Atlanta garbage man spends 30 days in jail for going to work too early

a reply to: ~Lucidity

Throw, at the very least, the supervisor who sent or allowed the truck out early into jail

What makes you think he was sent by anyone?
The thought that he wanted to finish his route early by starting early comes to mind.

Oh my. Why were both the company and the employee not charged to begin with, I wonder. Are the keys to the truck that easy to get?

Where I live, road cleaning crews come at 4AM to plow and snow blow the accumulation of the white stuff. It's a pain in the behind to be awakened by lots of heavy machinery (plow, snow blower, dump trucks that line up four deep and idle as the snow is dumped into their large bins). We have the choice to cover our heads and roll over, or else get up and make an early coffee should we not be able to get back to sleep ten minutes later.

I do understand both sides of the argument, and I don't buy the affluence bit. If pickup times have been written into a contract, then the company should put some kind of measures in place to prevent this kind of sleep disruption from taking place, even though the truck is probably out of earshot in two to four minutes. It is everyone's right to complain, especially as they know the rules.

originally posted by: Phage
a reply to: ~Lucidity

Throw, at the very least, the supervisor who sent or allowed the truck out early into jail

What makes you think he was sent by anyone?
The thought that he wanted to finish his route early by starting early comes to mind.

Simple, if you have ever worked in an industrial type yard.

Trucks do not move without a dispatcher.

Truck ID's, mileage, fuel, wages, times of check-out and check-in etc. ALL recorded and signed off.

Peace

The garbage truck runs early where I live.
It has never remotely crossed my mind to call 911.

originally posted by: Phage
a reply to: ~Lucidity

Throw, at the very least, the supervisor who sent or allowed the truck out early into jail

What makes you think he was sent by anyone?
The thought that he wanted to finish his route early by starting early comes to mind.

Trucks are not solo-operated for one thing. Supervisors check out the trucks, for another. And you know what? Seeing as i'm right there everyday? I'm going to find him and ask. I'll take a selfie of us as proof. Mmkay?

originally posted by: skunkape23
The garbage truck runs early where I live.
It has never remotely crossed my mind to call 911.

The entitled have it on their speed dial.

Peace

a reply to: jude11

Simple, if you have ever worked in an industrial type yard.

I haven't.

Trucks do not move without a dispatcher.

Even if the driver has a set route? Why would a dispatcher be required?

a reply to: ~Lucidity

Trucks are not solo-operated for one thing.

The ones in my neighborhood are.

I'm going to find him and ask. I'll take a selfie of us as proof. Mmkay?

Sure. Why not?

originally posted by: Phage
a reply to: nerbot

Have him collecting garbage for 30 days perhaps.

He will be doing so...on weekdays.

You missed my ironic sarcasm didn't you?

a reply to: nerbot

No.

a reply to: onequestion

Picking up trash at 5 a.m. instead of at 7 a.m. in a town that has an ordinance prohibiting that very thing is doing one's job "better than whats expected" of one?

Picking up trash at 5 in the morning instead of 7, period, is doing one's job better than what's expected?

You seem to have a very odd idea of what's excelling at a job and what isn't.

To the OP: throwing this dude in jail is ridiculous. This wasn't something he did on his own. He was allowed and enabled to do it. By a company that probably doesn't care one bit he got locked up, because they can just hire somebody else.

Shame.

originally posted by: Phage
a reply to: jude11

Simple, if you have ever worked in an industrial type yard.

I haven't.

Trucks do not move without a dispatcher.

Even if the driver has a set route? Why would a dispatcher be required?

There are a number of reasons that get down to insurance and/or regulations (such as this case) etc. The number one reason that is non-negotiable is the time cards. The dispatcher knows exactly when you are in that seat, where you are going, how long it should take and when you stop for lunch or pee in many cases.

This is an example of the owners paying small fines in exchange for big profits. Same as many Big Pharm cases. "The cost of doing business"

When you make XXXX amount, a fine of x amount is acceptable on the bottom line. Who pays? The end user or in this case, the employee.

Peace

Gotta love this...

Sandy Springs spokesperson Sharon Kraun says that early-morning garbage truck noise is not something the city will tolerate.

