Charlen Parker has been driving trash and recycling trucks for the city of Raleigh for nearly a decade.
"Whatever job I do, I want to be the best at," he said.
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In June, Parker spoke out about the working conditions of sanitation department employees at a Raleigh City Council meeting.
"The time has come to speak plainly about the conditions we face and the dignity that we deserve," Parker told city leaders.
He said sanitation staff often deal with outdated technology, communication barriers and broken equipment, issues Parker said disrupt their daily work.
"You're not even an hour into your route [and] your truck breaks down," Parker said. "It may take, like, two or three hours [and] you're down."
During that time, he said crews are left waiting in sometimes harsh conditions.
"We wait hours with no backup, no plan, no word, and then we are blamed for not doing enough," he said at the meeting.
WRAL News reached out to the city with questions, including how often equipment is serviced and whether these concerns are being addressed.
A city spokesperson responded, saying vehicles are inspected daily and serviced regularly.
City officials also told WRAL News they are aware of when trucks break down during their route, and a mechanic is sent out to assess the situation to see if the truck can be fixed on-site.
“If the truck can't be fixed, a supervisor or crew leader will go out to pick up the driver and bring them back to Solid Waste Services to get a new truck so they can finish their route. If the truck needs to be towed, the mechanic will wait for the tow truck, and then the truck will be taken to Fleet Services,” a spokesperson told WRAL News.
So far this summer, heat has impacted services eight times, according to the city spokesperson.
The department is also investing in new technology to help make the job easier and is consistently fielding feedback from employees.
"Our sanitation staff deal with both weather and sometimes items in a garbage bin that can pose a danger when emptied into a truck. We want to ensure that our employees arrive home safely every day from work. We also want to ensure our residents have safe, reliable service," reads a statement from the spokesperson.
The current technology, RouteSmart, allows drivers to map their service collection routes. It uses customer addresses and street data to plan the most efficient route based on parameters set by Solid Waste Services.
Officials said Solid Waste Services plans to install technology inside the trucks that displays the service collection route and the truck’s current location. The new technology will also include cameras to record the truck’s surroundings, allowing drivers to document any issues they encounter and explanations for any bins they are unable to collect.
Still, Parker said he hasn't seen much change on the ground and hopes improvements will come soon, for the sake of the workers who help keep Raleigh clean.