Sanitation workers, pushed beyond endurance, band together to intercept dump trucks

    At 4 a.m. on the 22nd, seven or eight sanitation workers in orange reflective work uniforms in Zhengzhou placed some foam bricks on the road and positioned garbage tricycles across the western half of the road to intercept passing dump trucks. In just 10 minutes, 10 dump trucks were forced to stop.

    Most of these dump trucks came from nearby construction sites and were mostly "too full," with muck rising nearly half a meter above the rear cargo box. Fine soil particles and bricks occasionally spilled from the gaps in the sideboards. Some vehicles left a long trail of muck behind them.

    Sanitation worker Han, nearly 60 years old with graying hair, said excitedly that most of these dump trucks took this route toward the South Third Ring Road. Over the past two months, every morning they came from the direction of Chengdong Road and Hanghai Road, leaving a trail of muck and garbage all the way to the South Third Ring Road, about 3 kilometers long and 1 meter wide, with the thickest parts 4 to 5 centimeters deep. "It's all spilled by dump trucks, very sticky. To sweep it clean, more than 10 of us use large brooms and have to work from 3 a.m. to 9 a.m., and the garbage tricycles can hold dozens of loads."

    Unable to endure it any longer, the sanitation workers decided to stop the trucks and reason with the drivers, demanding that the dump truck drivers and their construction sites clean up the muck scattered along the route.

    Do not let engineering vehicles become "road killers"

    On July 20, a tragic traffic accident occurred in Gutian, Hankou, Hubei. A cement tanker truck turned right at the intersection of Gutian First Road and Nanniwan Avenue and struck sanitation worker Ms. Wu, who was riding a bicycle straight ahead, running over her and killing her on the spot.

    From 6:30 a.m. to 11 a.m., Ms. Wu finished her tiring morning work and thought she could go home to rest, but an accident happened on her way home, which is regrettable and sorrowful. Reports also said that Ms. Wu's husband had died of illness earlier this year, and neither her son nor daughter was married. An already incomplete family lost its only "pillar" because of this accident, which is even more lamentable and sad. It is only right to hold those responsible accountable and compensate Ms. Wu's family, but we should also learn from the tragedy, deeply reflect on its causes, strengthen the management of engineering operation vehicles, and prevent them from becoming "road killers."

    Sanitation workers bear the heavy responsibility of keeping the city clean. They must work along roadsides and even in the middle of roads for long periods, weaving all day among passing vehicles. In addition, sanitation workers often lack effective protective measures while working on roads, exposing them to huge safety risks. Large engineering operation vehicles such as cement tankers and dump trucks also frequently travel on roads, and some drivers of engineering vehicles adopt the practice of "hauling more and running faster" to earn more economic benefits, which not only seriously threatens sanitation workers operating on roads but also brings safety hazards to pedestrians and other passing vehicles. Safety only has full marks and zero marks, no passing grade. We must not let our guard down or rest easy just because an accident has not happened by luck; we must realize that once a safety hazard occurs, it will be a tragedy threatening lives.

    Traffic management departments and safety supervision departments should actively go into construction sites and engineering transport units to carry out traffic safety publicity, organize drivers to receive education on road traffic laws and regulations and related knowledge, and raise the safety awareness of engineering vehicle drivers; comprehensively investigate the situation of engineering operation vehicles to ensure that vehicles and drivers are compliant and legal; for road sections with heavy traffic and dense pedestrians, obvious traffic signs should be set up, prohibiting engineering operation vehicles from entering or restricting their entry to certain times, to ensure the safety of vehicles and pedestrians; intensify the rectification and management of engineering operation vehicles, regularly carry out joint rectification, crack down on serious traffic violations such as overloading and speeding, increase penalties, and expose and report them through the media to warn others and urge drivers to drive civilly and safely.

    The rights and interests of sanitation workers must not be ignored either. They work tirelessly on the front line of urban sanitation but receive meager wages. Their treatment should be improved as soon as possible, safety insurance and other protections should be purchased for them, and the legitimate rights and interests of "city beauticians" should be effectively safeguarded.

    Nanjing's "mini" dump trucks aim to curb unlicensed agricultural vehicles

    In Nanjing, the "five small" projects currently produce small amounts of soil, and the transport roads do not meet the driving conditions for large dump trucks. If agricultural vehicles are not used, these projects will face difficulties in transporting soil. Therefore, while strictly investigating unlicensed vehicles, Nanjing has adopted a diversion approach and introduced "mini" dump trucks. Compared with large dump trucks nearly 3 meters wide and 6 meters long, mini dump trucks are only 3.8 meters long and 2 meters wide, can travel through streets and alleys, and can transport 1.5 tons of muck each time, filling a market gap and squeezing the living space of unlicensed vehicles.

    Data released by the Nanjing Muck Joint Rectification Office show that from January to May this year, law enforcement personnel detained a total of 642 vehicles, of which 336 were unlicensed muck trucks such as agricultural vehicles and engineering vehicles, accounting for 52%. Compared with the same period last year, the number of unlicensed muck trucks increased by 12%. Moreover, the rampant nature of unlicensed muck trucks such as agricultural vehicles is shocking. Reckless agricultural vehicles not only disregard lives but also dump muck everywhere, bringing great hidden dangers to urban safety. In addition, municipal muck law enforcement personnel mostly patrol at night, while unlicensed vehicles smuggle around the clock, leaving considerable room for them to survive.

    Nanjing currently has too many construction sites, large and small, distributed along major and minor roads and in streets and alleys. "Many legitimate muck truck companies are too busy to handle all the work, which naturally gives these unlicensed muck trucks room to survive." It is understood that many of these unlicensed muck trucks are from other places and have their own circles. People from the same place tip each other off when work comes up, and they all have an "unspoken rule" with construction sites: if caught by inspection teams, they resolutely refuse to say which construction site hired them. In fact, agricultural vehicles with out-of-town license plates are not allowed to enter the main urban area, but the current penalty for entering restricted areas is only 200 yuan, so the cost of punishment is low, leading these agricultural vehicles to flock into the city. Therefore, these out-of-town agricultural vehicles all want to make a quick buck and leave, without any restraint. As a result, they not only transport in a brutal and reckless manner but also dump muck everywhere. Our newspaper has reported on this many times before.

    Some industry insiders also said that many five-small projects (small decoration, small demolition, small leveling, small excavation and occupation, and small repair projects) do indeed need small dump trucks. "Some projects involve only one or two truckloads of muck, such as water, electricity, and gas emergency repairs and home decoration. If you make them go through procedures and approvals involving several departments, delays become a problem, so they simply take the risk and hire unlicensed muck trucks." Now the approval procedures for the introduced "mini" dump trucks have been simplified.

    Urban management is still formidable

    In recent years, with the rapid development of Xi'an, a large amount of construction waste has been generated with nowhere to dump it. A few profit-driven individuals have set up private garbage dumps, damaging farmland.

    On July 23, 2012, Weiyang District in Xi'an established the city's first special service brigade dedicated to tackling illegal dump truck behavior. This is currently the only night law enforcement team in the city specifically managing dump trucks. Team members average 23 years old and are equipped with law enforcement recorders. Since the team was formed a year ago, the phenomena of dump trucks scattering muck along the way and dumping illegally to form hills in Weiyang District have been effectively controlled.

    Urban management has been in the spotlight several times this year and is becoming increasingly "sharp." As you can see, illegal dumping of muck within the jurisdiction of Weiyang District in Xi'an has basically disappeared, which is truly admirable.