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Comment by ChrisMarshallNY | Hacker News Reader

Every morning, I get up at 5, and go for a two-mile walk.

Often, my walk coincides with the route of the garbage collection truck.

Man, those dudes work hard. It makes my shoulders ache, just watching them. They are fast, energetic, efficient, and precise.

Around here, they are generally Latinos, and they have quite high-paying jobs, compared to a lot of their peers. It's a dirty, dangerous job, and the benefits are reserved for the few union members.

I appreciate them, and give them decent tips, but that is barely anything, for the work they do.

I am extremely fortunate. I've worked hard, but I have also had a lot of breaks my way.

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We should also notice that in the US, garbage collectors are routinely in the top 10 most dangerous jobs. It is extremely hazardous.

I imagine the overall health impact from this occupation is large as well, considering the weird stuff that ends up in the bin, biological factors, as well as exposure to transportation related pollutants (Carbon Monoxide, NOX, brake dust, all quite poisonous)

Consider these other factors while rating the pay.

Damn straight. Every now and then, one of them gets crushed by their own truck. I suspect that the overall health deterioration is awful.

Its especially bonkers considering this exists: youtube.com/watch?v=DSSfRUxCsG0

Search terms: one arm bandit garbage truck

This is the first I've heard of tipping trash collectors. Apparently it's a thing? How, logistically, does one even accomplish that?

Tape an envelope prominently to the top of your trash cans; or go out and catch them for a face to face chat.

What is a good tip amount? If they make decent money, would they be offended by a low tip?

Our collectors are a team of two: a driver, and a helper. The driver also usually gets out and grabs cans.

I will wait to start my walk until they get to my house, and hand them an envelope with two $50 bills.

I live in a relatively safe neighborhood and have no confidence $20 left taped to a trash can on the curb would survive the night. I guess one could tape it inside the lid? Even that wouldn't survive the night in grittier neighborhoods.

My wife said much the same thing; and we're so rural no one actually drives past our trash cans but us. We put ours out a couple hours before they come by; can't leave trash by the road overnight cuz the coyotes will scatter it all over.

Civil society vanished quick, apparently. I once knew the kind of people who would steal cars or anything else because they could; and those people would've found the notion of stealing tips low.

To be fair, I haven't experimented with leaving clearly marked cash on the sidewalk to discern whether the local thieves' code condones tip-stealing or not. (This is a Boston suburb innervated by public transit, so there's plenty of foot traffic.)

In the UK traditionally we would tip at Christmas. We would put an envelope with cash on top of the can, or better to catch the bin men in the act.

This was when they used to come onto your property with your own bins, so you saw them more. Now you have to use provided bins and leave them by the kerb so they probably get less.

Most likely by tying a bag with an envelope inside to the handle of the trash can. Or you can just run up to them if they come by at a reasonable time. People also tip postal workers, paper boys, milkmen (which still existed in my youth at least), generally anyone who takes or leaves anything at the house.

I had a fridge of meat go bad. Triple bagged it then tipped them $60 (maximal divvy potential) for dealing with it. Just tape an envelope to the can with a little note, they'll figure it out.

Maybe this is an American thing, but the trucks in my neighborhood have a big mechanical arm that grabs the trash can and dumps it. The guys only get manually involved if there's extra, or a loose bag, or something else unusual. I'm worried they wouldn't notice an envelope taped to the top under normal conditions

I think it’s setting as well. I’m in a rural (US) location and they generally have to drag the can/tote to the truck and then can use a lift from there if they need to.

They left me a thank you note at least so i had some confirmation.

For sure. I'd tip them if I saw them.

I expect that varies greatly based on location.

I don't routinely tip, but we do give a gift card at Christmas. Since our garbage guys never get out of the truck, the only way to give it to them is to run out there when I hear the truck and hand it to them directly.

Meanwhile I work hard and I haven't had a vacation in 3 years.

