91TV

How Ryland Environmental scaled across Georgia on automated equipment, dependable support, and a fleet of trucks built to work as hard as they do.

When owner Todd Yates started Ryland Environmental in 2014, the company consisted of one roll-off truck and a plan for where residential collection was headed. Automation was already part of that plan. Ryland’s management team believed residential routes could be run more safely and more efficiently if operators stayed in the cab and let the equipment handle the lifting. He named the company after his son, Ryland, and built it on quality, with growth in mind from the start.

A little more than a decade later, Ryland Environmental runs more than 200 trucks and serves over 300,000 customers across Georgia, according to Ryland Environmental Fleet Director Marcus Johnson. The work is concentrated in municipal residential collection, with the fastest growth coming out of the middle and southern parts of the state.

Getting there took more than adding trucks to the road. Ryland had to build a fleet that could handle different route demands, meet high service standards, and stay reliable as the operation kept expanding. Automated collection made that possible.

Automation as an Operating Strategy

Automation has been part of how Ryland runs since the beginning, well before labor got tight. It was never about replacing people. It was about handing the machines the slow, repetitive, or dangerous work that ate the most hours, so the same job gets done the same way every time. Drivers’ jobs got easier and safer.

Johnson says the fleet now includes 115 automated side loaders, 57 front-end loaders, 52 roll-off trucks, 26 grapple trucks, and six automated front loaders. Most of their refuse equipment comes from Heil, including DuraPack Python automated side loaders, Half/Pack front loaders, and automated front loaders built with Curotto-Can automated collection systems. Each configuration does a different job, but the goal behind all of them is the same: collect more safely, keep routes moving, and give the company the flexibility to meet and exceed what each municipal contract requires.

That flexibility matters even more as a hauler grows. Residential routes can vary significantly from block to block. Cart placement, street layout, route density, bulk material, and local service rules can look completely different from one community to the next. A collection method that works well in one area can run into limits in another. Ryland’s mix of automated arms and lifting systems lets the company fit the equipment to the work instead of running every route the same way.

Finding More Flexibility in One Truck
As Ryland expanded into new municipal contracts, maintaining flexibility became increasingly important. Different communities present different collection requirements, route densities, service expectations, and operational constraints. The company relies primarily on automated side-loader collection for residential routes, while front-loading and other collection platforms support commercial and specialty operations.

Ryland runs a limited number of Half/Pack front loaders equipped with Curotto-Can automated collection systems. Originally deployed to help launch two residential contracts, these units remain in service today, handling commercial front-load routes, or with Curotto-Can arm serving as backup capacity for the automated side-loader fleet when needed.

For a fast-growing hauler, having multiple collection options available helps maximize equipment use, maintain service continuity, and support contract performance as operational demands evolve.

The Arm Has to Work All Day, Every Day
Automated collection lives or dies on the performance of the arm. When it is running smoothly, the driver keeps a steady rhythm through the route. When it is not, the whole route slows down or stops. Ryland has leaned heavily on the Python automated arm across its side loader fleet. Yates points to its smooth operation, dependability and ease of maintenance as the reasons the company keeps buying it.

Those qualities carry weight because the arm goes through hundreds of repeated movements on a normal route. It has to reach, grip, lift, empty and return, over and over, around uneven cart placement, changing terrain, and the everyday wear that comes with residential collection. A system that performs well new but grows complicated to service tends to create bigger problems down the line. Every extra maintenance step, specialty part or design change for its own sake adds work for technicians and raises the odds a truck sits out of service longer than it should.

Ryland values how Heil keeps improving the equipment without changing things just to change them. Keeping components and service procedures consistent helps the company manage parts inventory, train technicians faster, and get trucks back on the road sooner. As the fleet grows, those maintenance advantages add up. A design choice that shaves a few minutes off one repair saves considerably more once it is multiplied across more than 100 automated side loaders.

Reliability is Part of the Service Promise
91TV collection leaves no room for equipment failure. Residents expect their carts emptied on schedule, and municipal partners expect the hauler to hit the service terms in the contract. When a truck goes down, the effects reach past the maintenance shop. Routes get reassigned, spare equipment has to be tracked down, and drivers sometimes work longer hours to finish the day.

One failure can disrupt service across an entire area, and most of what it costs never shows up on the repair invoice. That is why reliability carries so much weight in how Ryland buys equipment.
The company has tried other manufacturers over the years. It keeps coming back to Heil because of how the bodies perform, how easy they are to maintain, and the support available when something goes wrong.

Most of Ryland’s fleet now runs on Heil equipment. Standardizing that much of the operation around one primary manufacturer gives technicians deeper familiarity with the equipment and cuts down the number of different parts, systems, and procedures they have to track. It also makes it easier for drivers to move between trucks. Each collection method still has its own feel, but consistency in controls, body design and general behavior shortens the adjustment when a driver gets assigned to a different unit.

