Exhausting Regulations 

By Sean Kilcarr

It's going to be a busy summer for Billy Cecil, equipment performance director for Houston-based Waste Management (WM). That's because he's the man in...

Dangerous Scratches 

Bruce. A Hooker

In Real Estate, the saying goes that location is everything. The same holds true for dumpsters and roll-off boxes. Where a dumpster or roll-off box is...

An Automatic Decision? 

By Kim O'Connell

AS SOCIETY BECOMES more computerized, people often lament the fact that old-fashioned manpower is being replaced by machines. In the solid waste industry,...

Greening Garbage Trucks 

Jim Cannon

EACH WEEK, more than 100,000 refuse collection trucks drive down virtually every street in the United States to remove the clutter, smell and health risks...

Alleviating Growing Pains 

Eric Grotke

ST. LUCIE COUNTY, FLA., a scenic region on the Treasure Coast, is considered paradise by many of its residents. The combination of beautiful scenery and...

How Convenient 

Larry Karigan-Winter

RURAL AREAS FACE UNIQUE CHALLENGES when managing solid waste. Faced with all-too-easy illegal options such as burning and dumping, a lack of solid waste...

When Disaster Strikes 

By Kim A. O'Connell

JUDGING BY THE IMAGES ON TELEVISION, last fall's hurricane season was marked by chaos and confusion. With federal, state and local responders on the ground,...

Getting Tough 

Annie Gentile

ACCORDING TO DETECTIVE JIM VANANDE of the Charlotte County, Fla., Sheriff's Office, it costs about $150 to dispose a truckload of trash at the county...

The Road Less Injured 

By Sean Kilcarr

Thanks to the new emission control technology to reduce exhaust pollution, the cost of refuse trucks is about to get higher maybe $5,000 to $10,000 higher....

One Size Doesn't Fit All 

By Lynn Merrill

WHEN CONSIDERING a move to an automated collection system, it may be tempting to stock a fleet with identical vehicles to standardize operations and reduce...

FLATTENING OUT 

By Michael Fickes

WHEN A CAR RECENTLY BACKED OVER THE SAFETY RAILS at a push-pit style transfer station in Snohomish County, Wash., no one was surprised, and fortunately...

Help Wanted 

By Randy Woods

FOR THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS, the soaring costs of fuel have spiked the blood pressure rates of collection managers. Going forward, however, the biggest...

Roundtable Talking Transfer Stations 

By Waste Age

As more and more landfills have closed across the country, transfer stations have grown in number, profile and importance in the solid waste industry....

Texas Hold'em 

By Billy Gil

AUSTIN, TEXAS, HAS LONG BEEN CONSIDERED THE JEWEL of the Friendship State. Nestled smack in the middle of the biggest state in the continental United...

Commercial Appeal 

By Kim A. O'Connell

COMPETING FOR COMMERCIAL contracts might seem relatively easy for some. Big name hauling companies often have such extensive contracts with businesses...

The AFTERMATH 

By Michael Fickes

WHEN DISASTERS STRIKE, a community's first call might not be to a waste company. However, maybe it should be, as several haulers have proved during recent...

Site Savvy 

Karl R. Hufnagel

WHEN A COMMUNITY LEARNS that a transfer station will be built next to an airport, it might not welcome its new neighbor. But thanks to savvy planning,...

Best Buys 

By Michael Fickes

EVERY PURCHASING EXECUTIVE that buys heavy equipment can remember an expensive blunder that he or she has made over the years. Perhaps the purchasing...

Top of the Heap 

By Randy Woods

SOLUTIONS TO COMMON equipment problems can sometimes create unintended challenges for waste haulers. Consider, for example, the lowly truck tarp. What...

A Collection Conundrum 

Wendy Angel Associate Editor

WHEN LOVELAND, COLO., decided to upgrade its collection equipment a few years ago, city officials hoped to make sanitation workers' jobs easier. Instead,...

A Family Affair 

By Wendy Angel

WHEN YOU LOG ONTO Cincinnati-based Rumpke Consolidated Cos.' Web site [www.rumpke.com], the first thing you see is the smiling face of CEO Bill Rumpke...

TRASH ON SPEED 

By Michael Fickes

TWO NEW TRANSFER STATIONS, one in Puente Hills, Calif., and the other in Washington, illustrate a coast-to-coast trend toward larger, more productive...

Bidding Goodbye? 

By Kim A. O'Connell

ALTHOUGH PRIVATIZATION HAS long been hailed as a dominant trend in waste collection, the reality is much more fluid and complex. Sioux City, Iowa, for...

Driving Down Waste 

Amy L. Bellas MPS Group Inc. Detroit, Michigan

WASTE COMPANIES DON'T necessarily fuel America's automobile industry, but by becoming specialists to automotive companies, they have been reaping rewards...

BUYING the RIGHT BALER 

By Lynn Merrill

BALERS ARE THE LAST STOP for most recyclables moving through any processing center, whether the facility is the local grocery superstore or a 1,500-ton-per-day...