FAQ on delayed trash/recycling pickups especially if your normal day is Friday

[Julia Anne Malakie]

Hi everyone,

Especially if you're in the part of West Newton with normal trash pickup on Fridays, the mayor's latest newsletter here has a link to an FAQ about the revised pickup schedule here: Trash Delay FAQ.pdf,

People with a normal Friday pickup will be able to put extra trash out in plastic garbage bags next Friday March 6 without having to use the orange overflow bags. And if you wish, put out extra recyclables in paper bags.

Below is a more detailed explanation from Sustainable Materials Management director Waneta Trabert about why other options like a two day delay of Friday routes, or doing more than one day's routes in a day would not work. I hope this is helpful.

Regards,

Julia Malakie

Ward 3 Councilor

From Waneta:

Please know that we explored all other options and none were found to be workable. The primary constraints to keep at mind are 1) a limit of 60 hours per professional driver within a 7-day period per federal DOT rules, and 2) our contractor does not have extra trucks or extra staff to allocate to Newton because all their operations were impacted (i.e., all their trucks and staff have regular assigned work, there's not extra trucks/staff to be allocated). 

 

Below in blue are details of why ideas #1 and #2 are not feasible options. 

 

1. Run 1.5 routes on Friday and Saturday, thus picking up 1/2 of the Friday residents' trash on Friday (along with the typical Wednesday route) and 1/2 of the Friday residents' trash on Saturday (along with the typical Thursday route). All Friday residents can leave their trash out on Friday and on Saturday so there's no need to communicate which half will get picked up on which day. 

 

It takes a full 11-12 hours for the contractor staff and trucks to complete one route day. There are no extra trucks or extra staff available from the contractor to provide additional service to a ½ route on any given day. 

 

2. Pick up the Friday route's trash on Monday 3/2 (thus resulting in a 3 day delay for the Friday residents) and delay all trash pick-up a day next week as a result to get back on track. 

If Friday’s collection were pushed to Monday, our contractor would not have enough allowable driving hours within the next 7-day period to complete another full 5-day cycle. We would be locked into a permanent one-day delay.

Newton drivers already work 55–60 hours per week to complete the 5-day route schedule. Federal Department of Transportation regulations cap driving at 60 hours in any 7-day period.

Shifting Friday to Monday would create this sequence:

• Friday → Monday

• Monday → Tuesday

• Tuesday → Wednesday

• Wednesday → Thursday

• Thursday → Friday

At that point, WM would have exhausted its DOT hours for the 7-day period, with no way to return to the regular schedule.

Thank you for your patience, understanding, and curiosity during this challenging situation. I hope this is helpful. Please let me know if you have further questions. 

 

Respectfully,

Waneta