The dirt on early morning trash collection
They're emptied awfully early.
A few weeks back AOA heard from Quito via Twitter about a problem with trash trucks in her uptown Albany neighborhood.
"The DGS fleet usually hits up my house anywhere from I believe 3am to 4am. What is the reason behind this? What happens at SANE hours like 7am and later?"
Quito says she's often awakened by the noise, and that neighbors have complained about it as well.
"it starts with the trucks backing up...the beeping. Then Team Garbage or Team Recyclable launches either garbage/recyclables into the truck. Occasionally there is some yelling/communication going on between the thrower and what I assume is the driver. Then comes the launching of containers back onto the sidewalk/street/neighbor's yard/driveway in the house down the block. All of this is repeated usually 30 minutes later by the next Team Garbage/Team Recyclable. Basically lots of crashing, booming, yelling, etc. This would be understandable and I would not be angered if it were occurring at some normal hour."
She asked AOA to check into it, so we called Albany DGS.
DGS Commissioner Nick D'Antonio and recycling director Frank Zeoli say they occasionally hear complaints like Quito's.
Trash and recycling trucks hit the road at 2 AM on Wednesdays and Fridays and between 3 and 4 AM the rest of the week. Yep, right in the middle of your best dreams.
D'Antonio and Zeoli tell us there are a few reasons for that :
+ Safety for the workers on the trucks - "Being out during hours when there's more traffic flow could be more dangerous," says D'Antonio.
+ Traffic - When the trucks start at 2 or 3 AM, they can be off the road by 9 or 10. "On most of our city streets you can't get by a trash truck, so it's hard enough with just the hours we're on the road now. If we get off the road early, we're out of the way."
+ Speed/Cost - " A lot of our No Parking signs in the city leave spaces open in the middle of the night," says D'Antonio, "So it's easier to get the trash." If trucks were out dealing with parking and traffic, D'Antonio says it would take a lot longer and run into things like overtime costs.
+ Clean streets - People put their trash out at night, when they're at home, and it's gone in the morning. "If the crews left later," Zeoli says, "trash would be left laying out in the street all day."
OK... but what about all that noise during dream time
"It's a real problem," says D'Antonio, "and we're open to suggestions."
Zeoli says some of the loudest noises come from the recycling trucks, especially early on when they're emptier, because the operators have to shake the truck to shift the contents lower. "We ask the recycling crews not to do that in the middle of the street," he says. "We ask them to find a spot near the corner, or a location that's less intrusive."
Both D'Antonio and Zeoli say they talk to their crews about not yelling or using foul language -- and about trying not to disturb sleeping residents.
"I look at all of the complaints," says D'Antonio. "There have been times when guys are throwing the trash cans or the recycling bins. We do discipline folks. People have been suspended for this kind of thing."
If crews in your neighborhood are being excessively loud, you can file a complaint on the city's web site or call 434-CITY (that's 434-2489). Be sure to send it to the attention of General Services.
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Comments
Interesting- the reasoning makes sense.
I love this bit:
There have been times when guys are throwing the trash cans or the recycling bins.
"Times"? Like, always? I watch our trash collectors (who luckily come later- around 6:30 or 7) chuck our cans and recycling bin from the truck to the sidewalk every week! There are big ole chunks out of all of the containers because of this nice treatment.
... said Nic on Mar 5, 2010 at 12:46 PM | link
okay, that's cool. what can they do about the puddles of filth they leave in the streets in front of every house? in the summer it makes the streets smell like a dump.
... said ethan on Mar 5, 2010 at 12:54 PM | link
Wow. There are people actually complaining about that.
... said -s on Mar 5, 2010 at 1:06 PM | link
We go through a lidded garbage can every 2 years; you need a lid or the stuff blows out and/or the local rodents and dogs get at it. The garbage men apparently think the lid portion is either a frisbee or (if attached) an impediment to be broken off as quickly as possible. You should see our poor can - missing both wheels, big chunks taken out of the bottom, and (of course) a recently detached, mangled lid. "Suspended", yeah right...
... said Richard on Mar 5, 2010 at 1:19 PM | link
Ok, where do I start? First of all, you live in a city. Deal with it. If you want peace and quiet on trash night, live somewhere where you can burn your garbage or leave it at the end of a long, long driveway. Second, throw less away. Reuse. Compost. Mathematics shows that the heavier a can is when they pick it up, the louder and further is gets tossed when they empty it. Its inertia or momentum or kinetics, something like that. Third (and I'll stop there), go ahead and get up when they are gone. Go outside. Enjoy a quiet moment in the city night air. Its really kind of neat, especially if its snowing.
You know our garbage collectors are doing work that you and I maybe would prefer not to do, and not for great pay. Lets be thankful that we don't (yet) have to pay "directly" for this service.
Besides, my dog LOVES those puddles of filth.
