Still More Dangerous: 

New York City’s Commercial Garbage Companies Continue to Put Workers and the Public at Risk

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As New York City moves forward with implementation of the Commercial Waste Zones Law (Local Law 199 of 2019), a new report finds that crashes continued to increase in 2019 and 2020 – despite heightened public scrutiny of the industry. The report by safe streets and labor advocates reveals over the past two years, the largest 20 carters had 85 crashes, including two fatal crashes, in the last two years – an increase of 140% over the past six years.  The new findings show that the industry is growing still more dangerous and continues to undermine the goals of the City’s Vision Zero program.

The report is authored by ALIGN, New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, Teamsters Local 813, and Transportation Alternatives, all members of the Transform Don’t Trash NYC coalition.

Private carters have also routinely failed government safety inspections of their trucks. During inspections in the last two years, 52% of trucks at the top haulers were taken out of service because they were deemed too unsafe to drive – more than double the national average for such severe violations. Faulty brakes and lighting systems were among the most common violations.

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