LFG

80% of our trash comes in on tipper trucks, we have two of them

For anyone that doesn't know, a tipper is a stand alone piece of equipment that the tractor trailers back onto to dump their loads in the landfill. Most dump the trailer after the truck uncouples, but some will lift the entire truck and trailer When that deck is in the down position, it is normally angled from back to front, so the trucks have to back slightly uphill. The big blue wall the truck is backed into is called the backstop, and the way I read that story the employee was pinched between the truck and the backstop. It's doubtful the truck was in neutral with the brakes off and just rolled into him. This is just a very sad, scary story, and another sad example that I shared with all of my operators at lunch today. We see 130-160 trucks per day, and several times per day we will interact with these trucks with either a man on the ground, or a piece of heavy machinery. Trucks can get stuck and have to be pushed or pulled, spotters will be on the ground, trash can get hung in the chute in the tipper... The cardinal rule is always make contact with the driver before doing anything around, or to, their truck. Landfills are busy places, trucks and equipment never stop moving. Many drivers get paid by the load, not by the hour, so everyone is in a hurry. We deal with a lot of weight and a lot of horsepower, so very few accidents are small. Almost every accident results in significant damage to equipment, and my fear is always what would happen if it ever involved a man on the ground. This is what would happen. It's so sad. It's a preventable accident, and if a driver was in fact driving the truck when it ran into that man, he will have to live with that for the rest of his life. I wouldn't wish that on anyone, and my biggest fear is having to call one of my employees' wives one day and tell her daddy isn't coming home

Crushed on the tipper? Man, that's awful... Does anyone know if they have a tipper operator that works for the landfill, or if the drivers operate the tipper themselves? I'm trying to figure out a scenario where someone would be between the truck and the back of the tipper. That's a horrible accident that someone else probably has to live with

Been silently following this for months, and I've been a good boy, but I can't take it any more... Hey Faith! Did you know Grandma is going to make you use cheap paper plates and spray perfume in your toilet water?

$695,000? One week across the scales...

This is the time of year where we give our PowerPoint presentations to the big wheels, show them what changes we have made that are going to make us better the following year. I have an entire slide devoted to one topic. We were finally allowed to make drastic cuts in one specific area, and after only 8 months there is a noticeable difference in not only stability, but also a reduction in costs associated with the after effects of that material once it is placed in the landfill. These changes were not made just at my site, but were mandatory nationwide, with severe penalties for anyone violating the new policies. It will never be said out loud, but there is not a doubt in my mind that the ripples that caused these changes originated from a little mountain town in PA. Thank you for making noise

You didn't accidentally burn it with the tutu, did you?

I think either of those is more appropriate than my original CAT avatar. Honorable mention, of course, goes to my brief time with your avatar. For those who really paid attention, Vader's daughter designed one especially for me that I sported for a short while

One of my favorite experiences here was the avatar change, I lost a bet on a football game. It was so appropriate that I kept it. I miss Watoos

Very true. And y'all got a new pet monkey

Thanks bass

This is how I found this website. I heard about it the day it happened, and the only thing that came up on my Google search was a thread by mr.d. The original thread got lost when the site changed the format I came here with the best of intentions, I can only blame myself for everything that followed...

Field hands have been screaming for years. As these landfills get older, taller, and heavier, we are beginning to pay for the sins of the past. Current regulations were passed in 89, which in the life of a landfill was not that long ago, but waste streams have changed drastically in that time. If you are in the field you can see what is happening, but it doesn't show up on a spreadsheet or earnings report. It's a shame that this had to happen to get upper levels to notice, but at least they have noticed, and in our case are making changes. I'm taking half of a certain waste stream compared to last year. It's a budget killer to lose that revenue, and will cost me personally several thousand dollars this year, but next year I will move forward with a safer, more sustainable landfill. It was worth it

The other landfill thread made me think about this one. There have been drastic, sweeping changes across the country in hundreds of landfills that I know of this year. Millions of dollars in business has been turned away for the sake of safety. Everyone in the industry knows what happened up there, and knows why it happened. If any of Billy's friends or family are still reading this thread, just know that my job is now safer after the tragedy up there. This isn't how any of us wanted it to happen, but good has come of it, and will benefit thousands of people for years to come