Residents of Dallas might need to hold onto their garbage a little longer this week as the city braces for potential delays in waste collection services due to the predicted bone-chilling cold. The City of Dallas reported that the frosty forecast includes morning temperatures plummetting to the low teens and wind chills reaching single digits today and tomorrow.
According to the Department of Sanitation bulletin, automated collection routes using trucks with mechanical arms should proceed as planned as long as the roads are navigable. On the other hand, manual collection routes require workers to exert themselves physically to roll and empty carts. Workers will face delays until supervisors can clearly show that conditions are safe for outdoor labor.
Early risers might note that routes usually starting at 7 a.m. may experience delays; if crews cannot commence by 9 a.m., completing the day's scheduled service will be uncertain. This domino effect of delays could stretch the disruption in service through to Friday, with the sanitation crews planning extra shifts on Saturday to mitigate the backlog.
Garbage pickup will get the nod over recycling in this instance of inclement weather service triage, and the department promises that any uncollected materials will be handled during the next week's regular pickups, with provision for additional waste.
