What happens inside a garbage truck?

Have you ever seen a garbage truck come to your house? They are big trucks that take away trash. Let’s look at what happens inside these cool trucks!

How Trash Gets Inside

When the garbage truck comes to your home, here is what happens:

1. The truck stops at your trash can
2. A big arm picks up your can
3. The arm can lift up to 800 pounds!
4. It dumps your trash into a hopper at the back
5. Then the trash goes inside the truck
   The truck has a special part called a hopper. This is like a big mouth that eats your trash!

What Happens To The Trash Inside

Once your trash is inside the truck, cool things happen:

• A big blade pushes on the trash
• This smashes the trash to make it smaller
• The trash gets 3 times smaller!
• This lets the truck hold more trash
• The truck can pick up from 500-1,000 homes on one trip

Types of Garbage Trucks

There are different kinds of garbage trucks:

Type	How It Works	Where It’s Used
Front Loader	Lifts bins over the top	Stores and businesses
Rear Loader	Takes trash from the back	Homes and streets
Side Loader	Robot arm on the side	Places with no cars in the way
Front loader trucks can pick up 8-10 tons of trash each day!

Inside The Truck Body

The inside of a garbage truck is made of strong parts:

• Steel body keeps trash inside
• Hydraulic cylinders move the pushing parts
• Compactor blade squishes trash down
• The floor and sides are made of steel sheets
  These parts help the truck hold lots of trash!

New Truck Technology

New garbage trucks in 2025 have cool new things:

• Electric motors that make less noise
• AI computers that help drivers see better
• Cameras that stop accidents (40% fewer crashes!)
• Sensors that find the best way to go
  These new trucks help keep our air clean and make less noise in your neighborhood!

Where Does The Trash Go?

After the truck gets full, here’s where your trash goes:

1. The truck visits a landfill 2-3 times each week
2. It uses a hydraulic lift to dump all the trash out
3. Some trash (60-80%) goes to recycling places
4. Food trash might go to compost piles
   The truck helps make sure trash goes to the right place!

How Much Trash Can They Hold?

A normal garbage truck can hold:

• 9-12 tons of squished trash
• That’s like the weight of 6 cars!
• New trucks cost between $150,000-$350,000
• Electric trucks cost 30% more but save $15,000 each year on gas

Safety Features

Garbage trucks have ways to keep workers safe:

• Backup cameras help drivers see behind them
• Special arms lift heavy cans so people don’t have to
• Automatic side loaders cause 22% fewer worker injuries
• Warning lights tell cars to be careful

Fun Facts About Garbage Trucks

Did you know?

• The hydraulic system can push with the force of an elephant!
• Trucks can compact (squish) trash in just 30-60 seconds
• Some new trucks use AI computers to drive better
• Steel bodies help garbage trucks last 5-7 years longer

Want to Learn More?

If you want to see more cool trucks, check out these pages:

• • See how dirt and rocks get moved
• Rear Loader Waste Compactor Truck – Learn more about garbage trucks
• Self-Loading Garbage Truck – See trucks that load trash all by themselves

Words to Know

• Compaction: Making trash smaller by squishing it
• Hopper: The part where trash first goes in
• Hydraulic: Using oil pressure to move strong parts
• Landfill: The place where trash goes
• Recycling: Making old things into new things
  Now you know all about what happens inside a garbage truck! They are amazing machines that help keep our towns clean!