Those who dream of working outside with very little supervision and riding
on the side of a moving vehicle may want to consider a career in trash collection.
Duane Thomas would encourage young people to pursue this career "if they
are up for the challenge." He has six years of experience as a city garbage
truck driver.
"The best part of the job is just doing it," says Thomas. He enjoys getting
positive feedback from happy customers and driving the truck. Collectors drive
either automated or non-automated trucks.
An automated truck uses hydraulics to lift the bin and dump the bin in
the truck. In the case of a non-automated truck, one to three people operate
the truck and load garbage by hand.
Some employers are switching over to automated garbage trucks to minimize
injury to their workers. The price of automated trucks has become more competitive,
although automated trucks cost more to maintain. That's because they have
more hydraulics and moving parts.
Other technological advances are also helping drivers. For example, cameras
on the trucks can show the driver blind spots while driving, as well as displaying
the automated arm during pick-up. A camera in the packing compartment allows
the operator to see what is going into the truck.
Jamie Williams doesn't use automated trucks. He is a driver and "pitch
man" for WSI Waste Services. But his truck has changed in another way.
"They have developed a split-packing truck so that we can pick up recycle
and compost at the same time," Williams explains.
And when he says "pick up," he means it. Without automated trucks, garbage
collectors must walk to the curb, pick up people's garbage cans and empty
them into the truck.
Depending on the route, a garbage collector could collect from 600 to 1,000
houses in one eight-hour shift. Most garbage bags are limited to between 50
and 75 pounds. Collectors with non-automated trucks must be able to lift that
weight with ease.
"I like the fact I'm outside all the time and the physical exercise,"
says Williams. "This is the best job I have done ... and I wouldn't trade
it for the world."
He says that he wouldn't encourage someone who has not done any hard, physical
work before to take up this job, "only because it is really hard on the body."
Traffic can be dangerous, too. Williams recently had the scariest experience
in his 14 years on the job. "Somebody pulled out right in front of me as
I was [driving the truck] through a green light. I had to slam on the brakes,"
he says. His vehicle crashed into the driver's-side door of the other car.
Luckily he managed to slow down and no one was hurt.
Thomas agrees that careless drivers are a major hazard for a garbage collector.
He has also been in uncomfortable scenarios with wasp nests and has been attacked
by dogs. Unhappy customers often take up their grievances with the garbage
collectors. And then there's the garbage itself.
"Not pleasant on the senses to say the least," says Thomas.
Studies show that women are currently a minority in this profession. One
2004 study indicated that women made up only nine percent of the public works
and other laborers category of workers, which includes refuse collectors.
At five-foot-two, Elizabeth Travis might not be most people's
image of a garbage collector. She says that you don't have to be big to do
the job, but you should be fit.
Travis is a manual laborer or "chucker" for a public works department.
Her job is to help the driver of the truck pick up the garbage and chuck it
into the truck -- hence the title "chucker." She also fills in for the driver
when he's away.
"Driving can be nerve-wracking," she says, noting that it's a big truck
and you have to maneuver down small alleyways and back down narrow streets.
But after driving two or three times, she says that she, "had it down pretty
good."
Travis is the only woman on her crew and works hard to keep up with the
guys. She says that her male coworkers made her feel welcome. "They even gave
me a nickname: the Lizinator."
Travis is a university student, but she took a year off to save money to
pay for her degree in education. Over the winter she worked outdoors very
low temperatures. The winter terrain was difficult and she often found herself
climbing over snow banks to get to the garbage.
"It's not like the postman who can walk down shoveled sidewalks. We're
going down back alleyways and side streets, so they're usually the last to
get ploughed," she says.
There are often surprises waiting for garbage collectors. One of Travis's
co-workers found a stuffed badger in the garbage. It was in an attack position
with its claws out. He waited until she was on a break and positioned it in
her truck's passenger seat to wait for her.
"I jumped back a few feet," Travis admits, upon viewing the angry-looking
badger. But she kept it as a mascot and even scared a few of her coworkers
with it later.
"The camaraderie of the crew is great," she says.