Picking Up by Robin Lang all about Department of Sanitation New York City

Leach 2R1 first generation Leach Packmaster heavy duty high compaction rear loader at CBGB OMFUG in the summer of 1977 at 4am in the morning picking up the garbage at bar close. The late 1950s and 1960s and 1970s were the start of the modern day super heavy duty high compaction rear loaders. This was the middle of the first generation of high compaction rear load packing trucks.

 

Because of it's wide throat and high compaction rate and durability the Leach 2RII packer body is a popular choice among most private garbage and demolition haulers in NYC.

 

Whats interesting about NYC is all the rear load garbage trucks and how few front load commercial trucks you see. What else is interesting is there really is no Waste Management or Republic Services in NYC the mafia made it crystal clear to the head hancos of those places that they weren't welcome in NYC and if they moved in they would be dealt with.

 

Is that an every month or couple of week occurrence?

 

1.5 Ton Municipal Snow Plow Dump Trucks.

I think the city of Rocky River, maybe getting ready to part ways with these units. These look like circa 2005 model year units, They have the snow plows in the back. We've been having a really light winter this year almost no snow at all, so they probably figured since were not using them for snow and they probably have the budget set and approved for new ones in the works they may have shipped them out to the auto shop around the corner from my house for minor work or to be stripped down. They have been there a couple of days now and it's odd I've not known of the city of Rocky River no less to send stuff like that to the auto shop near my house considering they have there own mechanics and those trucks have been there since Monday. They might be getting ready to send them to the auction block, they probably have some life left, but there also getting a little beat in the dump beds.

They use those 1.5 ton dump trucks for work around the city and also to do snow removal on side streets and secondary streets. During a snow storm the big 3.5 ton dump trucks:

Take care of the main roads, and the smaller 1.5 tons keep doing side streets. Then eventually once the main roads are taken care of the bigger 3.5 ton trucks make a trip down the side streets as well.

 

Snow Fighting

Well it's winter and darn it if there isn't any snow in my neck of the woods, were still going to talk about snow fighting anyhow, because well, the snow fighters are all in a mood to do some snow fighting.

By the way this video was shot at this time last year January 19 2019 I was the one who made the video.



Sunday January 20 2019

This video is not the best but you can see the City of Fairview Parks newer heavy 10 ton International Snow Plow and there 2012-2013ish 3.5 ton snow plow, plowing Ohio Route 10 Lorain Road.


So anyhow I've been watching a little bit about sports on Netflix, I'm pretty ignorant about sports, but I started watching Friday Night Tykes on Netflix which is about the Texas Youth Football Association and I don't so much care about football, but I am interested in the coaches and how they coach and how they do things and snow fighting is a lot like coaching a sports team in a way. In fact for some the rest of the year is in preparation for snow season.

I bought a new snow blower this year which is why we've gotten no snow. Now there's still time and so far we've always gotten our average so maybe later on will get dumped it could still happen. But I think everybody now is getting a little restless.

I know ODOT there chomping at the bit, because snow season is there season everything else is just busy work the rest of the year. Of course we have all this fancy new gear ready to go so it's like insurance against the snow lol.

Anyhow in keeping in mind with coaching sports were going to talk about how city governments coach there troops during a major snow event. There's a great section from Robin Nagles Book Picking Up that I want to leave right here:

"During a brief, sloppy December storm that sent the department into battle mode, I was assigned to a team sent to tandem plow a section of the Bronx River Parkway. We climbed an entrance to the northbound side and spread out. The first truck tucked as close as possible to the far left gaurdrail, it's plow-like all our plows angled to the right. The second truck positioned it's left front tire behind the first trucks right rear. The third plow was similarly lined up behind the second. I was fourth; behind me and hard up behind me and hard up against the gaurdrail on the right was the last truck. The flow and dump , following us in the middle of the highway with it's spindle set for maximum coverage, was sending a blanket of salt across all three lanes.

Leading us was a young foreman I did not know, while the district super rode next to, ahead of, and behind us.

The world was painted grays, browns and sooty whites. Our chains chirped steadily, like the beginning of a 1950s Christmas ditty, while my long windshiled wipers opened wide and slapped together, as if praising and supplicating over and over.

Slush on the road ahead of us was thick. The first plow sent a rooster tail of it into the path of the second plow; The second plows tail was a little bigger. The third plow created a curl taller then the truck, which I turned into a still bigger, more extravagant wave before the last plow sent it vaulting over the right lane gaurdrail. We were a mighty force, clearing all that stood before us. Maybe God used invisible tandem plows to part the Red Sea for Moses lo those many years ago.

We couldn't stop traffic-it was just before eight o'clock on a weekday morning, and this was a major commuting route-but we commanded the road. Cars driving behind or next to us were temporarily trapped. Sometimes a gap opened between tow of the trucks and a motorist tried to slip by, but to pass the entire quintet, she had to run the momentarily blinding wall of mush rolling off the plow to her left. I was impressed with the moxie and foolishness of those who attempted it. Cars at off-ramps didn't anticipate us, though they couldn't have moved even if the did.

The tsunami-like breaker rolling off the last plow resembled muffled machine-gun fire when it hit the sides of the cars, making them shiver one after the other like dogs shaking off water.

At our turnaround point, we followed the foreman off the exit, pulled over to a side street, climbed down to stretch, and listened to a pep talk of sorts. I suspect it was his first storm in his new title.

"You gotta bust out this ############!" He pounded his first into his palm. "Get up tighter behind, don't let no space open up between yuz! We got this ########## highway!" You gotta get this ##### of a storm, we have it, this ############ is ours!"

Nagle Picking Up Copyright 2013 FSG Publications Page 196 and 197.

"No one has been on collection for a few days or, in the case of a really big storm, a few weeks-but New Yorkers have been generating trash as steadily as ever, and the piles are immense. It's time to chase garbage. Large bag stops load out may trucks, but those are realitivly easy. More difficult are the house to house routes. After even a short time without collection, accumulations from normally tidy lines of bags or cans will have been investigated and spread around by dogs, rats and scavengers. Undone trash strewn from stoop to street adds to a sense of impending decay. "

Nagle Picking Up Copyright 2013 FSG Publications Page 198.

As you can see it's just like coaching a sports team only battling snow.


City of Milwaukee, Wisconsin Department of Public Works Crane Carrier Corp garbage truck plowing snow in 2013.