Modern Times

Here is our fleet of modern, state of the art, Garbagetrucks. On the right is one of the older rearloaders that is actually still in use. With these new wonders, the "operator" (not referred to as "driver") pulls along side a can, grabs it, and dumps it into the top of the truck. Then, does it again, and again, and so forth.
This is a shot of these trucks warming up, at dawn, anticipating an exciting and productive day.
Until recently, this function was performed by a crew of 4 men, a driver, and three "pullers". Back then, the residents of this fair city had the luxury of backyard pickups. This meant that they had the option of hiding their trash in difficult locations anywhere on their properties and it would miraculously disappear once a week. This was known as "Pulling Garbage" or "Pulling a Buggy". That was how I broke into the business myself. The first change was the "rollout" step. Now all cans must be rolled to the curb (if there s a curb). The city now provides these "rollout" cans to the residents but they have to pull them to the street themselves. This was not well received in all quarters, but it is now a fact of life. Now there was a 3 man crew, a driver and 2 hands on the back. Lest one thinks this is a cruel and heartless business, there is a provision for "handicapped" pick up where a crew does the back yard thing for folks who can convince the city that they are incapacitated somehow. This is much abused of course. One of the old rearloaders is used for this and to work in the business district.
The last step, which was the plan from the beginning, was the new trucks, a one man operation.

In the future, (if there is one) we'll get into the truck.