SoCalGarbageTrucks
City of Los Angeles Parks and Recreation - Manual Beach Trash Collection
updated
Enjoy the video!
Filmed June 2022
Seen here is your typical ACX Heil Durapack 5000 running for Paso Robles Waste and Recycle, a private hauler in northern San Luis Obispo County that exclusively contracts with the City of Paso Robles and much of the surrounding unincorporated county areas. It was pretty neat seeing how this thing handled some pretty egregiously overfilled bins. Huge shoutout and thanks to Andrew, the swamper in this video who also happens to be a channel fan, for giving me route info and allowing me to come out and film. Sorry it took me 3 years to finally upload this lol.
Filmed May 2022.
how iconic it was to the region for several decades. Most municipalities and haulers phased it out long before this video was taken, though Athens and others such as EDCO kept it around, specifically manual greenwaste, until contracts required everything to be automated.
Enjoy!
Filmed September 2019
The first clip you'll see is the aftermath of the block. Unfortunately this is what most of the Pacific Palisades looks like right now. Thanks to my sister for reaching out to someone in the area to film this video.
The next clip is from about 2004, and the following were filmed in 2013-2014 before I had started my Youtube Channel. The final 3 clips were the last times I ever filmed collections at our house before my family moved.
If you have the means to donate, I encourage you to visit some Go Fund Me pages I selected, seen below.
gofundme.com/f/help-clean-the-palisades?qid=d209407860eda1f6e7e6e9c34ee74e2c
gofundme.com/f/aid-for-albie-fire-recovery-fund?qid=acb3ae030f95fddd8f656a0f5bc84536
gofundme.com/f/wildfire-relief-fund-2025?qid=c0eb5fb0ea25e1cd6b0d7dd8a1da8eb5
On Fridays, there’s always a chance one of the 4 small trucks at Harrison will be down, which means that one unlucky driver will have the terrible pleasure of doing their route in a “bin truck” as no other options are available. Conventionally used to do cart and dumpster swaps, deliveries, and hard to access bulky items, our fleet of bin trucks also serve as the back up spares for the 2 MSLs and 2 mini Amreps.
As much as everyone has wanted to see a video of one of these, it’s much different watching this from a screen rather than living the experience first hand. However, knowing how bizarre and one of a kind a collection like this is, I managed to set up my phone at a couple houses to get some clips. If I look grumpy, it’s because I was, and chances are you’d be too. Nonetheless, please enjoy the show!
That said, most residents in Harrison's service area are still very thrown off by his presence. Due to him arriving several hours earlier than some of the regular drivers, late setouts tend to plague what would otherwise be a smooth flowing day. And on this route in particular, customers have had to do a double take when they see truck 214 driving over 5mph between homes and not taking siestas at the end of every block.
Thanks to the drivers for letting me film. Enjoy!
Filmed October 2023.
MME (Municipal Maintenance Equipment) is the primary Labrie equipment dealer and distributor in California, based out of Sacramento with other satellite locations throughout the state. They have seen a sharp increase in business over the last couple years as several Northern Californian haulers have purchased large orders of Labrie/Leach/Wittke, though it has stayed relatively quiet in the southern part of the state. That is slowly changing however, obviously with Santa Monica's order but also with other cities such as Oxnard and L.A, who have demoed their equipment and seem to be rather fond of something that isn't a clanky Amrep. At Harrison, we had the pleasure of welcoming the guys from MME to demo their Alley Hand with us back in July for a couple days. After testing it on a variety of routes, I had very few complaints aside from easy cosmetic fixes.
Lalo, the driver in this video also had plenty of good things to say about his new truck. One of his favorite new features is the extensive 12 foot reach, a luxury he's never had on the other Scorpions and Curbtenders in the city's fleet. You'll see a couple clips in the video where he's demonstrating the reach for me. Another thing he appreciates is the massive 6 cubic yard hopper, which undoubtedly helps for the heavy setouts he sees on his Tuesday yard waste route (i.e. last clip).
As you may also notice, the unique Labrie grabbers are far more gentle on carts, a sharp contrast from the Scorpion pinchers of death that seem to have caused the death of several Rotos and Rehrigs in the city over the years. On the other hand, this gentleness can be a setback when it comes to emptying heavy yard waste carts, since not all the material will always fall out in one dump. With no decent way to shake carts as you would with an Amrep or Rapid Rail, it's not uncommon to leave a few carts half full throughout the route. Though not seen in this video, both Lalo and I found this drawback to be a little frustrating in our separate experiences of running the Alley Hand.
It was also neat filming my first Battle Motors chassis. Santa Monica has usually been one of the only haulers in the Los Angeles area loyal to Crane Carrier for most of their fleet, so these may be the only Battle trucks in the area for a little while.