Also my wage sucks too, and I'm a programmer. In my country I believe being in politics would help me way more than working hard. Working hard doesn't help anyone.

Hahahaha

If you said you were Nigerian, I wouldn't be surprised at all. Politicians are the real big shots with few exceptions of course.

I'm Portuguese. It's an European country but sometimes doesn't look like it.

We get fed the notion that if we work hard, study, pay our taxes in time and etc we will be good in life. Absolute lies, a big percentage of poor people in Portugal actually have jobs and these jobs are stable...

We also have licensed workers receiving minimum wage (640€)...

How is that? Isn't the minimum vacation time in the EU around 20 days?

Yes but since portuguese economy is pure garbage companies tend to use some european programs for hire, which means professional internships, which is basically working, like doing real work for 9 months for a company without almost any right, just your "wage". So it means, no right for vacations or even to any other subsidie thats common.

Isn't portugal's economy growing? It's just a matter of time.

No, this economy is pretty much sinking. It was never growing, basically the pandemic threw us to levels worse than 2009. And people fear if isn't for the european money we will go bankrupt, like worse than Greece.

Yep. Greece feels exactly the same (I'm Greek). Most likely never going back there.

It is hard. But working physically at a reasonable pace, without having a boss that tries to break your back is also very satisfying. You’re tired in a healthy, calming way when you’re done. The conditions really matter though.

One of the most important lessons I learned is to never rush. You have to push yourself but if you rush, then mistakes and injuries happen, and you‘ll be mentally exhausted and stressed.

What I hope is that these guys you see are going at their own pace, which still can be quite fast.

It breaks your body down till your about 50 and you start to develop chronic issues which can impinge your enjoyment as you age. Dont romanticise get a workout on.

I respect them too. Here in the UK I always try to say good morning and thanks to our bin collectors.

Do you know how many hours do they do? Is it the fact that when their route is complete they are finished for the day? Because then there is a pretty good incentive to work hard and fast.

I'm trying to wrap my head around how this, and tipping, works. Here (suburb of Boston), curbside trash collection is like a 10-second affair. Do you like wait outside on a lawn chair for hours and then run up to them waving your arms and shouting over the noise of the compactor truck?

I highly doubt that they're salaried, so the incentive would actually be to take longer to make more money. A more likely incentive for them to work fast is that they'll be fired if they don't.

> It makes my shoulders ache, just watching them

Are they not using wheelie bins with trucks that do the lifting? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUA_gB5SuPc These have been the norm in West Europe for easily a decade plus.

Nope. We aren't supposed to put out cans of more than a certain size, and there's a weight limit (I think 50 lbs a piece). Many folks also put out bags, next to the cans.

On Fridays, they do a "heavy" collection, which means they pick up all kinds of crap (like old furniture).

We also have a lot of raccoons, around here, and those little bastards love garbage night. The collectors will often go the extra step, and pick up some rubbish that has been savaged by the local trash pandas.

That's pretty normal in most parts of the US, in my experience (though I've only lived in a half dozen different regions).

E.g. Every Tuesday we get a visit from four different garbage trucks. The first guy (who just came by a couple minutes ago, coincidentally) is the only one that does manual lifting. He picks up the glass bins (and incidentals like motor oil). He's just driving a superduty. Then a few hours from now the other three trucks will swing by pretty close together, one for yard, one for recycling, one for garbage. Not a one of those guys ever gets out of the truck (though they might have to on occasion -- there's a mention in the garbage service rate sheet about placing out an extra bag for a fee). But normally it's just wheelie bins, a robotic arm does all the lifting.

I can totally see, though, certain situations in a dense urban environment where wheelie bins are more trouble than they're worth. Maybe it makes sense for those guys to use the old-school truck where they pick up the can and dump it in the back.

I am in the US and I have always seen these kinds of trucks being used. Not sure where OP is that they don't use these.

Long Island, NY. I have never seen one of them.

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