There was a time in the 80s when Mount Holly had its own trash trucks. As the extremely expensive trucks came to the end of their life cycle, Town Council decided to privatize the service.
When this new company started its service, we had a problem here on Garden Street. There is no road “shoulder” on the westbound lane. But the staff would take the can off the sidewalk and leave it in the street. This forced westbound traffic to cross over the yellow line to avoid hitting the can.
At first I complained to our township. They answered the phone initially. And I received a promise that the issue would be resolved. It wasn’t. My calls in successive weeks were not even answered, and messages I left were not returned. The problem continued. Eventually I reached out to our Township Clerk, but she refused to give me a contact for the waste hauler so I could speak with them myself.
So I started digging and eventually I found the right person at Interstate Waste Services. And while the problem lingered for a while after my initial contacts with Interstate, eventually they got it straightened out. I was very pleased with their responsive outcome.
And today, I happened to meet an Interstate worker as the truck was passing through Buttonwood Street. I noticed this employee was lifting bags out of the can and placing them in the back of the truck. Then he lifted the entire can and emptied it into the truck. So I asked if the hydraulic lift was broken.
“No, its too slow.” Interstate Waste Employee
I was stunned at this answer. They move faster using his manual method, but over the course of a whole shift, lifting all that waste by hand must amount to an enormous total weight. I hope there are cash or time incentives for this kind of initiative.
So far, I have found that Interstate Waste Hauling has a good service ethic. I am glad Mount Holly got them.