Morgan County Changing to Automated Trash Trucks

Beth JettWHNT NEWS 19 Anchor/Reporter2:47 p.m. CST, November 8, 2011

Morgan County— There is good news for Morgan County when it comes to handling garbage.  Within the next few months, the county will implement a new high-tech trash collecting system.  It's a progressive move born from a tragedy one year ago.

The automated garbage trucks in Decatur are not exactly considered new technology, but they will be new for Morgan County.

"We're going automated," said Morgan County Commission Chairman Ray Long.

Tuesday morning, Morgan County Commissioners announced they're spending $1,150,000 to purchase five trucks, similar to the ones Decatur city crews have used since 1991.

The idea is to get rid of three-man sanitation crews, two of whom hang off the back of the truck as they collect garbage.
That practice turned fatal in Morgan County last December.  That's when a county inmate working on a garbage truck died on the job.

"He had run to get a can and as he was coming back to the truck was struck by a car and killed," said Long.  "That made us all start thinking, you know, we need to find a safer way to do this."

Long says county officials did research and found automated trucks would alleviate that danger, requiring only one person to drive and manipulate an arm that picks up the garbage cans.  Furthermore, Long says the new system will save enough money over time to pay for itself.

"We won't need as many personnel there," said Long.  "Of course when you do have as many personnel, you don't have as much workers comp costs, so it trickles on down."

He says he hopes to avoid any lay-offs, saying the positions that will be lost are filled by temporary workers.

The system is expected to be fully operational by may 2012.

The county plans to order 13,700 garbage cans to provide one to each household, free of charge.

The county bought the five trucks from Ingram Equipment in Pelham, Alabama.


Article from http://www.whnt.com/news/whnt-morgan-county-changing-to-automated-trash-trucks-20111108,0,3774615.story

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