The City of Prince George is in the process of purchasing a new garbage truck
Garbage Truck

City of Prince George purchasing new garbage truck

Jul 31, 2025 | 2:54 PM

PRINCE GEORGE – The City of Prince George is in the process of adding a new garbage truck to its fleet. After an accident in 2024 left one garbage truck beyond repair, the need for another truck to replace it has been present.

“That truck was written off, deemed unrepairable by ICBC and the insurers, so we were paid out approximately $375,000, which was then put into the solid waste reserve,” said Jordan Wiseman, the City’s Manager of Roads and Fleets.

City Council approved $700,000 for the truck, but Wiseman doesn’t expect it to cost that much, estimating the final cost will be anywhere between $625-650,000.

“We do a comprehensive in-service within fleet services, and that would include things like GPS, cart counters, decaling, communications equipment, spill kits, things like that,” Wiseman said.

Even though crews have been short a truck since May of 2024, the City says operations have still been smooth, but a new truck would be a big, and necessary, boost to service improvements.

“Garbage trucks are a high maintenance piece of equipment just because of the amount of work they do every single day. But our fleet staff is very well versed with those trucks. They know them as well as anybody, and they do a phenomenal job of keeping those trucks up and running to make sure that sanitation is able to do the job that they’re there to do,” Wiseman said.

Wiseman added the new truck likely won’t be here for another 18-24 months, as the City has put the contract out to tender and is now in the process of finding the best fit before moving forward with an official purchase and bringing it to the city. Wiseman expects the truck to be very similar to the already existing fleet, although he adds there could be some nice upgrades if it’s a newer model.

“There’s always new tech that seems to come along with these. We’re pretty cutting edge when it comes to that: our can counters, the cameras, just being able to track where we’re at. That tech’s pretty much standard in a lot of those trucks, plus our GPS system so we can monitor where those trucks are and where we’re working,” Wiseman said.

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