Why don't they just bring the empty one with them?!

[Trekker4747]

So I go to the dumpster today to deposit my trash only to discover it wasn't there, hauled off to be dumped.

And I got to wondering, why doesn't the truck just bring the empty one with it? It comes to the complex empty, picks up the full dumpster, hauls it 20-some miles North to the dump (I know exactly where it is), dumps it, then hauls it back and re-installs it. Probably a good, solid, 45-minutes to an hour must pass between when it picks up the dumpster and when it brings it back, time and gas wasted. So why not just bring an empty one with it? It brings the empty one, stashes it somehwere, pulls out the full one, parks it somewhere, hooks up the empty one, picks the full one back up and then goes to dump off the full one. Now, sure, this would involve a lot of time when iit comes to shuffling the bins around -a better idea would be a truck that could manange two of the dumpsters at the location. But seems to me there'd at least be less fuel waste.

 

[RoJoHen]

Wait...your truck doesn't just pick up the dumpster, empty it into the truck, and then put it back down? What kind of a garbage truck is this?

 

[Trekker4747]

Wait...your truck doesn't just pick up the dumpster, empty it into the truck, and then put it back down? What kind of a garbage truck is this?

I live in a large apartment complex it has two large industrial/comercial-sized dumpsters that are about the size of a trailer, the truck comes, hooks up to it, the driver gets out and unhooks the dumpster's connections to the compactor, loads the dumpster onto the trailer and hauls it to the dump, dumps it, then brings it back and reconnects it with the compactor unit.

 

[JonathonWally]

Probably a good, solid, 45-minutes to an hour must pass between when it picks up the dumpster and when it brings it back,

Well then don't throw your garbage out for that hour, you're then not "inconvenienced"

And are referring to a "roll off truck" You can't drop a full size dumpster anywhere, even empty it weighs a lot and will indent asphalt. I'm guessing your dumpster is on a concrete pad yes?

 

[tau136]

Probably a good, solid, 45-minutes to an hour must pass between when it picks up the dumpster and when it brings it back,

Well then don't throw your garbage out for that hour, you're then not "inconvenienced"

But how do you tell when it is going to be The Hour

 

[Kestra]

They do it to vex you, Trekker! Actually I have no idea of the mechanics at work here but there is probably a reason for whatever protocol they have. You could always call up the department and find out if you're that curious.

 

[Captain_Nick]

Life is hard

 

[scotpens]

I live in a large apartment complex it has two large industrial/comercial-sized dumpsters that are about the size of a trailer, the truck comes, hooks up to it, the driver gets out and unhooks the dumpster's connections to the compactor, loads the dumpster onto the trailer and hauls it to the dump, dumps it, then brings it back and reconnects it with the compactor unit.

That is SO COOL! I didn't know such technology existed. I guess I need to get out more.

Where I live, we have regular old garbage trucks that pick up the plastic trash cans and the dumpsters in the alley, dump the contents into the back of the truck, and put the containers back down, more or less in the same spot.

So, how does it work in your building? Do you throw all the trash down a chute and it goes into the compactor, then into the dumpster?

 

[Capn Flukie]

Maybe they just don't have the maneuvering room to do that, if they're that large.

 

[sojourner]

I live in a large apartment complex it has two large industrial/comercial-sized dumpsters that are about the size of a trailer, the truck comes, hooks up to it, the driver gets out and unhooks the dumpster's connections to the compactor, loads the dumpster onto the trailer and hauls it to the dump, dumps it, then brings it back and reconnects it with the compactor unit.

That is SO COOL! I didn't know such technology existed. I guess I need to get out more.

Where I live, we have regular old garbage trucks that pick up the plastic trash cans and the dumpsters in the alley, dump the contents into the back of the truck, and put the containers back down, more or less in the same spot.

So, how does it work in your building? Do you throw all the trash down a chute and it goes into the compactor, then into the dumpster?

"regular old...."? Why sonny, in my day we had garbage men who had to ride with the truck and manually pickup the cans and empty them. None of this high-falutin hydraulic arms stuff! Good old muscle!. And they had to drive the truck up hill! both ways!!

 

[RJDiogenes]

In my day, we had to carry our trash to the dump. And it was uphill both ways.

 

[Jetfire]

We just take our trashcans out to the curb...it is far though from the house to the curb.

 

[scotpens]

In my day, we had to carry our trash to the dump. And it was uphill both ways.

You had it easy. We didn't even have garbage cans. We had to carry the trash in our bare hands through an alligator-infested swamp to get to the garbage dump!

 

[trekkiedane]

You guys have it easy! -In my day we had to get up three hours before we got to bed and compact our trash with our teeth before we carried it with our hands to the dump ten miles away...


However, today I have to carry it up the stairs from the back yard, through the house (well, the stairwell actually) and down the stairs in front of the house twice a month -and there's three of us sharing this responsibility.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

You guys have it easy! -In my day we had to get up three hours before we got to bed and compact our trash with our teeth before we carried it with our hands to the dump ten miles away...

And you try and tell the young people of today that...and they WON'T believe you.

 

[trekkiedane]

^

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Unfortunately I didn't know how to write that with a Yorkshire accent.