase of six semi-trucks has already been completed in the amount of $1,230,384, which leaves $1,109,616 available for the purchase of the trailers.

Bids were solicited for the purchase of ten trailers. On July 24, 2026, bids were received as follows:

With the funding not available for the purchase of all ten trailers, Fleet staff contacted the low bidder, who confirmed they would sell the trailers at the per-trailer cost if the order was less than the specified ten. Based on the funding available, staff is recommending purchasing seven trailers in the amount of $942,585. With the remaining funding, staff will pursue the purchase of three used walking floor trailers.  The used trailers can be utilized primarily for hauling recyclable material that typically causes less wear and damage to trailers as compared to solid waste. 

The characteristics of used trailers can vary, so it is difficult to estimate the availability of used trailers that meet the needs of the R3C operation. Staff believes the cost of used trailers could be approximately $60,000 each. If additional funding is necessary to purchase the used trailers, funding would come from the construction contingency of the R3C project.

1. Award a contract to Travis Body & Trailer of Houston, TX, for the purchase of seven walking floor solid waste trailers in the amount of $942,585.
   
   
2. Award a contract for all ten trailers in the amount of $1,346,550, and direct staff to amend the R3C budget to account for the cost overrun.
   
   
3. Do not approve the purchase.

Approving a contract to obtain the seven walking floor municipal trailers will allow for the R3C to have reliable transfer trailers in place for the beginning of hauling operations. The trailers have a long lead time, and therefore a decision must be made now, in late summer, in order to ensure that the trailers will arrive and be in service when the facility is operational. Staff will identify three used trailers that can be purchased to supplement this purchase and ensure reliability and redundancy. Therefore, it is the recommendation of the City Manager that the City Council adopt Alternative No. 1 as described above.