Overfilled containers can be a huge problem for haulers on any route, causing safety hazards, environmental risks, and increased costs. It’s a perennial problem and one that’s often overlooked, with estimates of the incidence of overfilled containers falling short by as much as 50% due to conventional manual and handheld recording systems.

AMCS Vision AI provides a solution, delivering the technology to automatically identify and record container overfill with zero driver intervention. For waste and recycling companies, this can cut both the environmental and financial cost of overfilled containers.

How can AI identify overfilled containers?

AMCS Vision AI is programmed to recognize when a container has been filled beyond capacity using images from the collection vehicle. 

A powerful AI engine flags individual images for action, automatically sending this data for follow up with minimal involvement from administration staff.

With this technology in place, haulers have access to essential data that they can use to engage with customers. Not only does this provide haulers with the tools to educate users and reduce overfilling, but it also provides them with the evidence to charge customers when they do exceed container capacity.

Why do haulers need to combat container overfill?

Overfilled containers cause several problems for haulers including:

• Environmental issues
• Safety hazards
• Service delays
• Increased costs

When lids aren’t closed, waste is subject to the elements and can present an environmental hazard. Heat and moisture increase the risk of bacteria growth, while exposed waste attracts vermin and can present a fire hazard.

In some cases, excess material can fall out, causing litter, or even harming passers-by. This means overfilled containers can present a safety issue, especially for the collection crew.

The more waste is handled, the more risks increase, and with staff taking time to put any excess material into the hopper manually, haulers can also suffer service delays.

Routes take longer as individual collections extend beyond the time allocated. This is ably addressed by AMCS’ real-time Route Optimization software, however, delays always have a knock-on effect.

When overfilled containers repeatedly require driver intervention, this can result in overtime for staff, additional trips to the depot to unload excess waste, or even having to reassign another vehicle for a collection. Not to mention potential delays for the customer expecting waste collection.

Unsurprisingly, there is a financial cost to this disruption with overfilled containers resulting in overfilled trucks and higher disposal costs for haulers. Route costs also increase as heavier trucks use more fuel, as do additional, unscheduled trips to unload.

Interestingly, initial data from AMCS Vision AI indicates that overfill rates are around 20% of serviced containers.  Manual recording, however, typically reports that figure at around 10%. This notable cost is often overlooked, demonstrating that overfill charges are significantly lower than they should be.