Heil’s STARR^® System is patented as the industry’s only semi-trailer refuse and recycling collection system, and is recognized as the most maneuverable full-size collection vehicle in the world.

The STARR consists of an automated arm mounted on a truck tractor, and a detachable semitrailer packer body. This design means the STARR can literally run circles around other “straight frame” trucks, going around cul-de-sacs with ease and in and out of tight spots without potentially dangerous backups.

Customers such as the City of Hampton, Virginia have seen the safety benefits of the STARR first hand. “The maneuverability of this vehicle is the added plus,” cites Chip McDonough, Recycling Manager for the City of Hampton. “The STARR has reduced our amount of backing accidents by 100%. We just do not have any backing accidents anymore.”

But safety and maneuverability are only part of the story. The STARR System is revolutionizing the way refuse is collected in neighborhoods around the world, by addressing the problem of ever increasing distances to recycling facilities and landfills.

Because of its tractor and trailer configuration, you can simply disconnect the STARR trailer when full, and then hook the tractor to an empty trailer so the operator can continue on the route. The full trailer can then be set aside, staying parked until it is convenient to take it to the yard, enabling you to schedule landfill hauls when traffic volumes on the road and at the disposal site are lower. Plus, full trailers can be pulled as tandems to the landfill when the route is done, or using non-route trucks, cutting your long trips to the landfill in half — driving down your fuel and tire costs.

“A major benefit of the STARR System to us, in addition to the safety factor of minimizing the amount of backing the driver is required to do, is that it allows us to have two trailers per tractor,” notes Emmett Moore, President of Bay Disposal & Recycling in Virginia. “Should a trailer have a mechanical problem, the entire truck is not down. This allows us to pick up an additional trailer and continue the route without disrupting service for our customers.”