even the best of us has a trashy side.
Because the average American
will produce about four pounds of it
each and every day.
And while that may not seem like much,
it adds up fast.
If garbage collection were to stop for just a single day,
it would leave 700,000 tons of trash
festering across the country.
That’s why companies like MDI
know it’s essential
to keep up with the constant flow of our waste.
But in Southern Alabama,
one of their roll-off drivers Randy Burgess,
has bitten off a bit more than his truck can chew.
- Way too heavy.
When it picks up the front end of the truck,
that’s a no no.
- [Mike] Randy’s truck can hoist up to
12 tons of construction waste,
which apparently is about 12 tons shy
of what he’d need to lift this container.
There’s only one solution.
- This one’s not going nowhere
until they take some of it out.
You know, I’ll set it back down and go talk to this
Bobcat operator real fast and
ask him to get some of it out of there.
- [Mike] Randy’s too busy for setbacks like these.
But, if he makes his other run first,
he might just have time to circle back
to this container today.
- Hey man, this can is way to heavy man,
I’m gonna have to come back later on.
If you just wouldn’t mind
getting a little bit out of there for me,
I’d appreciate it man.
- Okay.
- All right. - I appreciate it man.
(upbeat music)
Gotta plan it where I can get back over here
and pick it up later.
So that way we don’t fall behind on our day tomorrow.
So I’m gonna go,
go to the next thing on the list.
We’re burning daylight.
- [Mike] Like time and tide,
trash waits for no man.
So, while the load in this container is lightened
Randy heads to the far side of town
to make his other pickup.
But making good time in a 16 ton truck,
easier said than done.
- People see you come,
they usually, they usually get out of your way.
But, you just gotta be aware of your surroundings.
Yeah it can be,
it can be challenging to get in and out of tight spaces.
But if a can’s sitting in a tight space, you know,
then you think right away,
well the can got in there,
so it’s gotta be able to get out of there.
- [Mike] Sounds logic,
but it doesn’t take into account
unexpected roadblocks.
Like say a mid-sized SUV?
- Oh great.
Somebody else has slowed down my day.
There aint no way I’m gonna be able to get to that can
with that vehicle parked in my way.
Sir? Excuse me,
is this your vehicle over here?
(indistinct) That’s not yours?
All right, thank you sir. - You’re welcome.
- Hold me down. Slow me down.
Making a long day already longer.
- [Mike] Back in town,
another route is well underway.
Thanks to the skilled hands of driver Lee Bryant.
- [Lee] Just tell me if it hurts.
- [Mike] Lee’s specialty is collecting trash
from the many dumpsters around town.
And to do it,
he relies on a kind of truck
that’s aptly named a front-loader.
Unlike other rigs,
the front loader comes equipped
with a hydraulically powered fork,
that lifts containers overhead
and dumps them into the back.
And with the entire MDI fleet low on staff today,
like the rest of his colleagues,
Lee’s taking on extra stops.
- You know, everybody gotta pitch in and do their part.
Sometimes just that’s just the way it rolls.
That’s just the way it works.
So you just gotta have a clear mind,
a relaxed mind
and get the job done.
- [Mike] All told,
Lee has 150 dumpsters to empty today,
which is 50 more than usual.
And all that trash is due at the landfill by,
you guessed it, five o’clock.
It should be doable,
so long as he sticks to his routine.
- Here we go.
I’m gonna align myself up,
with this can before I lower my fork.
I kinda bump the can a little bit.
This will make sure that if it gets to somewhere
where there is a person or an animal.
So, I have been in some instances
where people have jumped out of cans.
- [Mike] Having confirmed that
this dumpster is devoid of any life forms,
Lee gets down to business.
- So, you just take your time.
Get your can up.
We’re gonna do it as quiet as we can,
and as quick as we can,
so we can get out of here.
Another satisfied customer.
- [Mike] But, with 50 new stops today,
just finding some dumpsters
could take longer than servicing them.
- I’m gonna approach another stop here.
This is an unfamiliar stop.
It’s on another route.
I have to find out where the cans at.
I know it’s somewhere in this plaza.
I just gotta kinda see where.
What we’re looking for here.
- [Mike] Well the good news is,
Lee found his dumpster.
The bad news?
Location, location, location.
- Let me see what I have to do here,
just give me a sec, okay?
This is gonna get tight.
(bright music)
- [Mike] Across town,
fleet mechanic Lee Skipper
is on his way to help out another front-load driver.
One that seems to be having trouble with his truck.
(upbeat music)
- So when a truck goes down,
instead of bringing them all the way to the shop,
we try to go out and assess the problem,
maybe we can fix them on the,
you know, in route.
That way they can continue on route,
so we’re not backing up.
I’m hoping this is gonna be a quick fix
because we’re supposed to
fix the radiator on another truck,
that’s gotta be running today.
(upbeat music)
All right, there he is right there.
Oh boy.
What’s up my man?
- Sounds like I got an oil leak.
I can’t get the forks to move up or down.
- All right, do you wanna shut it down?
Let’s see.
And do it that way again.
No, with the way it’s not working down.
How’s that? (intense dramatic music)
Do it one more time,
hold it down.
Seen it.
- [Mike] Lee’s heard this sound
more times than he can count.
And it usually means one thing.
- Sounds like he got an air leak.
Like it may have gotten to hot.
Them trucks got through a lot of air on them.
So eventually the air compressor gets hot,
you got so much pressure on it,
that eventually it just blows a hole in it.
So I’m hoping that’s what it is,
that’d be an easy fix.
For today anyway,
and to get us back going.
(upbeat music)
We have a line here that is bloated.
Looks it’s been rubbing on
the inside of the controls here.
All right.
Yeah, it’s been rubbing.
It’s burned a hole right into it.
So, let’s see if I can get me some connectors
and re do it, fix it.
(upbeat music)
Oh lets see here.
Reconnecting this hose back,
just splice it in.
That way we can get his hydraulics going,
that way we can hurry up
and get him back on the road
on his route.
All right,
that’s all done.
All right, let’s see by
cranking her up see what it’s gonna do.
- All right, fire up. (engine sputtering)
- All right.
- Go ahead and move that.
- Oh yeah.
- All right.
All right man,
you get any problems, just holler at me.
See ya.
It’s another day. And anything could happen.