City of Anoka
Wild Claims About Garbage Truck Weights
For almost a year, the city council has been plotting to take over management of the city's trash system. Unlike 2015, the current city council has completely cut the trash hauler community out of the discussion.
Apparently, people like City attorney Scott Baumgartner, City manager Greg Lee, and Mayor Phil Rice are trucking and trash hauling experts. They know so much about the industry, they have no need to consult with the people who actually have run these businesses for decades.
City manager Greg Lee even had the gall to proclaim at the city council meeting of December 9, 2019, (see transcript page 12) that garbage haulers essentially were criminal violators of state and federal law by stating that their trucks weighed 50 tons, or 100,000 pounds, which is 20,000 pounds over legal limits. Of course City manager Greg Lee offered no proof other than his word as an expert in the operation of trash companies, none which he has ever operated.
Garbage Haulers for Citizen Choice (GHCC) has the actual answer to the city's truck weight question. We just had to ask someone who actually works in the solid waste industry. It took one simple phone call. The answer is at the bottom of this page.
At the city council meeting of October 28, 2019, (see transcript, pages 7-8) City manager Greg Lee, City attorney Scott Baumgartner, Mayor Phil Rice, and Councilmember Mark Freeburg talked around and around in circles. Here is an excerpt:
Wild Claims About Garbage Truck Weights
For almost a year, the city council has been plotting to take over management of the city's trash system. Unlike 2015, the current city council has completely cut the trash hauler community out of the discussion.
Apparently, people like City attorney Scott Baumgartner, City manager Greg Lee, and Mayor Phil Rice are trucking and trash hauling experts. They know so much about the industry, they have no need to consult with the people who actually have run these businesses for decades.
City manager Greg Lee even had the gall to proclaim at the city council meeting of December 9, 2019, (see transcript page 12) that garbage haulers essentially were criminal violators of state and federal law by stating that their trucks weighed 50 tons, or 100,000 pounds, which is 20,000 pounds over legal limits. Of course City manager Greg Lee offered no proof other than his word as an expert in the operation of trash companies, none which he has ever operated.
Garbage Haulers for Citizen Choice (GHCC) has the actual answer to the city's truck weight question. We just had to ask someone who actually works in the solid waste industry. It took one simple phone call. The answer is at the bottom of this page.
At the city council meeting of October 28, 2019, (see transcript, pages 7-8) City manager Greg Lee, City attorney Scott Baumgartner, Mayor Phil Rice, and Councilmember Mark Freeburg talked around and around in circles. Here is an excerpt:
City Manager Greg Lee
It might have been a coincidence, but the other thing that’s a factor too is garbage trucks have really changed. If you think about it from the 1970s, the garbage truck wasn’t that big — single axle. You look at the big behemoths now, they’re huge. They’re extremely heavy, and so the garbage trucks themselves have changed over the years.
City Attorney Scott Baumgartner
I looked it up today, and they are about 33,000 pounds empty.
Mayor Phil Rice
Empty?
City Attorney Scott Baumgartner
Empty. And they’re not restricted, so they always say 80,000 pounds is what they weigh, which is what a MnDOT standard is for --
City Manager Greg Lee
Forty tons.
City Attorney Scott Baumgartner
Yeah, that’s per axle.
Councilmember Mark Freeburg
That’s huge.
City Manager Greg Lee
Forty tons per axle.
City Attorney Scott Baumgartner
Or 20 tons per axle.
City Manager Greg Lee
Yeah. And our [inaudible/13:04] axle weight limit’s five.
City Attorney Scott Baumgartner
[Inaudible/13:06] 9 tons?
City Manager Greg Lee
And so they’re at 20.
It might have been a coincidence, but the other thing that’s a factor too is garbage trucks have really changed. If you think about it from the 1970s, the garbage truck wasn’t that big — single axle. You look at the big behemoths now, they’re huge. They’re extremely heavy, and so the garbage trucks themselves have changed over the years.
City Attorney Scott Baumgartner
I looked it up today, and they are about 33,000 pounds empty.
Mayor Phil Rice
Empty?
City Attorney Scott Baumgartner
Empty. And they’re not restricted, so they always say 80,000 pounds is what they weigh, which is what a MnDOT standard is for --
City Manager Greg Lee
Forty tons.
City Attorney Scott Baumgartner
Yeah, that’s per axle.
Councilmember Mark Freeburg
That’s huge.
City Manager Greg Lee
Forty tons per axle.
City Attorney Scott Baumgartner
Or 20 tons per axle.
City Manager Greg Lee
Yeah. And our [inaudible/13:04] axle weight limit’s five.
