Sparta Garbage Routes On Hold Until Trucks Can Be Repaired

Sparta trash pickup is on hold for the rest of the week after the city ran into several issues regarding its trucks.

In an effort to alleviate trash issues, the City Transfer Station will extend its hours to 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. Superintendent for the Sanitation Department Gideon McCurry said he hopes to have the trucks back on the road by Friday. He said trucks will run Saturday to catch up if they are fixed.

“We actually had it in the shop having some hydraulic repairs done to it,” McCurry said. “And while they had the truck running looking at the Hydraulics, the fan broke and sent a piece into the radiator and busted the radiator.”

Another truck’s pulley system is being worked on and is down. This is not the first time the trucks have been down this year.

“You have problems with these trucks, it doesn’t matter if they are new or older trucks,” McCurry said. “The one truck that’s got the radiator issues, that truck the first two years we had a lot of problems out of it when it was new. It’s not something limited to an older-use truck, but with age you do get more repairs that have to be done to the truck.”

The cost of the repairs is something the city budgets for every year.

“It varies from year to year,” McCurry said. “They kind of base it off of the previous year’s repairs and then, of course, the vehicles that we have.”

McCurry said there is no long term solution to trucks breaking down. He said its a constant battle to keep the trucks on the road whether they are new or old.

“We’re doing all that we can,” McCurry said. “I’ve got guys going in several different directions trying to get these trucks back on the road, and just as soon as we can get them back up and running, we will be out picking up trash.”