Trash collector isn’t the job it used to be.
John Archuleta, a residential operator with Waste Management Inc., operates a joystick in the cab of his truck to pick up cans while driving house to house. Gone are the days when trash truck drivers hung off the back of the vehicle and lifted each can by hand.
Of course, some parts of the job remain the same.
Drivers still must gather bits of trash when it blows away during a stop. But for the most part, it’s all machine-operated.
National Garbage Man Day is celebrated this week every year, from June 17 to June 24, according to www.garbagemanday.org. And if you haven’t heard of it, you probably aren’t alone. It’s a chance to honor the men and women who haul the tons of waste from our communities.
“Without the garbage men of our communities, many cities would be driven to a state of disorder, often worse than natural disasters,” the website says. “... Historically, the eradication of many diseases in the Western World is due, in large part, to higher public sanitation standards resulting from efficient garbage disposal.”
Gov. Jared Polis signed a proclamation this month recognizing the day, which reads: “... with an area spanning 104,185 square miles and thousands of miles of roads, Colorado depends on the rain-or-shine collection of waste and recyclables to promote a clean and safe community.”
Anyone wanting to show appreciation to their trash collectors can find different ways, including saying “hello,” offering them a snack or drink, or helping them lift a heavy pile of trash, according to garbagemanday.org.
Waste Management Inc., one of four waste management companies in Durango, services 3,000 customers weekly in La Plata County.
“We go everywhere. There ain’t no limits to where we’re going,” Archuleta said this week while completing a route north of Durango.
A driver will typically have 350 houses on a route, but some routes are longer and can be as many as 500 houses.
A typical day for Waste Management drivers who service commercial customers starts at 5 a.m. and those who drive residential routes start at 6:30 a.m. Commercial drivers start earlier so as not to block alleyways later in the day.
The first few minutes are spent in a “huddle” where drivers receive updates and a safety message. Before hitting the road, all trucks must go through pre-drive inspections to check brakes, hydraulics and other mechanical functions. Tablets in the trucks show drivers their routes. The tablets, which were added about two years ago, sequence all of the stops from first to last and allow drivers to track if a can was picked up or if no can was left out.
At the end of the day, drivers return to the yard for maintenance and cleaning of the truck.
Multiple types of trucks are used to pick up trash, including front-loaders, side-loaders and roll-aways. Certain trucks need to dump their load at the transfer station more often than others.
Residential routes use side-loaders, which have an arm controlled by a joystick in the cab, allowing drivers to remain in the truck unless they need to pick up loose trash that falls when dumping. This improves efficiency for drivers because they spend less time outside the truck, said Robby Ritter Sr., route manager for Waste Management Inc.
A side-loader can fill up to 28 cubic yards, or about 20,000 pounds of trash per route, while front-loaders, which are used on commercial routes, carry about 32 cubic yards of trash.
At the end of the day, drivers who operate a front-loader must climb into the back where all the trash is collected to clean it out, while side-loader drivers use a rake to remove stray trash.
While the job isn’t as strenuous – or dirty – as it once was, it can be dangerous. The trucks have a lot of moving parts that can act as “pinch points.”
“You’re messing with all these arms and stuff; you can hurt somebody real bad,” Archuleta said.
Archuleta was hurt on the job about 1½ years ago when he reached up to loosen a can, and the can smacked his leg. He has not fully healed yet, he said.
Trash fires are also a concern. Archuleta’s truck caught fire about six years ago on County Road 228, northeast of Elmore’s Corner. He was forced to dump his load and wait for firefighters to respond. He has approached trash cans to find them burning and melting from hot ash, he said. Hot ashes and other items such as batteries, paint and toxins cause problems in the back of trash trucks. They should be disposed of in appropriate places, not the trash can, he said.
Archuleta said he enjoys all aspects of the job, especially building relationships with his customers.
“That’s what’s real good,” Archuleta said. “When you get a good relationship with them.”
bmandile@durangoherald.com