Huge thanks to Saul from MME for keeping me updated on the arrival of these trucks, and to the star of the show Eduardo.
It was pretty wild watching residential trucks collect on a Sunday, not just for someone who has been filming for 10 years but also for the residents who have also never witnessed anything like it. After talking with a couple drivers, it sounds like those who worked Saturday and Sunday signed up voluntarily to get some overtime. From what it looked like on my end, there was just a free-for-all of who was collecting where and at what time. And remarkably enough, the few drivers that did end up working today seemed to finish all of it before 2pm.
You'll see several neat trucks in this video, from a free falling CNG 320 to a diesel 520 rental. Enjoy the fun line Peter and I set up as well. Huge thanks to all the awesome drivers for their dedication and for letting us film.
Please enjoy the video and look forward to 2 more of these trucks to be uploaded soon!
Filmed June 2017
While these trucks have completely taken over the Westside of Los Angeles, it's often hard to catch a truck this fresh off the assembly line. If I recall correctly, the crew told me the truck had just been delivered to the yard and this was the first day using it.
I also remember one of the guys wanting to see this video on Youtube, so here it is over 5 years later!
A little over 6 years ago, wanting to take advantage of a newly acquired drivers license, I took many trips around SoCal to film in areas where public transit wouldn't take me. After one successful trip to Newbury Park to film EJ, I soon made several more to Ventura, Camarillo, Fillmore, and beyond. Each trip had the sole purpose of finding their older equipment (like so many of us do) before it was phased out. I was ecstatic to finally film what I though then, and still consider to be, one of the coolest private haulers in Southern California. It's crazy to think that 5-6 years later I would be driving some of the very trucks I was filming then - with the very intention of filming them as I knew they might not have much longer on the road. While many of the trucks showcased in this compilation have since been retired, or rebodied for that matter, a good few surprisingly still see routes multiple times a week. Nonetheless, the unavoidable arrival of new trucks has slowly begun to replace parts of the fleet one by one. However with a team of highly skilled welders and mechanics, the company is preserving bits and pieces from the past by rebodying old Amreps onto new chassis, so we can't complain too much in that regard.
Having spent hours going through this footage prior to uploading, it was cool seeing what I was able to document back then. It was especially neat seeing aspects of the company that no longer exist, such as much of the Thousand Oaks contract and every other week recycle/yardwaste collection. I encourage you to use the legend below to work your way through the video and skip around as much as you like. Whether you want to watch specific trucks, or just binge the whole thing! And as always, a big thanks to all the drivers for allowing me to film!
0:00 - 106: 1987 Peterbilt 310 Amrep FL (retired)
2:22 - 209: Volvo Amrep ASL (chassis retired, rebodied to a 520)
4:59 - 186: 1986 Peterbilt 310 Amrep FL (retired, see full video here: youtube.com/watch?v=V_JKDDQUxvU&t=319s)
7:05 - old 291: WhiteGMC Amrep ASL (chassis retired, rebodied to an ACX)
9:11 - new 291: Autocar ACX Amrep ASL
9:56 - 229: 2001 Ex-CDS Peterbilt 320 Amrep ASL (full video coming soon)
12:12 - 237: 1996 LNG Ex-LA Volvo Amrep ASL
14:33 - AR1: 1995 WhiteGMC WXLL Amrep FL (full video coming soon)
17:13 - 238: 1995 Peterbilt 310 Amrep ASL (retired, full video coming soon)
20:13 - 204: 1999 Volvo Amrep ASL
23:05 - 119: 1992 WhiteGMC Amrep FL
26:09 - 222: Freightliner Condor Amrep ASL
28:36 - 249: 1999 Ex-LA Peterbilt 320 Amrep ASL
30:07 - 202: 1998 Volvo Amrep ASL
33:17 - 211: 2001 Freightliner Condor Amrep ASL
35:19 - 116: 1990 Peterbilt Stagg FL (chassis retired, rebodied to a 320, see full video here: youtube.com/watch?v=ksjbj-U3TOU&t=107s)
37:38 - 218: 1994 LNG Ex-LA WhiteGMC Amrep rail arm ASL (retired, see full video here: youtube.com/watch?v=vPPJX7GoL6I&t=188s)
40:36 - 141: 2017 Peterbilt 520 Amrep FL, the first 520 I ever filmed
41:42 - 230: Sterling Condor Amrep ASL
43:15 - 205: 1999 Volvo Amrep ASL
44:55 - 235: 1994 LNG Ex-LA WhiteGMC Amrep rail arm ASL (retired, see full video here: youtube.com/watch?v=0bYl1gRrX5M)
47:25 - 221: 1994 LNG Ex-LA WhiteGMC Amrep ASL (full video coming soon)
52:06 - 288: WhiteGMC Amrep ASL (retired)
53:36 - 208: 2000 Volvo Amrep ASL
55:54 - 207: 2015 CNG Peterbilt 320 Amrep Octo ASL
57:08 - 251: 1999 Ex-LA Peterbilt 320 Amrep ASL (retired)
57:43 - 233: 2001 Ex-CDS Peterbilt 320 Amrep ASL
58:52 - 109: 1986 White WXLL Bowles FL in the yard (retired)
thanks to Marcus (wasteman226) for the clips of 251 and 233!
