INC NEWS - [pac2] Trash Pickup

[Colin Crossman]

I have another thought regarding the ability of the one-man truck to 
determine when a bin is collectible:

Recently, there's been some discussion regarding the compensation of the 
solid waste collectors.  As I recall, they're on a task system, whereby 
they receive fixed compensation for completion of their allotted 
routes.  Any work after that, is paid overtime.  This creates an 
incentive problem - the worker has the discretion to say that your bin 
is uncollectable, thus speeding his route, and increasing his potential 
for overtime (paid at time-and-a-half).  Because the collector can hide 
behind the imprimatur of "safety," there will be little scrutiny of his 
decision.

It costs us more to have less trash collected, and increases it by the 
safety and health hazard of uncollected refuse piling up in resident's 
bins & houses.

-Colin Crossman
Walltown

Leslie Page wrote:
> I live on Sprunt Ave. in Watts Hillandale and have no off-street 
> parking available.  I believe my car was hit by the mechanical arm 
> garbage truck recently.   The rear view mirror on the driver's side 
> was pushed backward all the way against the windshield and the hood of 
> my car has a long black skid mark across it, approx. height of the 
> arm.  I agree with Colin that the city should rethink its policy on 
> using this type of truck in our urban neighborhoods.  They were 
> clearly not designed for neighborhoods where there are lots of cars 
> parked on the street. 
>  
>
> Leslie S. Page, Broker, ABR, e-Pro
> West Durham Realty, LLC
> President-Elect, Durham Regional Association of Realtors®
> 919-286-9400 office
> 919-602-1963 cell
> 919-882-9105 fax
> mailto:Leslie at WestDurhamRealty.com
> http://www.WestDurhamRealty.com <http://www.westdurhamrealty.com/>
>
>     -----Original Message-----
>     *From:* pac2 at yahoogroups.com [mailto:pac2 at yahoogroups.com]*On
>     Behalf Of *Colin Crossman
>     *Sent:* Saturday, May 27, 2006 8:42 AM
>     *To:* WalltownCAC at yahoogroups.com; inc-list at durhaminc.org; PAC2;
>     walltown at googlegroups.com
>     *Subject:* [pac2] Trash Pickup
>
>     All-
>
>     I am writing to express my concern regarding the new policies in the
>     Solid Waste department.  Formerly, people would trail the truck and
>     would bring the bins to the truck.  The city has since begun to use
>     trucks equipped with a mechanical arm to pick up the trash bins. 
>     Perhaps due to the use of these new trucks, it appears now that
>     having a
>     vehicle parked within 10 feet of a trash bin is sufficient to
>     cause the
>     bin to be left full.
>
>     My concern is this: in communities, such as Walltown, where the
>     primary
>     parking area is on the street, there is little room left for the
>     trash
>     bins to be placed to satisfy this constraint.  Additionally, as
>     many of
>     us have jobs during the day, there is nothing that we can do to
>     prevent
>     a neighbor or a visitor from parking in a way so as to prevent
>     pickup of
>     our trash bin.  For example, I noticed that on Clarendon street
>     alone,
>     between 1/4 and 1/2 of the trash bins were not collected last
>     Thursday,
>     judging by the number of green tags on bins.
>
>     This is unacceptable and it is a health hazard.  It is easy for
>     anyone
>     to see that the use of this method of mechanical arm trash
>     collection is
>     improper for communities where primary parking is curbside.  The
>     Solid
>     Waste department should rethink it's approach to implementing these
>     devices, and retask them to communities that have are more suited for
>     them, such as those where people have driveways.
>
>     Thank you,
>     Colin Crossman
>     Walltown
>
>
>
>
>
>
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