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Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors

Collect and dump refuse or recyclable materials from containers into truck. May drive truck.

What you’d do

  • Inspect trucks prior to beginning routes to ensure safe operating condition.
  • Drive trucks, following established routes, through residential streets or alleys or through business or industrial areas.
  • Refuel trucks or add other fluids, such as oil or brake fluid.
  • Dump refuse or recyclable materials at disposal sites.
  • Fill out defective equipment reports.
  • Operate automated or semi-automated hoisting devices that raise refuse bins and dump contents into openings in truck bodies.
  • Dismount garbage trucks to collect garbage and remount trucks to ride to the next collection point.
  • Operate equipment that compresses collected refuse.

Skills that matter

  • Operation and Control
  • Operations Monitoring
  • Active Listening
  • Speaking
  • Critical Thinking
  • Equipment Maintenance

How to get there

Little to some preparation: usually a high school diploma or GED, though some jobs do not need one

Also called

  • Garbage Man
  • Roll Off Truck Driver
  • Sanitation Laborer
  • Trash Collector
  • Front Load Trash Truck Driver
  • Recycle Driver

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