City of Anoka
School Buses Heavier Than Garbage Trucks
At the January 23, 2020 open house meeting that only a handful of people attended, City manager Greg Lee continued his single vehicle focus of attacking the garbage truck as the "boogie man" causing road damage. City manager Greg Lee proclaimed, "Garbage trucks are by far the heaviest vehicle that will be operating on your residential street on a routine basis."
City manager Greg Lee provided not one shred of proof to support his claim. Since he did not invite anyone from the industry to speak at the open house like former City manager Tim Cruikshank did in 2015, there was no one to answer or challenge his claims. It certainly appears that City manager Greg Lee planned this. GHCC also has documented that City manager Greg Lee altered the staff prepared public presentation at this meeting to fit his personal agenda. (See Altered Open House PowerPoint Presentation)
Are garbage trucks really the the heaviest vehicle as City manager Greg Lee claimed? Garbage Haulers for Citizen Choice (GHCC) contacted industry leaders and tire company representatives to find out the truth. Short answer is NO.
As discussed below, school buses do far more damage to city roads, and the city council has the authority under Minnesota law to address school bus spring weight limits, yet has done absolutely nothing in the past 47 years to fix the problem.
Garbage trucks are NOT by far the heaviest vehicle that will be operating on your residential street on a routine basis as City manager Greg Lee falsely told those in attendance at the January 23, 2020 open house meeting.
On this issue, the most intelligent comment at the open house came was from a resident named Barb who lives on 5th Avenue. She stated, "I have several things I’d like to bring up. One thing I would say is I don't know — I know nothing about the weather versus the traffic, but everything around every school — I live down on 5th Avenue by Hans’ Bakery, and everything that feeds the school is a wreck. The streets. they are just awful. You’re fixing them and they’re getting better. The junior high now is good. There is an impact."
A resident named Jan who lives on 40th Lane across from the High School and the Ice Arena also said, "40th Lane looks like one big pothole."
So called garbage truck experts like City manager Greg Lee, City attorney Scott Baumgartner, and Mayor Phil Rice think that overall weight of the truck is what matters. They want to see small garbage trucks. What actually matters is the weight underneath every tire that is on the road.
The garbage truck photos and information below are solely for purposes of demonstrating the relationship between weight and tires more clearly.
(This example is provided for demonstration purposes only. We will get to the specific math concerning school buses vs. garbage trucks shortly.)
Truck A weighs less, yet is WORSE for your roads.
Truck B weighs more and is better for your roads.
The bigger truck is better because 3,500 pounds per tire is less than 4,000.
School Buses Heavier Than Garbage Trucks
At the January 23, 2020 open house meeting that only a handful of people attended, City manager Greg Lee continued his single vehicle focus of attacking the garbage truck as the "boogie man" causing road damage. City manager Greg Lee proclaimed, "Garbage trucks are by far the heaviest vehicle that will be operating on your residential street on a routine basis."
City manager Greg Lee provided not one shred of proof to support his claim. Since he did not invite anyone from the industry to speak at the open house like former City manager Tim Cruikshank did in 2015, there was no one to answer or challenge his claims. It certainly appears that City manager Greg Lee planned this. GHCC also has documented that City manager Greg Lee altered the staff prepared public presentation at this meeting to fit his personal agenda. (See Altered Open House PowerPoint Presentation)
Are garbage trucks really the the heaviest vehicle as City manager Greg Lee claimed? Garbage Haulers for Citizen Choice (GHCC) contacted industry leaders and tire company representatives to find out the truth. Short answer is NO.
As discussed below, school buses do far more damage to city roads, and the city council has the authority under Minnesota law to address school bus spring weight limits, yet has done absolutely nothing in the past 47 years to fix the problem.
Garbage trucks are NOT by far the heaviest vehicle that will be operating on your residential street on a routine basis as City manager Greg Lee falsely told those in attendance at the January 23, 2020 open house meeting.
On this issue, the most intelligent comment at the open house came was from a resident named Barb who lives on 5th Avenue. She stated, "I have several things I’d like to bring up. One thing I would say is I don't know — I know nothing about the weather versus the traffic, but everything around every school — I live down on 5th Avenue by Hans’ Bakery, and everything that feeds the school is a wreck. The streets. they are just awful. You’re fixing them and they’re getting better. The junior high now is good. There is an impact."
