Written by Chris Smith · Illustrative case study
The situation
A retired fella rang me after his son had visited and told him, kindly, that the side of the house had become a hazard. He wanted rubbish Collection sorted before his grandkids came up for the school holidays, and there was a mix of general mixed waste, bagged rubbish and cardboard and packaging at a property in Gold Coast.
Why the customer needed help
A skip bin was the first thing they looked at, but there was nowhere to put one without a permit, and nobody to fill it. What they needed was rubbish Collection where someone else does the lifting.
What was at the property
By my count there were general mixed waste, bagged rubbish and cardboard and packaging, along with the usual loose odds and ends that build up around a job like this. It's typical of what we see from holiday letting managers.
Working in Gold Coast
Gold Coast is a city of beachside towers, canal homes, family suburbs and hinterland acreage. We run trucks across the whole Gold Coast every day, from Coolangatta to Coomera and out to the hinterland, so wherever you are there is usually a crew nearby. We bring the right truck for the street, from tight unit driveways to wide acreage tracks.
The initial assessment
When I got there I didn't start with the rubbish, I started with the customer. I asked them to walk me through what was staying and what was going. Twice they pointed at things I'd assumed were rubbish and said "not that". It's why I never quote from photos alone on a job like this.
How the job was planned
We agreed on an order of work. Heavy items first, while we were fresh and the truck was empty, then the loose material packed around them. Anything worth donating would go in last so it wouldn't get crushed.
Preparation
I parked the truck so the tailgate lined up with the shortest path, laid ply over the garden edge so the trolley wouldn't chew it up, and set out a tarp for the donation pile.
Step 1
Step one was clearing a working space. We shifted the easy, loose items straight onto the truck so we had room to manoeuvre around the awkward ones.
Step 2
Step two was the stuff in the hard-to-reach spots: the top of the garage racking, under the house, behind the water tank. That's usually where the surprises live, and this job was no different.
Step 3
Step three was the final check. I went back through every room and corner with the customer, picked up the small stuff the big items had hidden, and swept up.
Removal, sorting and loading
We loaded by destination rather than by size. Metal on one side for the scrap yard, green waste kept clean, cardboard flattened and bundled, and general rubbish packed into whatever space was left.
From the truck it went to a licensed transfer station, where recyclables were dropped off separately, and anything usable went to a local op shop before the tip run.
Challenges we ran into
The pile had been sitting long enough that the bottom layer was wet and partly rotted, and a couple of boxes fell apart the moment we lifted them.
How we handled them
We shovelled the wet layer onto a tarp and dragged it to the truck in sections. Slower, but no mess through the yard.
Completion and final result
When the last load was strapped down, the space was empty and swept. The customer walked through with me, signed off, and paid the price we'd agreed at the start, not a dollar more.
What I learned
The lesson I keep re-learning: always walk the access before you look at the load. The rubbish rarely causes the trouble. The doorway, the step or the gate does.