I used to see 823 several times driving around my old part of town years ago, and if memory serves me right, it might have even collected at my old house once or twice. Unfortunately, this truck burned down last week likely beyond repair. See photos here: flickr.com/photos/lafd/52480697135/in/pool-losangelesfiredepartment
Big thanks to the driver for letting me get some video! Enjoy!
#LAsanitation #garbagetruck #amrep
If you hear ice cream truck music, that was just our way of notifying people it was trash day Japanese style.
Enjoy!
Enjoy!
Next we have a quick video I took one afternoon when the general refuse area was backed up causing a long line outside. Luckily, it gave me the opportunity to get some up close footage of some trucks dumping their loads of recycle.
SVT no longer services many of its clients they used to have within city limits due to the RecycLA franchising, however roll off and compactor services are still provided.
Trucks featured:
Volvo WX-42 Maxon Square Body
WhiteGMC WX-42 Maxon Square Body
2 WhiteGMC WX-42 Maxon Legal One's
My favorite truck is the Legal One with the tag axel and yellow tailgate, as it was by far the loudest and best looking.
I hope you enjoy this compilation of classic trucks, so please leave a like and comment down below!
SVT Services:: If you see anything at all wrong with the content in this video, please do not hold the driver responsible. My videos are strictly for entertainment and are not intended to get any drivers/employees in trouble. Email me with any questions or comments at socal.garbagetrucks@yahoo.com.
Video and image Copyright © 2015-19 SoCalGarbageTrucks. All rights reserved. Please ask me before using/embedding my video/image.
Flickr Photos: flickr.com/photos/129084440@N05
Despite a slower than usual operation and nothing to write home about with a plain white truck from a town in the middle of Eastern Washington, it was still entertaining seeing how hard the truck squeezed the carts.
Hope you enjoy the video!
Here is one of the ex-CDS Peterbilt Amreps on one of the commercial recycling routes in Camarillo. With just over 100 stops and around 130 bins, it is not unusual to be able to fit all of it into one load - either due to unneeded collection frequency or relatively light volumes of waste produced at these commercial businesses. I wanted to get some footage towards the end of the route one afternoon with the truck filling up and packing out.
The first part of the video isn't too exciting, but showcases what most of the route looks like throughout the day.... a lot of half full dumpsters and time spent getting in and out of the truck unlocking enclosures and pulling out the bins.
Around the 7:30 mark, you'll see the packer blade get sent all the way back to make as much room as possible for the last two (and biggest) stops of the day - a FedEx distribution center and a mobile home park drop off area with 5 full 3 yarders each.
Apologies for the abrupt cut out at the end, the raw footage had 1 more bin being dumped and packed but for whatever reason it couldn't save that part.
I hope you enjoy the video and let me know if you'd like to see more like this.
Shoutout to Kanyisa (NorthCentralRefuse) and the super chill driver for making this footage possible.
Expect more hopper videos to come in the near future!
Here you'll see a couple of their old beater Volvo Rapid Rails on greenwaste and trash, an Autocar Bridgeport, and a painfully slow ex-VVS CCC Pak Mor on an automated trash route. While I got a lot of footage of the rear loader, I doubt many people would want to spend 15 minutes of their life watching it... but hey at least the route had some good views. All of the trucks in this video have since been retired.
Enjoy and as always thanks to the drivers for letting me film!
You’ll notice that whoever did the chassis swap job (likely Amrep) also performed a couple other external refurbishments on this mid-‘90s Octo body. The cab shield and hopper guards are that of newer HX450 Elliptical FLs, however the original mesh hopper cover was left in place. Despite the fresh coat of paint, they kept the original caution strobe lights on the tailgate which I find to be a neat token of “old school” amidst the complete modernization of the rest of the body.
I would have liked to get more footage of this truck, however the 2nd half of this driver's day was spent going down private farm roads in rural Ojai and we didn't feel like getting shot or detained for trespassing. The first stop after we followed him from the transfer station was just shy of an hour away at a campground smack dab in the middle of the Los Padres National Forest. Despite being chased out by some lady on a golf cart, it was nonetheless a beautiful drive with exceptional scenery.
Huge thanks to the super chill driver for letting us film!
Though all filmed before, these are still pretty nifty trucks to be seen from WM, and you can never get too much video of the last WM Volvo Croc.
Filmed Summer 2020.
