One of the most influential trucks in the industry makes its debut in the 1950s.
By Zachary Geroux
I鈥檓 the type of person who wants to understand the why and the driving force behind things. Since I鈥檝e started writing this column, I鈥檝e really had to think about which specific trucks, companies or people I want to write about and make it interesting for you the reader. It鈥檚 not enough to simply give you the facts about a certain popular garbage truck like a Gar Wood or Leach body; I have to tell a story and connect dots or it ends up being straight boring! With that being said, I hope you enjoy the why behind this year鈥檚 set of articles.
During the majority of the 1940s, the might of the American Industrial Complex was focused on the war effort. With the entire country laser focused on this single goal, the technology of refuse collection was a dim afterthought. There was no real evolution in body design and the technology of the 1930s carried on through that decade. When the war ended, the GIs came home to a different country whose entire economy was on manufacturing overdrive. Many feared without the war focus, the country would fall back into a recession similar to the Great Depression of the previous decade. However, stifled consumer demand ignited an exceptionally strong economic growth period, which lasted until the 1970s. The middle class exploded as blue-collar job numbers increased, cars became more affordable and available, and Americans started moving to the suburbs as single-family dwellings became popular as a status symbol.
With this high tempo growth of capitalism and consumerism, the average American became very materialistic, which continued to fuel budding industries focused on the latest and greatest technology to make an individual鈥檚 life more comfortable. It wasn鈥檛 until the 1950s that the momentum from this reborn economy kick started one of the most evolutionary advances in the waste industry. With many companies still using escalator style bodies, bucket loaders or even just open dump trucks, the advances in collection trucks were night and day. One of the most influential trucks in the industry made its debut in this decade and it is the source of this month鈥檚 article: the Hercules-Galion Hydro EZ Pack Side Loader.
A More Versatile Truck
The product of two companies from Galion, OH that had recently merged鈥擧ercules Steel Products and Galion Allsteel Body鈥攖he Hydro EZ Pack Side Loader was one of the first hydraulic side load bodies to hit the refuse market in 1954. The brainchild of William Herpich and John Sand, this simple, yet game changing design, offered a versatile truck to the residential or commercial hauler. With the country moving away from household burn drums in their backyard, consumerism and suburban communities exploding, the refuse that needed to be collected grew in kind.
Previous packing mechanisms on side loaders were actuated by either a screw, cable and winch or chain. While they served their purpose of moving the blade back into the body and compressing the load, they couldn鈥檛 come near to the 82,500 lbs. of crushing power that the double acting ram used in the Hydro EZ Pack. With this amazingly high compaction force, residential crews could load any item the homeowner now wanted to throw away. For the average loader, the opening of the hopper was around shoulder height, forcing him to lift the common and heavy 95-gallon drums up over his head to empty into the truck. The heavily reinforced body was available in a 16 or 20 yard version and the packing blade was able to extend the entire length of the body for ease of emptying at the landfill.
The Next Evolutionary Designs
After William Herpich designed the EZ Pack for Hercules-Galion, he left the company and joined Demspster Brothers in Knoxville, TN. In 1955, Dempster unveiled a Front Loader, which was a pairing of the Holmes-Owen broken arm loaders and a modified Pak-Mor barrel side loader. Dempster had never made their own compaction body and they might have brought on Herpich to help design the evolution of their original Front Loader after seeing the success of the EZ Pack Side Loader. In 1957, Dempster brought that next evolutionary design to the market in the form of their Dumpmaster. The Herpich influences can clearly be seen due to the almost carbon copy body design now paired with Dempster made over-the-cab arms. With a full pack blade actuated by a single double acting cylinder, it gave the Dempster Front Loader the same compaction strength of 82,500 lbs. Herpich appeared on several other Dempster patents throughout the decade before returning to Hercules-Galion.
Hercules-Galion continued to produce the EZ Pack side loader until the late 1960s when another iteration of the company, Peabody-Galion, decided to phase it out. Even though the truck has been out of production for more than 50 years, they sometimes pop up in junkyards or even people鈥檚 backyards across the country from time to time. In Twin Falls, ID, there is an early 1960s model still running on the same route it started on when the company acquired the truck 30 years ago. Visit and it will take you to a video filmed last year of this amazing truck. You鈥檒l feel like you鈥檙e transported back to the 60鈥檚. The EZ Pack side loader was a revolutionary truck for its time and the template for several others throughout its lifetime. It was the right truck for the hauler to meet the demands for an exploding economy and prosperous generation. Next month we鈥檒l continue tackling the Hercules-Galion story and showcase one of the weirdest Front Loaders to have ever been created. | WA
Zachary Geroux is a historian, photographer and owner of Refuse Truck Photography. He can be reached at [email protected] or visit .