Reliability, for Ryland, does not require equipment that never needs maintenance. It requires equipment that holds up under daily use, services without unnecessary hassle, and comes with support the company can count on when it is needed.

Keeping Employees Out of Harm’s Way
According to industry veteran James Lanier, Director of Municipal Marketing and Growth Support at Ryland Environmental, safety remains the primary driver of the company’s collection strategy. Traditional manual collection puts employees outside the truck and close to moving traffic. Helpers step on and off the vehicle throughout a route, cross streets, lift containers and work near drivers who are not always watching for the crew.

Automated collection keeps the operator inside the cab and removes much of that exposure. The arm handles the repetitive lifting while the driver stays protected from traffic, weather, and much of the physical strain that comes with manual collection. That means fewer trips into the roadway and less risk tied to repeated lifting, climbing, and stepping down from the truck.

For Ryland, the safety case is tied to how the company sees its people. Lanier describes the workforce as family, and equipment decisions get weighed in part by how well they protect the people delivering the service. Automated collection still operates large vehicles in neighborhoods, around parked cars and in shifting traffic. It does not erase every risk that comes with the work, but it does cut unnecessary exposure and gives the operator a more controlled way to do the job.

Support Beyond the Equipment
Equipment performance is only half of what keeps Ryland with Heil. The other half is the support behind it. Marcus Johnson points to Heil’s willingness to stand behind its products and respond when something goes wrong. Just as important is Ryland’s relationship with Carolina Environmental Systems (CES), the local Heil dealer supporting the fleet.

At Ryland’s size, dealer support cannot stop at the sale. Trucks stay in service for years, and the relationship has to hold up through parts needs, technical questions, maintenance support and whatever comes up over the life of the equipment.

CES has become a core part of that support structure. Having a dealer that knows the equipment and understands the demands of Ryland’s operation gives the company somewhere reliable to turn. That relationship also shortens the gap between a problem and a fix. Ryland works with a local partner who knows the fleet and has the manufacturer behind them, instead of working through layers of support to get an answer.

Product reliability, manufacturer support, and a strong local dealer relationship, together, are the biggest reasons Ryland continues standardizing its fleet around Heil.

Growth Without Losing Control
Ryland Environmental expects to keep expanding through new municipal contracts and a wider footprint across Georgia. Each new contract brings opportunity, but it also adds routes, trucks, drivers and service obligations to manage. Growth exposes weak points in a fleet fast. Equipment that is hard to maintain, unreliable under heavy use, or limited to one narrow job gets more expensive the bigger the operation gets.

Ryland’s automated collection strategy gives the company a steadier base to grow from. Python automated side loaders bring the speed and repeatability cart-based residential routes need. Half/Pack front loaders cover commercial and municipal collection demands. Curotto-Can systems add another layer of flexibility by allowing a single truck to perform work that would otherwise require multiple vehicles.

Together, those systems let Ryland pick the collection method that fits each route while keeping equipment, maintenance and support consistent across the fleet. That balance takes work. Standardizing reduces complexity, but a fleet still needs enough range to serve different customers well. Ryland has built around one equipment partner while holding onto the variety its contracts require.

Built for the Next Route
The most visible part of automated collection is the arm reaching for the cart. The bigger value shows up everywhere else in the operation. Automation keeps employees inside the cab. It gets routes done faster with less physical strain. It gives a hauler more options for assigning trucks, and with automated front-load collection, it can mean sending one vehicle into an area instead of two.
Reliable equipment cuts down on the disruption downtime causes. Common designs simplify parts and maintenance. Strong dealer and manufacturer support gives the fleet another layer of confidence when service is needed.

For Ryland Environmental, those advantages have carried the company from one roll-off truck to an operation serving more than 300,000 customers. The growth has been substantial, but the original idea still holds. Use automation to make residential collection safer, more productive, and easier to manage, then build the fleet and support network to deliver that consistently.

As Ryland keeps winning municipal work and expanding across Georgia, the automated arm will remain more than a piece of equipment bolted to the side or front of a truck. It will stay part of the strategy that lets the company grow while protecting its employees, holding up service, and keeping its commitments to the communities it serves. | WA

The Heil Co. and The Curotto-Can are longtime innovators in refuse collection equipment. Heil has been designing bodies for the solid waste industry for more than a century, with a focus on helping fleets improve safety, efficiency and reliability across a wide range of operating conditions. Heil’s automated products include the DuraPack Python automated side loader, the Half/Pack front loader and other equipment built for durability, productive route performance and ease of service. The Curotto-Can automated carry can system lets front loaders collect residential carts and other materials from the front of the truck while giving the driver a clear view of the collection process, improving route flexibility, reducing employee exposure and letting one truck do work that might otherwise require multiple vehicles.

Heil is part of the Environmental Solutions family of companies. Together with its dealer network, Heil and Curotto-Can support haulers and municipalities with automated collection equipment designed to improve safety, simplify fleet operations and deliver dependable performance over the life of the equipment. For more information, visit .