Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
The West Valley, Utah, garbage truck left a Waste Management lot, passed residential streets, merged onto Interstate 15 and cleared the outskirts of town.
Along the east shore of Great Salt Lake, it kept going.
Inside was Garfield City Councilman Tim Southern and Public Works Superintendent Robby Johnson. Following behind was Garfield Mayor Jarrod Pfaff.
The truck, a used 2002 Mack, is now the property of the Town of Garfield which purchased it earlier this month for $63,500.
“It was a little slow,” said Pfaff of the 768–mile trip to bring it to Garfield. “We split-shifted the ride home. A garbage truck is not the smoothest ride in the world.”
The three left Garfield Dec. 19, driving to Utah in Pfaff’s pickup.
They stayed overnight in West Valley and then picked up the truck at 9 a.m. Dec. 20.
First, they had to secure the truck’s curotto can on front – a dumpster-like mechanism – which was removed and put in the back.
On the highway the Mack could go 65 miles per hour and no more.
After about 150 miles the three realized they couldn’t trust the fuel gauge.
“We stopped and dipped the tank,” Pfaff said. “Then we figured we could do 250 to 300 miles pretty easy.”
The tank holds 70 gallons of diesel. Pfaff said they burned five to six miles per gallon on the highway, more than the expected three mpg.
No weather issues came into play on the route over I-15 through eastern Idaho and connecting to 1-90 in Butte, Mont.
Pfaff said as the truck traveled away from Utah, he noticed no curious looks from other drivers on the highway.
“We were going slow enough everybody just kept passing us, we didn’t pay attention,” he said.
The truck is now at Western Systems in Spokane, where the electronics system is being retro-fitted for the curotto-can, which came from another truck at West Valley.
As for Garfield’s original garbage truck, Pfaff said it will be kept for the time being.
“We should get another month or two out of it,” he said, indicating the town will keep it for six months or so to be sure the new one works out.
Overall, Pfaff said the trip had two sides to it.
“Coming home was work but driving down was kind of fun,” he said. “When you drive down at 75 and return at 65 it’s pretty slow.”
He said he hasn’t heard of any garbage truck transfer such as this.
“I’m sure we were the only ones crazy enough to try something like that,” Pfaff said.
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
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