A resident named Jan who lives on 40th Lane across from the High School and the Ice Arena also said, "40th Lane looks like one big pothole."
So called garbage truck experts like City manager Greg Lee, City attorney Scott Baumgartner, and Mayor Phil Rice think that overall weight of the truck is what matters. They want to see small garbage trucks. What actually matters is the weight underneath every tire that is on the road.
The garbage truck photos and information below are solely for purposes of demonstrating the relationship between weight and tires more clearly.
(This example is provided for demonstration purposes only. We will get to the specific math concerning school buses vs. garbage trucks shortly.)
Truck A weighs less, yet is WORSE for your roads.
Truck B weighs more and is better for your roads.
The bigger truck is better because 3,500 pounds per tire is less than 4,000.
|
WORSE
Truck A - Weighing 24,000 pounds 
6 Tires Total
24,000 / 6 tires = 4,000 pounds per tire |
BETTER
Truck B - Weighing 42,000 pounds 
12 Tires Total
42,000 / 12 tires = 3,500 pounds per tire |
School Bus vs. Garbage Truck Servicing the City of Anoka
The method of measurement of weight on the road is the number of pounds per square inch of tire on the road (lbs/sq in).
GHCC contacted industry leaders to find out what garbage trucks were weighing full, truck and trash, when weighed after servicing the City of Anoka. The answer was 44,000 - 46,000 pounds.
For purposes of this analysis, we will use the higher number of 46,000 pounds. This is generous because as we all know, a garbage truck is not full until the end of the day. A garbage truck does not drive its entire route, morning and afternoon, all around the city, full the entire time.
The garbage truck weighs a maximum of 46,000 pounds.
GHCC obtained a nice chart from the State of Georgia concerning school bus weights from two different manufacturers. (See school bus weight chart)
A school bus weighs 20,000 - 21,000 pounds for a mid sized model empty. If you assume that there are 70 kids on the bus and they weigh 75 pounds each (so middle school kids, not high school kids), this adds up to 5,250 pounds. In total, it would be reasonable to say that this school bus, plus the kids, adds up conservatively to 25,000 pounds total.
The school bus weighs a maximum of 25,000 pounds.
According to so called garbage truck experts like City manager Greg Lee, City attorney Scott Baumgartner, and Mayor Phil Rice, the garbage truck does twice the damage of the school bus because the garbage truck weighs twice as much. They would lead you to believe that the number of tires on the road surface is meaningless.
Let's compare the weight of the school bus vs. the garbage truck when we factor in the number of tires and equally important, the size of the tires:
The method of measurement of weight on the road is the number of pounds per square inch of tire on the road (lbs/sq in).
GHCC contacted industry leaders to find out what garbage trucks were weighing full, truck and trash, when weighed after servicing the City of Anoka. The answer was 44,000 - 46,000 pounds.
For purposes of this analysis, we will use the higher number of 46,000 pounds. This is generous because as we all know, a garbage truck is not full until the end of the day. A garbage truck does not drive its entire route, morning and afternoon, all around the city, full the entire time.
The garbage truck weighs a maximum of 46,000 pounds.
GHCC obtained a nice chart from the State of Georgia concerning school bus weights from two different manufacturers. (See school bus weight chart)
A school bus weighs 20,000 - 21,000 pounds for a mid sized model empty. If you assume that there are 70 kids on the bus and they weigh 75 pounds each (so middle school kids, not high school kids), this adds up to 5,250 pounds. In total, it would be reasonable to say that this school bus, plus the kids, adds up conservatively to 25,000 pounds total.
The school bus weighs a maximum of 25,000 pounds.
According to so called garbage truck experts like City manager Greg Lee, City attorney Scott Baumgartner, and Mayor Phil Rice, the garbage truck does twice the damage of the school bus because the garbage truck weighs twice as much. They would lead you to believe that the number of tires on the road surface is meaningless.