... said Corey McQ on Mar 5, 2010 at 1:19 PM | link
i grew up in albany - this has always been the case - the garbage collectors always came at that early time - just got used to it - not pleasant, but a part of life..
... said cw on Mar 5, 2010 at 1:55 PM | link
I must live in the same neighborhood as Quito because there was DGS this morning, at 3:10 am, beginning the rounds. And with having a bedroom on the street, the unbearable noise of the screeching trucks is unavoidable and lasts for half an hour at a time (times 2 collections) as they make their way around the area.
And for those dismissing this complaint as something petty, your comments also show your ignorance. What I wouldn't give to enjoy the night air, but every warm weather Thursday evening, I must shut my windows or else give up an hour or more of sleep.
As nice as it would be to have such a shallow garbage footprint that neither I nor any of my neighbors would have a need for trash collection, name me a community where that is currently occuring. Your ignorance is further demonstrated by the fact that garbage burning is no longer legal in NYS.
The one recommendation I have and that I will be sharing with the city is to share the misery. I know the collection has to be done and generally speaking, the workers do a good job. But surely there are other neighborhoods that have Friday morning - or other days' - collections. Rotate the schedule so the same neighborhood isn't stuck with the 3:30 am collections every week and make the schedule public so we can see that favoritism isn't a factor (I wonder when the OGS commish's collection is...?) and can plan our night.
Sorry for venting. I think I've held in my frustration for far too long.
... said mamabird on Mar 5, 2010 at 2:27 PM | link
> And with having a bedroom on the street, the unbearable
> noise of the screeching trucks is unavoidable
Fair enough, it's not a garbage truck that you need, it's a waaaaaambulance.
... said -S on Mar 5, 2010 at 3:19 PM | link
Living in the rurals for years now, I come to the suburbs frequently to spend time with a friend and hear a trash truck come by just like in Quito's situation, but it's 6am on the dot every Monday. Not a bad time to get up. I would propose to change the law to NOT have to use the backup bell between midnight and 6am. That would fix a big part of the problem. The claxon's beep beep is there to warn clueless pedestrians that a 10 ton monster is coming at you in reverse. How many peds are there in a garbage pickup area or in snowy streets after midnight? Just drunks who wouldn't hear the beep beep anyway.
... said countryboy1054 on Mar 5, 2010 at 3:25 PM | link
The only thing that bothers me is A: yeah, the throwing of the cans/bins. B: when trash gets spilled all over the ground and left there. I think there can be a little more care taken, but I get it. Their job sucks, and hearing us bitch about it probably doesn't make them any more inclined to take care with our stuff or be quiet. I'm used to it now anyway, so I rarely wake up anymore.
... said Summer on Mar 5, 2010 at 4:20 PM | link
Anyone who has a problem with the city picking up your garbage, try having to bring your trash to the dump on the weekend, like my family did 25 years ago in CNY.
If the noise is really that much of a bother, buy some earplugs to use on trash night.
... said JiminyGuy on Mar 5, 2010 at 6:33 PM | link
Yup it's tough and it's the city and the trash is part of our taxes (could live where I paid for it). could live where the city trash people pick up the trash from the back of the house like my friend betty in the cleveland 'burbs
yup - it's noisy - and yup I have to find the trash tops in the am. and yup - i've had to navigate city streets in back of trash trucks (once for 15 minutes on Bertha street as someone was moving and their entire household was curbside - love that "free" pick up!)
but it's spelled ZEOLI!
... said Helen on Mar 7, 2010 at 10:09 PM | link
Thanks for looking into this!
... said Quito on Mar 8, 2010 at 12:05 PM | link
I think I'm the only one on my street that doesn't have a problem with a garbage can or lid being tossed around. That's because I don't use a garbage can--put my trash out using all kind of bags (dog + cat food, cat litter, bird seed). In 4 years I've never had a problem with any animal ripping them open and I don't have to drag a garbage can back into my yard.
When I moved into the city from the country I at first woke up in the wee hours when the trash + recycling was picked up, but now I'm used to it. Sometimes I'm up anyway and I've never seen the guys toss my recycling into the garbage. I agree with the comment above that it would be more of a pain in the neck if I had to schlep my trash to the dump.
Basically I think the city workers on my route are good guys and we give each other a friendly wave when I happen to be on my porch when they do their work.
... said chrisck on Mar 8, 2010 at 3:46 PM | link
Just to clarify...it's the process itself and the people in charge of putting that process in motion at 2am that I think is a tad ridiculous...not so much the workers themselves. As I said initially, "this would be understandable and I would not be angered if it were occurring at some normal hour."
... said Quito on Mar 8, 2010 at 4:31 PM | link
Really? Complaining about trash pickup in THIS city? It may not be the best time, but have you ever seen what people throw out in Albany? These guys take furniture, beds ,piles and piles and piles of trash. Let's ease up on the city for this one.
... said David Geurin on Mar 10, 2010 at 1:35 PM | link