Municipal trucks are bought by specification and judged by the council. That makes the published sheet the whole argument, and municipal sheets are the least consistent in the catalogue: tank volumes quoted without weights, weights quoted without axle ratings, and steering sides simply absent. Below are seven chassis from the special truck and dump categories, arranged as the questions a fleet manager actually asks.

The seven chassis

1. How much does a 10 m³ tanker weigh, and what is left for water?

A cubic metre of water is one tonne, so the payload question is really a chassis question. The Auman 4×2 10,000-litre watering truck publishes a chassis kerb weight of 5,470 kg and a maximum designed total mass of 22,000 kg, on a 5,150 mm wheelbase with chassis dimensions of 8,905 × 2,460 × 2,820 mm. Power is a Yuchai YC6A240-33 of 7.225 litres at 240 hp and 900 Nm, to Euro II, through a Fast 8JS105TA eight-speed on a 4.875 axle with a 5.5-tonne front and 10-tonne rear. Six tyres plus a spare, 11R22.5. The tank itself is Q235B carbon steel at 4 mm wall thickness. Spray width is published as 12 m and nozzle range as 38 m. Top speed 105 km/h. Note that the sheet also quotes a separate FOB band of $5,000 to $7,000 against the $10,800 list price — worth asking which figure applies to which configuration.

The Aumark EST-M 16T water tanker is the same volume on a lighter rating: 16,000 kg gross, Cummins ISF4.5E3210 of 4,460 cc at 154 kW / 210 PS and 740 Nm, Euro III, ZF 6S1000 six-speed, 3.6-tonne front and 8-tonne rear on a 4.875 axle, front disc and rear drum brakes with ABS, seven 10R22.5 tyres, 200-litre fuel tank, chassis 8,900 × 2,400 × 2,780 mm on the same 5,150 mm wheelbase. It is right-hand drive and its sales country is Botswana. The tank specification is unusually complete: 10 m³, Q235B, 4 mm wall, 5 mm head, two 3 mm transverse baffles, two 500 mm manholes, and the option of industrial-grade or food-grade internal anti-corrosion. Pump capacity is 60 m³/h from a transmission PTO.

2. When is 20 m³ worth the extra axle?

When the round trip is long enough that refilling dominates the shift. The EST 6×4 20 m³ sprinkler doubles the tank and adds a driven axle: 6×4 on a 4,100 + 1,350 mm wheelbase, chassis 8,600 × 2,545 × 3,450 mm, 25,000 kg GVW and 55,000 kg GCW, Cummins ISGe3-350 of 10,500 cc at 257 kW / 350 hp and 1,800 N·m between 1,000 and 1,300 rpm, Euro III, Sinotruk HW19712 iron twelve-speed, 5.26 axle, 9-tonne front and 16-tonne middle/rear, ABS, twelve 12.00R20 20PR tyres, 350-litre tank, right-hand drive. Body is a 20 m³ Q235B tank at 4 mm wall and 5 mm head with two 3 mm baffles and two 500 mm manholes, a PTO-driven pump rated at 60 m³/h, and front wash with a cone or duckbill nozzle plus rear spray and a high-pressure gun.

3. What does a road-cleaning truck's tank volume actually buy?

Water, and therefore working time between fills — but the ETX 4×2 high-pressure cleaning truck sheet shows how much else moves with it. Five variants are published across two wheelbases, 4,500 and 5,200 mm, with overall lengths from 7.92 m to 9.83 m and heights from 2.95 m to 3.1 m. Tank volume is 6.8, 9.34 or 10.5 m³. Rated load moves with it: 6.905 tonnes on the smallest, 8.97 tonnes on the mid versions and 10.07 tonnes on the largest, against a vehicle weight of 7.8 or 8.9 tonnes. Power is constant — Dongfeng Cummins ISD210 50, 6.7 litres, 155 kW / 210 hp, China V — through a Fast DC6J95TA six-speed. Top speed is 85 km/h on four variants and 90 km/h on the fifth. Six tyres. The listed price of $29,429 is annotated on the sheet as a chassis price.

4. Is a 4×2 compactor big enough?

For residential rounds, usually yes — and it is the cheapest way into the job. The ETX 4×2 compression garbage truck is published in two variants on 4,500 and 5,200 mm wheelbases at 9.0 and 9.23 m long, both 2.49 m wide and 3.16 m high, both at 18 tonnes gross with a rated load of 7.17 tonnes. Dongfeng Cummins ISD210 50 of 6.7 litres at 155 kW / 210 hp, China V, Daichi DC6J95TA six-speed, 10-tonne rear axle on a 5.571 ratio, six 10.00R20 18PR tyres, ETX-2420 flat-top cab on a BJ1183VLPHN-AA chassis. Guide prices on the sheet are $28,980 and $29,120, both marked as chassis prices.

5. When does a dump chassis beat a purpose-built refuse body?

When the material is spoil, demolition waste or green waste rather than household refuse, and when the same truck has to earn its keep on construction work between municipal contracts. The GTL-E 6×4 dumper is published in two variants: a 6×4 on 3,825 + 1,350 mm with an ISG 340 of 10,500 cc, no emission standard listed, a Sinotruk HW19712 twelve-speed and a 55,000 kg GCW; and a 6×4 on 3,400 + 1,400 mm with an ISGe5-380 of 11,800 cc to Euro V, a Sinotruk HW23712 twelve-speed and a 68,000 kg GCW. Both are 25,000 kg GVW, both on a 5.26 axle with a 16-tonne middle/rear, eleven 12.00R20 tyres and 350 or 300 litres of fuel. $32,000.

At the top of the municipal range sits the EST 8×4 sanitation truck: 8×4 on a 1,800 + 2,950 + 1,350 mm wheelbase, chassis 8,950 × 2,490 × 3,400 mm, 62,000 kg GVW with no GCW published, Cummins ISG12E5 460 of 11,800 cc, Euro V, Fast 12JSDX240TA aluminium twelve-speed, 5.92 axle, 16-tonne middle/rear, thirteen 12.00R20 20PR tyres, 350-litre aluminium tank, Henglong W01 steering. $55,220.

6. Which of these can I drive on the left?

Two of the seven publish a steering side and it is right-hand drive: the Aumark EST-M water tanker and the EST 6×4 sprinkler. The 4×2 watering truck publishes left-hand drive. The remaining four sheets — the ETX cleaning truck, the ETX compactor, the GTL-E dumper and the EST 8×4 — do not state a steering position at all. If your market drives on the left, that is the first question to put in writing, because a right-hand-drive conversion after delivery is a far more expensive problem than a specification change before build.