Trash Talk

The more I watch Youngstown sanitation workers pick up the trash, the more I think there must be a better way to collect the detritus of life that's deposited at the curb weekly.

In Tucson we had standardized trash cans—large, rolling, available from the City. No deviation from the standard. They were to be placed at the curb so there was a three-foot clearance on either side of the can.

The truck was driven by a sanitation worker who never left the driver's seat. He drove up alongside the can and pulled a lever that extended the truck arms. The arms grabbed the can securely, lifted it into the air over the truck, and emptied it into the open top of the truck. Bam. Boom. Done!

The last time I was home when the Youngstown truck came by, I noticed the driver put the truck into park, get out and walk around the truck to the curb. His routine: He picks up any bags that have been left there, then he opens up any existing cans. The cans are all mismatched; there is no standard. If there are bags in the cans, he lifts them out of the cans and throws into the truck. Once the bags are light enough to lift, he dumps the contents into the truck. Then he gets back into the cab and drives to the next house.

Okay, let's do a little time study. Think about the amount of time it takes the Tucson truck to grab and dump the can and then move on to the the next house. Now compare that to the amount of time it takes to shift the truck into park, get out (while successfully dodging oncoming cars), walk around and pick up five or six bags and several cans, then dodge cars again and get back into the cab to drive to the next house.

If I were voting on the smartest way to pick up the city garbage, I'd vote for the techniques Tucson employs.