Dive summary:

• Waste haulers in Cary, N.C. are looking into the efficiency of one of the first waves of hybrid-hydraulic engine trash trucks in the U.S.
• The hydraulic trucks get four miles a gallon, twice that of normal trucks, the price tag on hybrid trucks however is an additional $100,000 from the $285,000 of normal trucks.
• Government grants helped cover the upfront cost differential of the hybrid trucks but if the cities want to continue using them they will be responsible for the total cost.

From the article:

Hybrid engines can double a typical vehicle’s mileage – and that’s how one Cary trash truck is pushing the four-mile-a-gallon mark.

The town is halfway through its assessment of one of the United States’ first waves of hybrid-engine garbage trucks. Cary’s model pressurizes hydraulic fluid as it brakes, then uncaps that pressure to provide forward motion. ...