As the Jacksonville area knows all too well, trash service isn’t a sure thing. A driver shortage triggered missed pickups by the thousands and prompted a recent six-month pause on curbside recycling pickup and the creation of a special City Council committee. The committee’s challenge is to root out issues behind the driver shortage, such as a city waste fund in a multimillion-dollar hole, contracts with three different waste providers who are paid a wide range of rates per pickup site, and years-long shortfalls in funding for the city’s recycling program. Another consideration is whether a waste transfer station should be built in central Jax, an issue that brought out several opponents at the committee’s most recent meeting.

It’s a complicated problem, and the clock is ticking — the committee must make recommendations to the full Council by June 30th.

Through it all, the men and women who take away our trash go to work day in and day out. They work in an array of roles: driving, hauling, vehicle maintenance, management, customer relations and more. Many clock in while most of us are still sound asleep. Their pay can vary significantly: The city’s contractors advertise waste worker jobs with starting pay ranging from $18 to $24 an hour.

Solid Waste Division employees work 10-hour days, four days a week — officially from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. “It often runs over,” says Solid Waste Division Superintendent Michael Pinckney. “So I say 6 a.m. until…”

For Jacksonville Today, photographer Dennis Ho spent a couple of recent days documenting their work.

Intro by Ric Anderson; Photos and captions by Dennis Ho.