A Peterbilt Amrep and a Volvo McNeilus Front Loader cruising around Palos Verdes on Saturday morning a couple years back. I believe both these trucks have since been retired. More cool and classic trucks to come later in Part 2.
Thanks to the drivers for letting us film and to Eric (SouthBayRefuse) for showing me around as always!
Here are some of my other Athens cleanup week videos:
youtube.com/watch?v=XmhnQhP0oCY&t=257s
youtube.com/watch?v=tOpK11mxh1E&
The coolest part however was that I was lucky enough to see, in person, this unique method of rear load dumpster operations, pretty much exclusive to the state of Colorado. This method consists of essentially two clamps that squeeze on either side of the dumpster in order to tip it, relying on hydraulics and resulting in what could be argued as less wear and tear on the dumpster. Though not a fan of rear load dumpster collection to begin with, I would choose this method any day over conventional style dumpster tipping. The squeeze method eliminates the need for manually setting latches on either side, a tip bar that love-taps the pavement on slopes, and the lack of speed usually associated with winch cables.
This was the only truck we found from them that day, though if you take a look on Scott's Flickr page, they had (and might still have?) some pretty cool older trucks as well.
Thanks to the crew for letting us film!
Here you'll see:
- "CNG" Peterbilt 520/Heil Durapack Python w/tag axle
- Mack MR Wittke "Express" MSL
- Peterbilt 520 McNeilus Rear Loader w/tag axle.
Not seen, but can be filmed for a later video, are another Peterbilt 520 Heil Durapack Python, Mack Granite McNeilus RL, and a Peterbilt 520 Heil FL with a Curotto Can. Let me know in the comments if this would be something you're interested in seeing!
Please note that none of these models are for sale.
To see other trucks in my first gear WM fleet, watch here: youtube.com/watch?v=1K5GAV-Ss-M&t=22s
As you'll see in some of the shots, views from certain points throughout the route definitely made up for the double leg workout I got that morning.
Again a huge thanks to the driver and swamper for collecting LA's Trash Production in Silver Lake that week!
0:00 - Cayucos, CA: 2022 Peterbilt 520 Wittke Starlight/Labrie FL's with Curotto Cans. Here are the two newest front loaders in the yard, not to mention the first combination of its type (that I know of) and the first Curotto Cans in the county. These two trucks are the replacements for the old Xpeditor Carry Cans in Cayucos (seen here: youtube.com/watch?v=cZ8AgaNzfEs, and here: youtube.com/watch?v=70oxLWwSKVQ&t=191s) Talk of new trucks for this town began after I talked to one of the drivers there back in Decemeber 2020. Just over a year later, new trucks finally arrived and they are definitely not what I had expected.
While the drivers get their route done in record time now, the route is not Curotto Can friendly by any means. The Carry Cans worked because of steep hills with cans placed on high slopes, along with nearly half the residents placing out containers in the semi-auto, handle-towards-street fashion. Obviously these are not obstacles that can change overnight, which is why the drivers of the Curottos still have to put up with them. As automated as they want the routes in Cayucos to be, the drivers still have to exit the truck many times per street to move cans out. And as you can see, it's no low entry truck - at least they got the RHD aspect right this time.
5:32 - Los Osos, CA: 2021 Peterbilt 520 McNeilus ZR. Here was the first ZR the yard got back in the summer of last year I believe. While not brand new, it's new enough and one of only one or two others in the yard. This purchase was pretty much a nail in the coffin for Bridgeport, first with the batch of Labrie ASLs in 2019 and then McNeilus in the past year. It's seen here flying through a recycling route on Friday in Los Osos. The ZR seems to work this route pretty well and doesn't seem to slow the driver down too much from the old Bridgeport he used to drive.
8:20 - San Luis Obispo, CA: 2022 CNG Peterbilt 520 Leach Alpha III Rear Loader. Out of the 7 new Alpha III Rear Loaders this yard has, two were ACXs bought in late 2020 and five others on 520s were bought around the same time, a year later in 2021 with this one being the last and only CNG unit. The five 520s replaced the five regular running Volvos from the yard which are all now spares. 1007 is the only truck to do residential trash daily here in SLO. I found them on a pretty nice part of their route on Tuesday so I was able to get some beautiful central coast views in my shots.
12:47 - San Luis Obispo, CA: 2022 Peterbilt 520 Labrie Automizer ASL. Here is the new green waste truck in my neighborhood. I believe this is the yard's newest side loader. Two years later they're still buying these blue Automizers so drivers probably like them a lot. It's also rare that you ever see a spare for one of them which might be another reason why.
I hope you all enjoy this compilation and huge shoutout to all the friendly drivers for letting me film. If anyone is interested in seeing more video of a particular truck, let me know in the comments.
#newtruck #centralcoast #garbage


