Midtown Woman Says Garbage Trucks Keep Damaging Her House

(Memphis) Deborah Brantley says it happens on Fridays, the day the City picks-up her trash, the garbage truck often hits the side of her garage.

“The problem is when they hit the side of it, it’s hitting the beams. Eventually the garage is going to collapse,” said Brantley.

She says the City has agreed four times that it’s been at fault.

Brantley has filed claims against Memphis, and each time the city has paid for repairs.

The total so far is $5,700 since 2006.

The last one was just a few weeks ago.

“They sent the check and we had it repaired, and this has been less than a month and a half later and it`s damaged again,” she said.

She says it’s a waste of City money, “I don`t understand why they don`t put smaller trucks.”

Brantley lives on Peabody, a historical area of Midtown, where houses are big and back alleyways are small. 

She says the garbage trucks are too large for picking-up trash here.

She wants the City to use smaller vehicles.

We received this response from Public Works, “…budget does not currently allow for purchasing new, custom sized vehicles” and “Unfortunately, even smaller size trucks may experience problems in alleys.”

Brantley says something has got to change, “This is like every Friday, so if I repair this, I am going to look at this again in another month.”

Public Works is willing to pick up Brantley’s garbage curbside on Peabody, if all her neighbors would agree to the change.