"Our residents, they like their quality of life," Kraun told me. "And that means not waking up at 5:00 AM to hear the trash can."

Yeah yeah. Because sitting in your car behind a truck for an hour on the windy roads near the river is such fun. Pretty soon they'll be bitching about all those cars sitting on their road at all.

But hey...they trained him.

According to Kraun, McGill worked for Waste Management Inc., a publicly-traded company that cleared $14 billion dollars in revenue last year. Riley said that this is not the first time his office has penalized Waste Management personnel for violating the early-morning garbage collection law. But he asserts that in McGill's case, blame falls on the individual.

"We had meetings with the company and the company had actually done the things they were supposed to do,"Riley said. "They had trained him. They told him not to come here before seven."

Brandoh says that although McGill might have had some awareness of the Sandy Springs statute, he had been running that route for only three months. She adds that early-morning construction in the area gave him the sense that trash collection in the wee hours of the morning might also be permissible.

McGill has scheduled an emergency motion hearing for March 27 to attempt to invalidate his plea. But for the time being, he will have to continue spending less-than-restful weekends in a jail, where he struggles to sleep.

"It gets so hot it's unbearable,"McGill said. "I don't want to go back." [Source]

Bet they really couldn't prove that. Ha.

I whole heartedly believe that prosecuting attorneys, and judges, should spend a mandatory two to six months in prison before being allowed to preside over or try a case.

This crap is stupid. I don't care how you view it, as an annoyance, or a violation of city ordinance. This is a complete mockery of the justice system. The judge ought to be disrobed and the attorney disbarred.

a reply to: EternalSolace

I whole heartedly believe that prosecuting attorneys, and judges, should spend a mandatory two to six months in prison before being allowed to preside over or try a case.

Hell, all lawyers should. That might thin their numbers somewhat.

But the McGill isn't going to prison. He's spending his weekends in jail.

originally posted by: Phage
a reply to: jude11

Simple, if you have ever worked in an industrial type yard.

I haven't.

Trucks do not move without a dispatcher.

Even if the driver has a set route? Why would a dispatcher be required?

In most cases, dispatch has the keys, and you have to go to dispatch to get them, as well as any info on areas that might have problems, etc... Dispatch also sets your schedule. So chances are, he didn't just decide to get up at 3 or 4 in the morning to pick up their garbage at 5. I mean let's face it, who would? 9 times out of 10, dispatch scheduled him in those hours, so if the residents were ticked, they should have taken it up with WM, NOT the employee. You would think, as high up the food chain most of these people were, some of them would have realized this.

a reply to: jude11

I can only assume that was not an option for the judge and as I said took the next best way of solving the problem, letting the guy do weekends seems to suggest that.

If I was the employer I would give him 2 days off in the week paid to compensate but I bet they don't

a reply to: ~Lucidity

"We had meetings with the company and the company had actually done the things they were supposed to do,"Riley said. "They had trained him. They told him not to come here before seven."

That might be it right there. Does the no pickup before 7 ordinance apply to the entirety of his route? If not, the company would let him out before then.

The article mentions him saying that he thought because of some early morning road work he thought it might be ok. Maybe he did take it upon himself to violate the ordinance.

Even if he did violate the rule on his own I think 30 days is a bit much.

a reply to: Anyafaj

So chances are, he didn't just decide to get up at 3 or 4 in the morning to pick up their garbage at 5. I mean let's face it, who would?

You are making an assumption. I get up early myself. If I could start earlier I'd be fine with that since it would mean getting home earlier.

I mean let's face it, who would? 9 times out of 10, dispatch scheduled him in those hours, so if the residents were ticked, they should have taken it up with WM, NOT the employee

The residents took it up with the authorities, not the employee. The company had been fined previously. It didn't work.

But we don't really know what his route or schedule was, do we?

originally posted by: nonspecific
a reply to: jude11

I can only assume that was not an option for the judge and as I said took the next best way of solving the problem, letting the guy do weekends seems to suggest that.

If I was the employer I would give him 2 days off in the week paid to compensate but I bet they don't

Yup,

If he's taking the fall for the owner(s) it's the least they could do.

But...


Peace