Does anyone drive a trash truck ? what is it like ?

 

What kind of trash truck ? Packer, roll off, roll off tractor trailer, front lift, recycle truck, walking floor tractor trailer ?

 

i worked for a local trash company. laidlaw. 70-80 hr per week. overtime at 1 1/2. home everynite. garbage slop all over me everyday. lots of running and heavy lifting. steady work, often a union or city job. nasty, dirty work in all kinds of weather. someone has to do it. just not me!!

 

any kind

 

I run a walking floor into the Ontario County Landfill down the street from you Choperbob. I really don't like it that much. It's not too hard or anything it's just not my cup of tea. Constantly getting muddy, wet, dirt blowing in my eyes and hair. Being on top of the trailer trying to untarp it with the wind blowing 100 miles per hour across the landfill. Always getting yanked around the landfill with a dozer because the mud is so deep. Sweeping out the trailer while it's unloading and when it gets mostly empty the wind blows papers back into the trailer. Constantly getting flat tires and also airing up slow leaky ones everyday. Having people pull out in front of you when your grossing 100,000 lbs. Having the DOT on your ass all the time. They pulled me over last week out of the blue just to check my overweight permit. Not doing nothing wrong, just pulled me over on a state route to check my county road permit. Going the same boring route 3 round trips a day, 60 miles each trip. Forget having a clean truck what so ever. The weather is the worst part of this job. If it's raining, snowing or windy it's rather miserable. Sometimes I wonder why I came off the road for this. Yeah I'm home everyday but at least when I was OTR I had a new truck, took pride in my work, made good money, drove different places and was happy all the time, well most of the time. Sorry if my post is a little incoherent. I'm really tired and have no clue as to why I am awake right now. Probably all the money I just lost at cards. Full house is almost a lock and all of a sudden 4 of a kind shows up? wtf :lol: :lol:

 

Nothing to perk you up like a big glass of garbage juice.

 

Better to drive one than fix them.

I have a friend who years ago got a job with Waste Management as a mechanic. Union gig, great pay. The problem was, since he was lowest seniority, guess what he got to do? All the work inside and under the packer. He lasted 2 weeks, couldn't take changing hoses inside the packer among the smell and all the maggots. It was worse working under the truck, maggots and goo dripping on him all day. :lol:

As far as driving one, around Chicago the pay is around $30 an hour. The new guys start on a residential route and as they get seniority can bid on commercial routes. These are the easier jobs, they either entail picking up dumpsters with a front load truck with forks or roll offs, which is pretty easy.

 

I drove a regular garbage truck in Florida for a couple years, for a guy who had 3 trucks. the money was good and at Christmas time, we got great tips. usually a few hundred each total. then the mafia run waste management came along and the independents were all out of business.