Garbage Collector Job Description
The Garbage Collector job function is to collect and dump refuse or recyclable materials from containers into trucks. Some Garbage Collectors drive the trucks while others do the pick-up procedures.
Tasks for the Garbage Collector
- The Garbage Collector inspects trucks prior to beginning routes to ensure safe operating conditions.
- The Garbage Collector refuels trucks and adds other necessary fluids, such as oil.
- The Garbage Collector fills out any needed reports for defective equipment.
- The Garbage Collector drives to disposal sites to empty trucks that have been filled.
- The Garbage Collector drives trucks along established routes through residential streets and alleys, or through business and industrial areas.
- The Garbage Collector operates equipment that compresses the collected refuse.
- The Garbage Collector operates automated or semi-automated hoisting devices that raise refuse bins and dump contents into openings in truck bodies.
- The Garbage Collector dismounts garbage trucks to collect garbage and remounts trucks to ride to the next collection point.
- The Garbage Collector communicates with dispatchers concerning delays, unsafe sites, accidents, equipment breakdowns, and other maintenance problems.
- The Garbage Collector keeps informed of road and weather conditions to determine how routes will be affected.
Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities
The Garbage Collector needs knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs, assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction. The Garbage Collector needs knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits. The Garbage Collector must give full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times. The Garbage Collector adjusting actions in relation to others’ actions in order to determine the best procedures to do their job functions. The Garbage Collector performs routine maintenance on equipment and determine when and what kind of maintenance is needed.
The Garbage Collector needs knowledge uses logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems. The Garbage Collector selects and uses training instruction methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things. The Garbage Collector controls operations of equipment or systems used to perform their job functions. The Garbage Collector must understand written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents. The Garbage Collector must be aware of others’ reactions’ and understand why they react as they do in order to keep the operation fully functional. The Garbage Collector must have the skill to talk to others to convey information effectively. The Garbage Collector placed in charge of their crew must have the skill to monitor and assess performance of each crew member in order to make improvements or take corrective actions when necessary.
The Garbage Collector needs the ability to coordinate two or more limbs while sitting, standing, or lying down. The Garbage Collector needs the ability to quickly and repeatedly adjust the controls of a machine or a vehicle to exact positions. The Garbage Collector needs the ability to see details at close range within a few feet of the observer. The Garbage Collector must have the ability to judge which of several objects is closer or farther away from you, or to judge the distance between you and an object. The Garbage Collector needs the ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences. The Garbage Collector needs the ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand. The Garbage Collector needs the ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem. The Garbage Collector needs the ability to identify and understand the speech of another person. The Garbage Collector needs the ability to keep your hand and arm steady while moving your arm, or your two hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble objects. One of the main concerns for a Garbage Collector is the fact that they are constantly exposed to weather because much of their work is performed outdoors. The Garbage Collector is exposed to all sorts of weather and environment conditions in order to perform their job functions.