‘Full fleet’ of new Columbia trash trucks expected to roll out next month

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

After many years of debate, roll carts were used in Columbia this week for trash collection.

Columbia is using new trucks for the automated pickup process, but some residents may have noticed some workers pulling out trash from their roll carts by hand.

According to an email from City Utilities spokesman Matt Nestor, the city does not have its “full fleet” of new trucks.

"We do not have our full fleet of automated trucks. Some crew members collected with older trucks that did have tippers (arms that will lift roll carts). However, some of those crew members chose to pull the bags out of the carts by hand rather than use the tipper,” Nestor’s email reads. "We're not expecting the smaller trucks until next month."

Columbia Solid Waste representatives stated during Monday night’s City Council meeting that the city is waiting on three trucks to arrive next month and that two of the full-size trucks it had were not operable for Monday, but the other eight worked well.

One truck had to be sent out for manual collections.

Solid Waste stated during the meeting that it knew the three smaller trucks would not be available.

A specific date for the smaller trucks to be used was not stated in emails or during the meeting.

The switchover is expected to cost roughly $3 million, according to previous city estimates.