Trash cans filling up in Sumner parks? A small garbage truck is on the move

A new city-owned vehicle is saving Sumner some money — and keeping the city’s streets and parks clean.

At 8 cubic yards, the small garbage truck was purchased from Solid Waste Systems and debuted last month, making bi-weekly trips to garbage cans along the Sumner Link Trail, Main Street and all of Sumner’s parks.

“We thought this would be great time savings and labor savings,” said Jeff Steffens, financial services manager for the city of Sumner.

Previously, the city was using a flatbed truck to pick up the trash.

“It would take two guys pretty much all day to do that,” Steffens said.

On busy days, the crew couldn’t make it through the entire Sumner Link Trail before having to double back and remove trash they just emptied that day.

It was also a toll on the body.

“They were lifting full garbage cans up to a flatbed truck,” Steffens said.

Now, the crew can do the route in half the time. The new truck can also compost its own trash, cutting the city’s dumpster pickup expenses by half.

At $105,000, the new truck saves the city $50,000 a year and is expected to be paid off in two years. The truck can last up to ten years before needing to be replaced.

Communications director Carmen Palmer said that the garbage truck is one of the ways the city thinks about how to improve its budget.

“A city has to think about the grand plan and all the details,” Palmer said. “I think this is one of those details.”

The truck can be spotted on Mondays and Fridays as the crew makes it rounds in Sumner.

This story was originally published August 9, 2017 at 2:53 PM with the headline "Trash cans filling up in Sumner parks? A small garbage truck is on the move."