Back to the basics

Well we all are at some point in our life right now .. Correct? We all traveled a road or path that got us here right? Some times it's good for us to re-visit those roads we have taken to our present point in life and re-evaluate our travels thru life thus far...
OH Fuck!! I am babbling....
I had to go and throw trash the last 3 days!! Not by choice either well listen to my story... This time of the year in the trash industry is what we call Yard waste season.. To make it short and sweet we have to hire additional drivers to pick up the yard waste which is leaves, grass clippings and small twigs. In this eco system conscious, tree hugging, bio friendly, global warmed reason to protest day and age!!! We are doing our part as waste haulers by diverting anything we can from going to the landfills ie; recycling and or Yard waste. That is why it is picked up in a separate truck and not thrown in with the regular trash headed to the landfill.
OK trash haulers 101 complete lets move on. I being in the management portion of the business in a supervisory setting.. in about February this year started planning on how many people (drivers) we need to hire to cover our daily routes and was totally ignored... next we started hauling a new town and I voiced my concerns on the fact that they bid it with not enough men and trucks to do it... I was ignored and sequestered!!! So I had to sit back and let this thing blow up. I have been working here at this facility for over 10 years and have been a leading force of where it is or where it was 2 months ago.. Now I have to let it get all fucked up just so people can see that it was being done correctly...People won't take my word for it or even give me an ear to be heard with!!! So I sat back and watched things fester and get screwed up.. I watched drivers work 12 plus back breaking hours and still had to let this happen... Well it is hard to let something you care about fall apart just for this reason and then the bombs started to drop .. drivers got hurt, drivers got sick we didn't have enough drivers to cover the routes soooo I had to go out and throw trash..
Now I don't know if you people realize how difficult of a job this is... You think Oh Big Bill has got muscles, he is strong... Well yes I do but it's not all strength. in fact some of my better drivers are the middle size guys who can move quick and keep moving for twelve plus hours!!! Wed. I threw 5 tons of Yard waste which was back breaking. Bags of wet grass weigh up to 75 lbs so figure out how many 50lbs bags on average it would take to make 5 tons or 10,000lbs.... Uhmm like 200 bags... On average!! So that was the first day someone else drove while I hung off the ass-end of the truck and jumped down and threw the Yard waste.. Oh yeah and I was also in the town of .... well it's just North of the Commanders dwelling... Thursday I went out and threw 10 tons of trash on a rear load truck much is like the one in this picture here.. Now remember our trucks run with only one guy on them.. The guy drives the truck to the pile stopping as the truck just passes the pile so it's at the back of the truck where you load said pile into the hopper or back of the truck... We have right hand drive trucks which makes it driver friendly but only so much. There are 23 steps from the stand up side door to the back and back to the steering wheel. I did about 450 or so homes that day.
On Friday I went out in a Front load truck and threw 15 tons!!! It's easier on a front load truck because eth bucket is in the front. This means less steps to the work!! Oh yeah some of you might have a toter or cart or can you rent from your Hauling company. It is much like the ones Menard's or local Hardware stores sell for about $75.00. They are big and plastic and the trucks have these mechanical things on them called Toter Tippers!! that lift these heavy ass cans up when they are full of trash.. I had one of those on my front loader .....but it was broken and would not lift any toters for me.. (the reason it was broke was because I broke it Thursday!!) Dumbass!! That was why I had a rear loader Thursday!! I took a route that didn't have a lot of toters on it but they still had a hundred or so and man that was a little difficult. Like I said I am strong and can move some weight with my muscle but to do it over and over and over takes a different kind of strength..It takes a different kind of mind set and different kind of driver... Which I guess I still possess. So after three days of this type of labor I am tired, real tired and sore, real sore!! Keep in mind there are piles of stuff out there like in the picture above. This time of the year people clean out garages and sheds and basements and put it out to be hauled away!!
I have a meeting with my boss and his boss on Tuesday so I am trying to figure out what to say diplomatically so I am heard and not shut up or sequestered.
So this is the point I am at right now... the beginning of where I started in this industry and I ..... I like it.. It makes me feel good and brings me back closer to the driver and their issues which makes me a better manager..
I believe that I will be throwing again next week until we get new or more drivers... Wish me luck and you can Kiss my tired asssss!!
Happy Holiday Bitches!!!