Garbage man has seen many changes in valley
Ivan Warren, crew chief for Cache County’s Garbage and Rubbish Collection, has been serving the Logan area for nearly 28 years.
“I’ve seen a lot of changes,” he said.
Warren attended Utah State University and majored in recreation. He then moved to Fresno, Calif., where he became a professional scout.
After three years he said he decided to move back to Cache Valley because he loved the area. At the time the valley didn’t have many jobs to offer, so he became a garbage man and has “stuck it out” for what he said was a good retirement plan and benefits.
Warren started working on rear-load garbage trucks. He said each truck required three people: One to drive and two to throw the garbage into the back.
The rear-load truck eventually evolved into the side-load truck, where only one man would throw the garbage in.
About 17 years later automated trucks came to the Logan area, and automation has been here for the last 12 years, he said.
He has seen some “weird stuff” happen every now and then. One winter day, as Warren recalls, he went to help another driver who had a situation out on a county road. The driver told Warren there was a man taking photographs of a woman posing on a motorcycle. The woman was wearing hardly any clothing.
“We figured he was probably making a Christmas card or something,” Warren said.
He has also seen money thrown away.
“People throw away valuables,” Warren said.
They call in later and want to look for them, he said.
“Sometimes they find it, sometimes they won’t,” he said.
To be a garbage man one must possess a great deal of patience, Warren said. The driver has to pay attention not just for five minutes, but the whole time. He always has to watch out for other vehicles, he said.
“[They are in a] hurry; people can’t wait or let the truck go past,” he said.
Garbage men have to be able to handle constant stress, he said. Warren and other drivers carry around fliers, which state the “rules.” This helps during collection.
One rule in the flier is not to place hot ashes or coals in the dumpsters. Many people have either forgotten this or they don’t have common sense, he said.
Warren describes a time when someone threw away hot coals. There are two monitors in the truck, one to see the side and one to see the back of the truck.
This particular driver could see smoke coming out the back of the truck through the monitor. He tried to extinguish the fire, but the flames were beyond control.
The driver had to dump all the garbage on the street. The fire department came and put out the fire, but it left a huge mess and the driver had to clean it up.
When this occurs, the owner of that garbage container is responsible for the replacement of the container as well as the damage to the truck, Warren said.
Another rule is to place the container at least four feet from other containers, mail boxes, cars and other objects. It is difficult for the arm of the truck to pick up a container when there is something right next to it, he said.
The drivers dump 23,000 to 24,000 garbage containers each week throughout the city and county.
He said it has been a challenge to keep up with the huge growth in the valley over the last five years. Each truck driver goes to the landfill two or three times each day.
“There’s a certain amount of risk factors involved,” Warren said.
The drivers have to watch what they are doing to avoid injuries. Sometimes the driver will have to crawl on or around the truck, and they continuously have to watch for traffic.
One truck exploded from a chemical reaction, there was so much damage the driver couldn’t unload the waste, he said.
When the garbage containers get knocked over and spill, the driver has to pick it all up, Warren said. There is a risk getting cut by glass or picking up hepatitis from needles thrown away, he said.
“It’s a lot better than it used to be,” Warren said. “[They have] better equipment, so the risks are diminishing.”