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 Mr. Clean gets down and dirty
World staff writer Posted January 03, 2009 EAST WENATCHEE — Mr. Clean's a Waste Management garbage truck driver? That's how Brad Klaas, 34, of East Wenatchee refers to himself. Brad Klaas, driver for Waste Management, operates “the claw” to dump garbage into the front bucket. (World photo/Michele Milhalovich) Klaas gave up the glamorous life of an asphalt worker three and a half years ago to pick up Wenatchee Valley trash, and says the career move turned out to be better than he ever imagined. Mostly it's the gizmos, levers, monitors and "joy stick" inside the dual-steering-wheeled truck that make his job fun, he says. But working alone and jamming to satellite music all day are also perks. "This is probably the most complicated piece of machinery out there because of all the hydraulics involved in this truck," Klaas says. When picking up garbage, he stands on the passenger side of the truck and uses the "joy stick" to control "the claw," the giant steel mechanism that juts out the side and grabs garbage cans, and then maneuvers the can to dump the load into "the bucket" on the truck's front. He also takes to heart Waste Management's commitment to customer service, even washing his filth-covered, trash-eating machine daily, weather permitting. "I think it reflects a good image for the company — keeping the truck clean," explains Klaas, aka Mr. Clean. Another aspect to garbage collection is educating customers on proper trash etiquette, he says, adding many people make his job a lot harder than it needs to be. "But the truth is, they just have no idea that what they're doing is causing problems for me," Klaas says. "So it's part of my job to educate them." Some of those problems include setting a bin backward, with the opening facing away from the street. Klaas says it's virtually impossible for him to empty the bin with the claw because the lid blocks the garbage from coming out into the bucket. Another no-no is setting bins right next to each other. The claw needs about a foot of room to navigate between two bins. Certain garbage cans, such as round, tapered plastic, slide right through the claws. And metal trash cans crush as easily as aluminum cola cans between the powerful claws. His easygoing educational methods have earned Klaas special treatment from some of the 800 customers he might service in one day — such as cookies or candy sealed in plastic bags, or a soda, set atop the garbage can. "A lot of people think of garbage men as dirty, surly and mean," he says. "But I make it a point to wave and smile to everyone, and explain why we like things to be done a certain way." He says kids are especially "enamored and fascinated" by garbage trucks. "You can just see it in their eyes — they're mesmerized," Klaas says. Despite his Mr. Clean image, there's no getting around the fact that his job is to pick up Wenatchee Valley's smelly refuse and haul it to the mountainous garbage pile known as Waste Management's Greater Wenatchee Landfill. On a typical day in a residential route, Klaas dumps two truckloads of compacted filth. According to John Maloney, route manager for Waste Management, the collection trucks can hold up to 12 tons of garbage. Nothing Klaas sees in the garbage surprises him. "I've seen it all," he says. "I guess the most shocking thing I see is perfectly good stuff being tossed out. I see chairs and couches and there's absolutely nothing wrong with them. The people just got sick of it. I think we're a very wasteful society." Print This Page | Close Window |
