The Amrep Octo is the iconic SoCal garbage truck. GB Services has a handful of these, each one in pristine condition, looking just like it did when it first came off the assembly line in 1984. This one is collecting in the industrial areas around Downtown Los Angeles.
The Octo is a revolutionary design with its cross mounted packing cylinders, half-height packer blade with follower, and of course octogonal body cross section. The body is light weight, gives the driver much better visibility behind the truck, and keeps any trash from getting behind the packer blade and onto the cylinders. This particular truck also has underbody arm cylinders which were later phased out in favor of the more conventional arm-pull cylinders, and fully manual cable controls, which while still ordered on some bodies, have been replaced with air controls for most body functions. The Octo is a personal favorite, so it was incredible to see where it all started on this very early model example.
A huge thanks to everyone at GB Services, especially the incredibly cool driver. Also thanks to Zack and Bill for making my trip possible. I just sort of showed up to LA for a week and they took care of the rest. Filmed February 14, 2013.