HARDIN COUNTY, Ky. — Briana Bradshaw is frustrated her trash hasn’t been collected since Friday, June 24, 2022.
She isn’t the only Hardin County resident whose trash bins are overflowing. When Spectrum News 1 visited the area on Tues., July 12, her neighbors also said their trash hasn’t been collected and neighborhoods less than two miles away from Bradshaw’s house, in nearby Radcliff, Ky. are also still waiting on the garbage truck to empty their bins.
Bradshaw doesn’t know why her trash hasn’t been collected since June 24. She told Spectrum News 1, a notice last month from WM, the trash and recycling company that services her neighborhood on South Wilson Road in Elizabethtown, said pickups were switching from Thursdays to Fridays.
“I don’t know if this going from Thursday to Friday pickup is a situation for them, but it’s definitely a stinky one for everyone through here,” she said, after dumping her week’s trash.
Signed into her WM online account, Bradshaw showed Spectrum News 1 that the last confirmed garbage pickup at her house was on June 24.
Plus, her account showed a credit of $12.07. So she knows the trash collection isn’t delayed because of a missed or late payment.
Bradshaw’s neighbors confirmed they were also waiting for their trash to be picked up.
However, north on South Wilson Road, less than two miles from Bradshaw’s house, there are empty trash bins in Radcliff, Ky. A resident there who didn’t want to be interviewed on-camera told Spectrum News 1 that besides the Fourth of July holiday delay, there have been no issues with garbage collection by WM.
But some neighborhoods in Radcliff surrounding South Wilson Road are in the same bind as Bradshaw: their trash bins are also full.
Calandra Hicks is one of those Radcliff residents. She told Spectrum News 1 her garbage is piling up in her kitchen because she doesn’t want her trash bin outside to overflow. Outside, her only garbage bin sits on the edge of the curb, like the rest of her neighbors, waiting to be dumped.
“We have some stray cats, so I don’t want to put the trash on top and have to pick up the trash,” Hicks explained.
Hicks said she called WM, but she wasn’t able to talk with anyone. However, she said her landlord did.
“That they have a shortage in the drivers and the workers,” is what Hicks said WM told her landlord.
Spectrum News 1 asked WM for an interview, but the company’s Mid-South Senior Communications Specialist Jennifer McKay said the company could not do an interview that day.
Instead, McKay sent the below statement in response to email questions by Spectrum News 1, instead of an interview.
“WM is currently navigating supply chain constraints that are affecting delivery schedules in asset categories, such as trucks and supporting equipment. At Elizabethtown and Louisville Hauling, WM has been experiencing this very challenge, which has limited the number of trucks available to service the approximate 14,000 residential accounts daily. As of this week, WM is taking additional action, and deploying trucks from neighboring locations to support and streamline the expected, timely and safe service our communities deserve. WM commits to taking care of each other, our customers, our communities, and the environment—and our team will continue working to ensure accounts are serviced as we continue to navigate the ongoing supply chain constraints.”
“I mean I can understand if you need to skip a week because of the holiday, whatever it may be, but our street is getting rough,” Bradshaw said.
Bradshaw hopes they collect her trash soon because she is out of garbage bins and she is also running out of patience.
On Thurs., July 14, Bradshaw’s neighbor, Zachary Atcher, texted Spectrum News 1 that his garbage still hasn’t been collected.
Atcher also texted Spectrum News 1 and said, “I called them and [WM] ended up giving me a refund for the troubles and confirmed again that they’d be there today. But they also confirmed they’d be there every other day I called LOL.”