The Unsung Hero of Automated Waste Collection

Solid waste operations that have a Curbtender in their refuse collection fleet and enjoy the efficiencies and safety features it has to offer can thank Dean Steege.

Steege – who started with Curbtender in 1975 as an engineer when it was known as Wayne Engineering – played a pivotal role in developing what would be the refuse industry’s first commercially produced automated side loading refuse truck (ASL).

Steege’s commitment to innovation continues to this day as he spends each work day at his desk sitting at a computer working with a CAD program doing product design. 

“I also will help out in the shop when they have questions or problems that need addressed or talk to customers if they have needs or wants,” he says. “I do a little of everything.”

Throughout his youth, Steege had always taken an interest in mechanical systems. He attended tech school at Hawkeye Community College in Waterloo, Iowa and earned a two-year degree in mechanical engineering. 

While in school, Steege worked part-time for Wayne Engineering, where he became immersed in the company culture and enjoyed it. When he was presented with several job offers upon graduation, Steege chose to stay with Wayne Engineering, which became Curbtender in 2017. 

Nine years after Steege started with the company, he took employment elsewhere and returned in 1988 to stay. 

Wayne Engineering started out building the CargoMaster, a crane system installed inside of box vans and trailers designed to make moving heavy cargo easier. The company transitioned into refuse equipment and it was in that time frame that Steege came onboard and put his mechanical skills to work.

“I started out on the drafting board working for our senior engineer and helping out with design work as I worked my way up,” says Steege.

Steege would soon get involved in designing what would be the refuse industry’s first commercially produced automated side loader truck – the Curbtender automated side loading refuse truck. Steege was part of the three-person team with part-time help that took the Curbtender from concept to solid waste collection routes. 

The Curbtender’s design set an industry benchmark and its name became synonymous with automated refuse collection. The company’s flagship product was renamed the PowerPak in 2017 when the business of Wayne Engineering was purchased and rebranded as Curbtender.

“We designed our own product – we took what we had learned at that point to see what we could do better and that’s when we came up with the current design that we still build today,” says Steege. 

PowerPak is now one of four ASL designs offered by Curbtender along with HammerPak, AutoCat and the recently launched Fuzion. Constructed extensively of Hardox 450 steel, it comes standard with a high compaction packing panel and a power arm with a lift capacity rating of up to 2,000 pounds. It has a five-year structural warranty. 

The PowerPak’s collection arm is precision-welded by a robotic welder for perfect weld penetration and enhanced durability. The packer panel compacts trash at 1,000 pounds per cubic yard. 

The unit comes in a variety of options to fit end users’ operational needs, from 16 cubic yards to 31 cubic yards, full eject or tip-to-dump, regular or large commercial gripper arms, and manual or air cylinder-controlled hopper covers. A flat tailgate or bubble tailgate can be installed to create the ideal weight distribution for a given region. Optional steel ‘wear liners’ and heavy-duty follower panels are available.

The PowerPak’s air-over-hydraulic system works with a third-generation programmable logic controller, designed to handle a refuse truck’s severe shock and vibrations. A feature popular with end users is the electronic proportional controls option, designed for a smoother arm operation, driver customization, and on-board diagnostics.

Additional options are available in lighting, auto lubrication packages, scale systems, and steel liner kits. The PowerPak is the ultimate customizable solution for waste collection, refined over four decades of use.

Steege says the driving factor in designing and bringing an ASL to the market was that the company’s senior management took notice of an automated refuse collection effort picking up steam in Scottsdale, Arizona to address industry challenges with manual collection regarding worker safety and working conditions, productivity and street cleanliness. 

“They were building prototypes. They didn't really have a manufacturing firm behind them,” says Steege. “Our senior management was in contact with them, saw what was going on and formed an agreement that we would build products for them.”

While the agreement eventually dissipated into separate efforts, the experience became a launching pad for the take-off of ASL, which has enriched the waste collection industry with its ability to automatically retrieve solid waste from the side of a truck

“The goal is a more efficient method of collecting residential refuse, which had typically been done with a two- or three-man crew on a rear loader – one guy driving the truck and  one or two guys in the back throwing in the garbage. They’re out in the traffic and working hard in all kinds of weather,” Steege points out.

It had taken several months to complete the design and prototype it, Steege says. A few challenges emerged which the team worked to mitigate.

“You put a lot more cycles on an automated side loader than you do loading a truck manually,” he adds. “There were fatigue issues and other issues that would show up a lot quicker. We just stayed on top of it, constantly improving, constantly tweaking things, constantly making things better.”

Change – even when it entails improved technology – is not always easily embraced. But that wasn’t the case with the Curbtender ASL. The solid waste industry was eager to find a solution to address the many challenges of the job of solid waste collection.

“The Phoenix area embraced it right away and there were a few other spots around the country that did as well – Washington state comes to mind,” says Steege. “From there, it started to catch on.” 

Steege says it gave him an immense sense of satisfaction to see the trucks on the road after they were first rolled out as he had a hand in designing them.

He never tires of it.

“It still is fun to see something you've done get built and get out there and work,” says Steege.

While Steege could apply his mechanical engineering skills in a variety of lines of work, he says he enjoys working in the refuse collection industry.

“I like designing things,” he says. “I like solving problems.”

Steege says he chooses to work at Curbtender because “I get to work on everything. I'm not pigeonholed into one particular facet of engineering. That’s been important. We're flexible. We can react quickly if we need to. They’re great people to work for. It's a fun job.”

Everyone likes what they do at Curbtender, he adds.

“We want to keep doing it better and better,” Steege says. “And we want to give them a product that works well.” 

The Curbtender team does so by taking end-user input into account for designs to help make their work more effective, efficient and safe, says Steege.

Going forward, Steege says he’ll endeavor to continue to design to meet industry challenges and demands by focusing on “constant quality, constantly improving the product so it's more reliable, more cost effective.

“I really enjoy working with all the people at Curbtender,” Steege adds. “It takes all of us to do this.”