New Way Manufacturing Des Moines, Iowa     Iowa records indicate that Norman Melos (1926-2019) and his wife Ione Melos incorporated New Way Manufacturing at Des Moines in 1960. It is unknown what products were initially produced, but by late 1967, the first refuse body appeared in the form of the Minni-Packer, a 10 or 13-yard side loader. Small bodies for satellite or small routes were beginning to form a niche market within the refuse body industry, meeting a need for affordable and low-maintenance packers. This market segment was being increasingly neglected by the bigger builders, who often produced what amounted to truncated versions of their full-sized bodies. In the early years, New Way competed primarily with Wayne Engineering, Hesston and Cleburne Mfg. for their customers.     Despite their diminutive size, New Way Minni-Packers offers some advanced features for their day, most notably a fully-automatic tailgate lock system, with pintles operated by the lift cylinders through rocker arms. The body front was an open design, with folding side panels and steps, giving unfettered access to the few moving parts within. It was built upon a frame interlaced with a center trough for maximum strength. A telescopic packer/ejector cylinder was mounted horizontally, with minimal intrusion into the loading hopper. An auto cycling feature would advance the throttle, sweep, pack and retract with a single flip of either the left or right side the control levers.     The 1970s brought Minni-Packers with bodies ranging from 7.5 to 16-yards, and the ultimate in small side loader economy, the New Way Mini-6. These 6-cubic yard units could be mounted directly inside the bed of any standard 3/4-ton pickup truck. They had a manually opened, side-hinged rear door and single-stage packer ram. A satellite variant of this design called the Mate could be raised and tilted to couple with a conventional rear loader, thanks to an upward-opening rear gate. By 1980, a 20 or 24-yard Automated Side Loader (ASL) arrived for 90 and 300-gallon residential containers. The first New Way packer was this 1967 side loader for 1-1/2 ton trucks By the 1970s, SL was available up to 16-cubic yards Automatic tailgate locks, integrated with the lift cylinders, have been standard equipment from the beginning Loading can be done from either side, with folding doors and steps New Way "open front" body design offers ease of access to hydraulic system, including telescopic packer ram "Center trough" floor adds strength and rigidity to the body. Dude shoes for the packer blade ride within the trough The New Way Mate, a satellite loader that could be raised to discharge into a rear loader The Mini-6 was the ultimate in economy, and could be installed in a 3/4-ton pickup 1978 full-line ad Details of the Mini-6, showing side-hinged rear door Both The Mini-6 and Mate used a vertically-mounted single-stage ram to pack and eject New Way introduced their fir first Automated Side Loader (ASL) in 1980, on a 20/24-yard full-pack body 6/9/19 © 2019 All Rights Reserved Logos shown are the trademarks of respective manufacturers Photos from factory brochures/trade advertisements except as noted