Let's compare the weight of the school bus vs. the garbage truck when we factor in the number of tires and equally important, the size of the tires:
|
WORSE
School Bus 
Weighs 25,000 pounds
Six - 11R22.5 tires 12,300 square inches of tire Total = 2.03 pounds per sq inch of tire If 4 school buses drive your residential street in the morning, and 4 school buses again in the afternoon for a total of 8 trips per year, with 270 school days, this equals 2160 trips per year.
|
BETTER
Garbage Truck 
Weighs 46,000 pounds
Two - 425/65R22.5 steer tires 6408 square inches of tire Eight - 315/80R22.5 drive tires 22,280 square inches of tire Two - 255/70R22.5 tag axle tires 3242 square inches of tire 31,930 total square inches of tire Total = 1.44 pounds per sq inch of tire If 8 garbage trucks drive your residential street on trash day, one day a week, 52 weeks a year, this equals 416 trips per year.
|
The school bus has 2.03 pounds of weight per square inch of tire, versus the large garbage truck with 1.44 pounds of weight per square inch of tire. The school bus weighs 25% more.
The school bus travels down your residential street 2160 times per year, versus the large garbage truck at 416 trips per year. The school bus has 75% more trips.
The math clearly shows by both calculations that so called garbage truck experts City manager Greg Lee, City attorney Scott Baumgartner, and Mayor Phil Rice all have no idea what they are talking about.
Both Anoka citizens Barb and Jan's observations that roads were worse around the schools is supported by the math which shows that school buses do more damage to roads than garbage trucks. Clearly, both Barb and Jan are significantly more intelligent than the so called experts on the city council.
The school bus travels down your residential street 2160 times per year, versus the large garbage truck at 416 trips per year. The school bus has 75% more trips.
The math clearly shows by both calculations that so called garbage truck experts City manager Greg Lee, City attorney Scott Baumgartner, and Mayor Phil Rice all have no idea what they are talking about.
Both Anoka citizens Barb and Jan's observations that roads were worse around the schools is supported by the math which shows that school buses do more damage to roads than garbage trucks. Clearly, both Barb and Jan are significantly more intelligent than the so called experts on the city council.
Now that it has been shown that school buses are causing significant damage to roads in the City of Anoka, and are far worse than garbage trucks, the question is what has City manager Greg Lee and Mayor Phil Rice done about this?
GHCC has researched this issue and the short answer is nothing, absolutely nothing.
Both City manager Greg Lee and Mayor Phil Rice attack the state law that provides a partial (not total) exemption from spring weight limits. The state legislature apparently did not want trash piled up all over city boulevards throughout the spring in cities across Minnesota.
Have City manager Greg Lee and Mayor Phil Rice even bothered to look at the law concerning school buses? GHCC cannot find any attempt by either of them to research this issue.
GHCC researched the issue of school bus weight limits and found them in Minnesota Statutes 169.87. Since 1973, (47 years ago) school buses are provided a partial (not total) exemption from spring weight limits. The law also states that this exemption may be canceled by written order of the city council by providing the school board a 24 hour notice. (See Laws of Minnesota for 1973, Chapter 85)
With roads crumbling in the city for the past two decades according to City manager Greg Lee, has he even bothered to send a letter to the school board canceling this spring weight limit exemption? GHCC has found no evidence that he nor anyone else at city hall has done anything about this in the past 47 years.
GHCC doubts City manager Greg Lee even knows about the law because he is too busy misleading citizens and attacking trash haulers.
Updated 2/2/20
GHCC has researched this issue and the short answer is nothing, absolutely nothing.
Both City manager Greg Lee and Mayor Phil Rice attack the state law that provides a partial (not total) exemption from spring weight limits. The state legislature apparently did not want trash piled up all over city boulevards throughout the spring in cities across Minnesota.
Have City manager Greg Lee and Mayor Phil Rice even bothered to look at the law concerning school buses? GHCC cannot find any attempt by either of them to research this issue.
GHCC researched the issue of school bus weight limits and found them in Minnesota Statutes 169.87. Since 1973, (47 years ago) school buses are provided a partial (not total) exemption from spring weight limits. The law also states that this exemption may be canceled by written order of the city council by providing the school board a 24 hour notice. (See Laws of Minnesota for 1973, Chapter 85)
With roads crumbling in the city for the past two decades according to City manager Greg Lee, has he even bothered to send a letter to the school board canceling this spring weight limit exemption? GHCC has found no evidence that he nor anyone else at city hall has done anything about this in the past 47 years.
GHCC doubts City manager Greg Lee even knows about the law because he is too busy misleading citizens and attacking trash haulers.
Updated 2/2/20