I'm from jersey move to PA long time ago I pick trash up here in a rear load wish they would put a limit on trash but they don't thanks for sharing be safe
Ive always been interested in driving garbage trucks, looks fun once you've learned how to do it. I've applied a few times when our city our local companies are hiring. Haven't got it yet. Kinda surprised, figured me having 25 years of trucking experience I'd haa little upper hand. Apparently not lol
Whither your a full time or part timer .. your in the “ trash an mafia” .. I drive a LaBrie autocar 520 expert.. a right handed sideloader .. your doing a great job.. the city chargers a $25 charge for extra bags the driver has to load the first time is free
Fun facft - if for any reason you hit a wire while operating your truck on the road - It's not your fault. The utility company is liable for the damages.
yes, and no. its extremely dependent on the circumstances their are even some circumstances the business/homeowner could be considered liable. for example if you're at a business, lift a dumpster and take out a wire, you're at fault, and its considered fully preventable. The opposite side happened at my work place recently, we had a truck backing onto a backdown road, and took out a wire. The city, and utility company came and declared that one of the property owners nearby was actually liable. from what i heard about it, they had a tree which they were asked to trim back repeatedly for long enough that it was considered the cause of the wire being too low. An instance in OTR trucking I saw where DOT took responsibility was a low hanging wire on a truck route where the truck had every right to be, and even a local delivery. so like many things it depends, but at the end of the day we want to be always alert, and actively try to prevent incidents from happening, because even if you're not at fault, or liable in any way. it still costs you time, and 99% of the time The truck is liable, to whatever extent can be considered reasonably preventable. slamming a curotto can, or a dumpster into a wire taking it down is considered reasonably preventable. "not legal advice"
the short answer is Its a combination yes we have GPS, but its not nearly as effective as learning your route. Most Drivers are route drivers, so they have a set of routes they run, it is their job to learn, and optimize their route. Then there is Swing/switch drivers, their job is to be able to complete routes they aren't familiar with, often without help. The only lines of business where that is less of a challenge are rear load in which you usually have a loader that will know the route, and roll off where the majority of time is spent between the landfill, and the customer making it closer to local/regional truck driving, than how you would imagine a normal Garbage line of business. swing drivers sometimes run certain routes often enough that they learn it fully. for example I started in the Garbage business at the end of November last year, and became a swing driver shortly their after for whatever reasoning my management believed I had the right skill sets, and mentality to do that. I've never officially been a route driver. Up to this point I have learned 3 full routes Monday-Friday, but i wouldn't say that I've mastered them. Their are 4 routes (days) almost a full week worth of routes, that I have learned to the point at which I know exactly how I prefer to run them, and can perform as efficiently or more so than the route driver that normally runs them.
