Montgomery adds rental trash trucks to address sanitation fleet shortage

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WSFA) — A shortage of city trash trucks has Montgomery’s Sanitation Department adding temporary vehicles to its fleet, meaning residents may soon see a different look rolling up on trash day.

The city has brought in six white rental trucks as a stopgap while the department deals with maintenance needs, repairs and staffing changes.

“We got down to a shortage being less than what we need, we basically need 45 trucks rolling every day. We had gotten down below that number which was causing us to actually run. If your garbage day was normally Tuesday, sometimes it was pushing it into the next day,” said Patrick Dunson, director of public works for the City of Montgomery.

Dunson says the additional trucks are intended to help keep routes on schedule as the department works through fleet issues, including mechanics retiring and occasional accidents that take trucks out of service.

The rentals cost the city about $6,500 per month per truck, paid for with city tax dollars. The timeline is unclear for how long they will remain in Montgomery.

“We’re actually going through budget hearings, and city internal budget process now, and we have requested to purchase additional trucks but in addition to that we’re exploring other options. Long-term rentals, lease purchase, so there’s a lot of options out there and we’re looking at all the options to find what’s the most economical for the city to move forward,” Dunson said.

Dunson said the shortage has impacted service and finding replacement trucks hasn’t been easy.

“We actually reached out nationally and started looking for companies in which rent the type of truck that we use. So we were able to locate a company called BTR,” Dunson said.

Residents may notice both the new white rental trucks and the city’s familiar orange trucks on collection routes.

Dunson said the city is also looking toward mechanical improvements like adding two tippers to the trucks already in the fleet and plans to pursue additional purchases during upcoming budget discussions.

He mentions Montgomery is the only municipality in the State of Alabama that has three-day trash pickups per week.

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