San Juan Sanitation | Truck Access Requirements

Truck Access Requirements

SAN JUAN SANITATION IS COMMITTED TO

SAFE, RELIABLE, & EFFICIENT

COLLECTION SERVICE!

Garbage & recycling trucks require adequate road conditions to service your container. To maintain the highest level of safety for our drivers and fellow islanders we only provide collection service to locations that meet certain criteria.

These criteria are based, in part, on guidelines observed by San Juan County Fire & Rescue, Washington State Department of Transportation (WDOT), American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), and refuse collection companies throughout the state. They include the following:

VISIBILITY

Our drivers are required to see the road ahead and the road behind them at all times. Shrubs and trees that crowd a driveway create an unsafe work environment for our drivers and others who share the road. To provide safe accessibility branches and other obstructions must be cut back to maintain a minimum 14 feet wide and 14 feet high.

ROAD SURFACE
Potholes, mud, soft shoulders and wet leaves are all examples of dangerous road-surface conditions. Private roads and driveways must have a minimum 14 feet wide road base that is level, compact and free of obstructions including, but not limited to potholes, large rocks, water over the roadway, trees or branches.

VERTICAL & HORIZONTAL CLEARANCE

Our trucks require a minimum unobstructed vertical clearance of 14 feet wide and 14 feet high above the driveway surface. Prohibited obstructions include, but are not limited to, tree limbs and branches, telephone wires, trees leaning over roadway, planters, retaining walls, medians, landscaping, brush, or other vegetation.

ROAD GRADE

Garbage trucks are not designed to traverse steep rural roads and driveways. Any road that exceeds a maximum grade of 16% is not serviceable. As a rule of thumb: If a site is not accessible in a two-wheel-drive pickup truck, it's too dangerous for a garbage truck.

ADEQUATE SPACE & TURNING RADIUS

Containers located on private drives or roads must have adequate room for a garbage truck to turn around. Roads and driveways are required to provide a minimum curved radius of 50 feet. Collection vehicles must have adequate room to safely access the container and return to the main road without risk of damage to equipment or property.

CONTAINER PLACEMENT

DUMPSTERS

Dumpsters must be placed on a ground-level concrete slab. The driver must be able to back up to the dumpster in order to latch the container to the truck for tipping.

Dumpster slabs must be 10 feet by 10 feet. The driver must have access to all sides of the container to safely position it to the truck for connecting. The driver must also have adequate clearance to safely open and close lids. The container can not be rolled off the concrete slab.

For locations requiring two containers the slab must be 15 feet by 10 feet. See photo gallery.

CANS
Drivers need adequate room to safely lift the can for dumping. Garbage cans must be placed by the side of the road or driveway. The surface must be flat, hard, and free of, but not limited to, mud, debris, tall grass, sticker bushes, and dog messes.

Garbage cans may not exceed 32-gallons and must have handles. Garbage cans (including contents) may not weigh more than 65-lbs. Over-sized or overweight cans risk driver injury and may may be left at the driver's discretion.