Every Wednesday and Friday morning in Reisterstown, a girl named Avery listens for one sound: the rumble of the neighborhood trash truck. She has been doing it since she was 1 year old, and on a recent Friday, she thought she had missed her chance to see the driver she has come to think of as a friend.
Avery ran to the door when she heard the truck outside, believing she had missed Tim, the driver who has served her family's route for nine years, according to WBFF. Tim had actually pulled over nearby to empty another dumpster before making his way to Avery's house, and the two reunited once he arrived. Her mother, Caitlin O'Dea, said Avery was hooked from the very first time she saw what the trash truck did, and that she has wanted to run to the door and open it every time she hears the truck coming ever since.
A Bond Built On Two Mornings A Week
Tim drives the truck that serves Avery's neighborhood, and over time he noticed the little girl waiting for him. He began honking each time he passed her, and eventually pulled over to tell her, as O'Dea recounted, that she made his mornings special. He also asked her mother if he could give Avery a hug, cementing a routine that has stretched across nearly a decade of Wednesday and Friday pickups.
The friendship survived even a move. Avery's family moved out of the community in December 2025 and returned sometime in 2026, picking the relationship back up once they were back on Tim's route. Along the way, Tim and his wife reportedly bought something for Avery, underscoring how personal the connection had become for both sides.
The Hidden Risks Behind The Route
Stories like Avery and Tim's stand out partly because of what the job actually entails. Refuse and recyclable material collectors ranked as the fifth deadliest occupation in the country in 2024, with a fatality rate of 37.4 per 100,000 full-time workers and 36 total fatal occupational injuries, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data reported by Waste Dive. The prior year, the role ranked fourth deadliest at 41.4 fatalities per 100,000 workers, with transportation incidents the leading cause of death.
Reisterstown's Routine, And A Bond With Tim
Reisterstown is the community where Avery's family lives. Avery's neighborhood has residential pickups on Wednesdays and Fridays.
Avery and Tim's story offers a reminder to recognize workers like him. For families like Avery's, that recognition echoes something they have already been marking twice a week for years, one honk and one hug at a time.
