Efficient Trash Trucks Sought In Greenburgh

[x635 4,066]

I don't think that this type of truck will do well on the tricky streets of Greenburgh. There are places in Greenburgh where this type of truck can never replace the conventional method But, as the article mentions, it seems to be succesfully in White Plains, so who knows.

Efficient trash trucks sought in Greenburgh
Jan. 18, 2013
Written by Greg Shillinglaw, LoHud.com

GREENBURGH — Don’t be surprised next year to find a futuristic garbage truck headed down your street, sporting a joystick-controlled mechanical arm capable of hauling away almost all the trash you have to offer.

Read More: http://www.lohud.com/article/20130119/NEWS02/301190074/Efficient-trash-trucks-sought-Greenburgh?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|Frontpage|s&nclick_check=1

[newsbuff 286]

I could see this working great and a good cost saving measure. I just hope the town sticks to their word and doesn't lay anyone off.

[BFD1054 1,552]

This has come up in the past and with anything else, there are pro's and con's.

A major pro would be the reduction of worker injuries and subsequent loss of time.

Con's:

Upfront cost of the trucks.

Upfront cost of the garbage bins (approx $50 X each household)

Homeowners MUST place their bin in a position that the trucks arm can easily and safely reach. If not, the driver will be forced to exit the truck to move the bin or simply leave the bin and drive off.

With a 1-man truck, who will be tasked with sifting/sorting out the trash? Where i work, we are strictly limited as to what we can and can not pick up. If we are caught with excessive amounts of non-accepted material (i.e. paper, plastics), we are subject to fines.

While this system sounds great and sounds as if it will be time saving, i am skeptical. I just don't see how 1 truck with 1 man can do the job of 1 truck with 3 men?

With 1 truck and 3 men, we are able to drive down a street picking up trash bins on both sides of the street.

A 1 man truck with its "arm" on just one side, will have to drive up and down each street to collect trash, thus taking longer.

A major concern of mine, being a Union DPW employee, is job security. As newsbuff said, i just prey that the Town sticks to their word of keeping jobs and not initiating lay-offs.

[wraftery 1,275]

The Hampton Roads area (Norfolk, Vrginia Beach, Chesapeake, etc) have been using this system for many years and it is probably a success or they would have trashed it, pardon the pun.

I actually have two containers, one for trash, one for recyclables. Populations in these cities range from 450,000 to 250,000 and they all range from industrial to suburban to urban to rural. I think the containers are .9 cubic yards.

They are pretty good at handling trash, but are garbage at handling snow.

[Bnechis 3,961]

This was tested in New Rochelle and they found it worked well in some areas and not at all in others. Areas with tight windy streets, heavy street parking and overhead wires (cable & phone) made it useless

[Jared1979 19]

These trucks are useless if you have bulk trash like furniture at the curb

[fire2141 33]

I now live in Hopewell Junction and they have had these trucks for years. From what I hear they are rather trouble free, as far as sorting, everyone has two bins, one for normal refuse and the other for recyclables. The recycle bin is single stream recycle and it gets sorted out at its destination. The thought of this being more people will recylce if they don't have to sort. This is all being done by a private carter, Royal carting. I guess if a for profit vendor finds these vehicles profitable there should be no reason government can't.