City Attorney Scott Baumgartner
[Inaudible/13:06] 9 tons?
City Manager Greg Lee
And so they’re at 20.
At the city council meeting of December 9, 2019, (see transcript pages 5-6) the conversation showed they were even more clueless about truck weights. Unfortunately GHCC cannot determine who all the speakers were due to the city council refusing to televise these meetings, leaving audio recordings only, but here is what was said:
City Manager Greg Lee
Uh-huh. Yeah, they were single-axle trucks, they were small trucks. They’re huge mammoth trucks now, and we’re getting data on the weight of them.
Male Speaker
They seem to like to hide the — what they weigh. They weigh --
City Manager Greg Lee
We’re trying to get the information at the weigh station to find out what they truly weigh when they dump their load.
Male Speaker
Do they have to stop there?
City Manager Greg Lee
Yeah. Well, they --
Male Speaker
On the way down --
City Manager Greg Lee
But it’s all owned by them, and so it’s hard to get their data.
Male Speaker
No, but on the way to Elk River, does it — is a garbage truck required to stop at the weigh station?
Male Speaker
The weigh station’s [inaudible/08:44].
City Manager Greg Lee
No, it’s not on public --
Male Speaker
So they don’t --
Male Speaker
I did read they are 44,000 pounds empty.
Male Speaker
Just the vehicle itself?
Male Speaker
Yes.
Male Speaker
That’s not loaded.
Male Speaker
And then they — they just generically say 80,000 pounds, you know, loaded, which is of course their maximum load they can be on a DOT road, so we have — I’m [unintelligible/09:06] numbers. I --
City Manager Greg Lee
But even if it’s 80,000 pounds — it’s probably more than that — but it’s 80,000.
Male Speaker
Right.
Uh-huh. Yeah, they were single-axle trucks, they were small trucks. They’re huge mammoth trucks now, and we’re getting data on the weight of them.
Male Speaker
They seem to like to hide the — what they weigh. They weigh --
City Manager Greg Lee
We’re trying to get the information at the weigh station to find out what they truly weigh when they dump their load.
Male Speaker
Do they have to stop there?
City Manager Greg Lee
Yeah. Well, they --
Male Speaker
On the way down --
City Manager Greg Lee
But it’s all owned by them, and so it’s hard to get their data.
Male Speaker
No, but on the way to Elk River, does it — is a garbage truck required to stop at the weigh station?
Male Speaker
The weigh station’s [inaudible/08:44].
City Manager Greg Lee
No, it’s not on public --
Male Speaker
So they don’t --
Male Speaker
I did read they are 44,000 pounds empty.
Male Speaker
Just the vehicle itself?
Male Speaker
Yes.
Male Speaker
That’s not loaded.
Male Speaker
And then they — they just generically say 80,000 pounds, you know, loaded, which is of course their maximum load they can be on a DOT road, so we have — I’m [unintelligible/09:06] numbers. I --
City Manager Greg Lee
But even if it’s 80,000 pounds — it’s probably more than that — but it’s 80,000.
Male Speaker
Right.
At the December 9, 2019 city council meeting GHCC was able to clearly identify City manager Greg Lee accuse trash haulers, without any evidence whatsoever, of driving 50 ton trucks on public roads, which would violate state and federal law. City manager Greg Lee stated about truck weight, "But they don't need to be 50 tons either."
So what do trash trucks weigh in Anoka? All GHCC did was pick up the phone and made a quick phone call to people who actually work in the industry.
The answer is between 44,000 and 44,000 pounds fully loaded, or 22-23 tons.
The real weight of trash trucks in Anoka is half of the 50 ton number that City manager Greg Lee is telling everyone.
So to simplify for our so called trucking experts City attorney Scott Baumgartner, City manager Greg Lee, and Mayor Phil Rice, this is not the weight of the truck empty. This is not the weight of the trash in the truck. This is the weight of the entire vehicle, with the trash inside, after it has picked up at the homes, and drives across the scale heading to the disposal site.
Updated 2/1/20
So what do trash trucks weigh in Anoka? All GHCC did was pick up the phone and made a quick phone call to people who actually work in the industry.
The answer is between 44,000 and 44,000 pounds fully loaded, or 22-23 tons.
The real weight of trash trucks in Anoka is half of the 50 ton number that City manager Greg Lee is telling everyone.
So to simplify for our so called trucking experts City attorney Scott Baumgartner, City manager Greg Lee, and Mayor Phil Rice, this is not the weight of the truck empty. This is not the weight of the trash in the truck. This is the weight of the entire vehicle, with the trash inside, after it has picked up at the homes, and drives across the scale heading to the disposal site.
Updated 2/1/20