“You haven’t watched garbage get collected lately. The automation is amazing.”
Did it for eight years. It is not automated at all, there is a highly skilled human in there running those joysticks and buttons. It is however fly by wire like modern aircraft and heavy equipment. That was my main job, to keep those fly by wire systems working correctly. There is a stack of three systems to make each equipment operation happen. An electric button/switch that controls an electric/pneumatic valve that controls an air piston that physically opens a hydraulic spool valve that controls hydraulic rams. But joysticks and/or buttons must be pushed by a human to make each equipment operation happen.
Now to the really amazing thing. Depending how far it is to go empty a loaded truck a few times a day, an operator and one truck can service anywhere from 600 to 800 homes in a normal residential route 12 hour shift. A commercial front load truck and operator can service up to around 300 front load containers in a normal 12 hour shift. And these guys are highly skilled. They are not just “tossing trash cans”. Operating the controls on these trucks is like operating a game controller but they are controlling equipment that is powerful enough to reach out and flip a car over in three seconds.
I respect your history. It is amazing how many homes they can hit in a day.
We just got new trucks in our town. As long as the barrels are spaced correctly, the driver never leaves the truck cab.
My grandkids love watching the “trash truck monsters.”