Cortland Standard .net

BY NICK REYNOLDS
Contributing Writer
news@cortlandstandard.net
Often working 10-hour days, trash collectors begin their workdays early in the morning.
Some large operations, such as Greg Leach’s Custom Trash Service, begin work at 5 a.m. to get a jump on the day’s work. Smaller one-man operations, like Ray Oliver’s 15-year-old business U Call It, We Haul It, begin work just as the county landfill opens its gates at 8 a.m.
Though milder weather is often a blessing for collectors, pickers, who collect garbage at curbside, are at the mercy of the elements — especially in the wintertime.
“You don’t know what cold is until you ride on the back of one of those trucks,” Oliver said. “Garbage is produced 365 days a year and we can’t stop, we have to be out there.”
In the colder months, weather can often prove a significant hindrance in getting the job done, especially when the snow begins to pile up.
“Sometimes, you have to trudge through the snow to get to the cans,” Leach said. “We tell our commercial customers to shovel around their dumpsters just so we can pull them out.”
Riding on the back of the truck as a picker comes with its own perils. Pickers need to be aware of traffic on the street both to the side and rear of their truck. Oliver, who once saw one of his co-workers hit by a vehicle while on a run, said awareness of one’s surroundings is the primary way to avoid injury on the job.
“There are always cars zooming by,” Oliver said. “Watching out for other people on the road is important, because they aren’t expecting you to step out from behind the truck.”
To ensure the safety of their crew members, Leach’s drivers take their time on their two daily runs, never exceeding 20 mph on the road. Pickers are barred from riding on the rear deck for more than a tenth of a mile. They also need to wear a safety vest to increase their visibility to other motorists.
Oliver said some areas, like Utica, have their trash collectors operate at night, when there’s less traffic, in an effort to make the job a bit safer.
The loads the pickers deal with aren’t always consistent, either. Volumes increase considerably after major holidays, Leach said. After the Fourth of July, for instance, you can tell who held a large party or gathering. Around the Christmas season, trash bins are filled with recyclables and packaging.
The changing seasons also bring their own challenges with the changing weather.
“In the wintertime, the trash can sometimes freeze in the dumpsters,” Leach said. “We can try and dump them into our truck but it just won’t come out.”
Leach also said the stench of the trash in wetter months is often amplified.
Despite the risks of their job, those in the garbage collection business find their own share of treasures. Leach collects some of the more interesting items he finds, storing them in a barn at his home or furnishing his office with them. Highlights include a samurai sword, an antique chair and a shotgun — stillfunctional.
Oliver, who said he mostly operates around student housing, said he has a window into people’s lives.
“You’d be amazed of some of the stuff people throw away,” Oliver said. “The college is brutal. You see a lot.”
Greg Leach also said he found items that were thrown out accidentally, often by sifting through recent pickups or going to the landfill. In the 1980s, he saved a Homer woman’s dentures from going to the dump. Two weeks ago, Pat Leach, Greg Leach’s son, found somebody’s collection of Beanie Babies accidentally thrown away.
“We got a good holiday bonus for that,” Pat Leach said.