MOUNT HOLLY, N.C. -- A garbage truck is causing a stir in one Mount Holly neighborhood after a couple of midnight pickups.
Rebekah Lail, who lives on Abernathy Street, said she woke up Sunday night to some loud noises coming from outside.
“It was just a lot of loud banging,” Lail said. “The engine was revving like really, really loud.”
She said she moved to the street in February because it was particularly quiet, but she said lately there’s been more noise in the middle of the night.
“I woke up thinking somebody was breaking in my house,” Lail added, ”and I come to the door, and it’s a garbage truck.”
Lail quickly shot a picture of the truck with its bright lights and posted it to a local Facebook group. She said this is at least the second time in recent weeks the garbage truck has caused a disturbance by picking up around midnight.
Lail said she’s recently had people break into her property so the sound of the trucks, combined with the dogs barking, put her on alert.
“When I wake up to the dogs barking, I’m expecting to see someone that doesn’t belong and to see that it’s a garbage truck, it’s kind of scary,” she said.
Lail said people who live on Abernathy have their choice of waste services. Her neighbor, whose trash was picked up on Sunday night, uses Baker’s Sanitation Service.
NBC Charlotte reached out to Baker’s Sanitation Service. An employee tells NBC Charlotte that it operates all day and all night, although it may pick up later in the summer due to the hot temperatures outside. The company said this is normal practice.
One neighbor who uses the service says he doesn’t mind when his trash is picked up, as long as someone is there to do the job.
“The lights are bright, the noise is loud, but what can you do?” said Lamarr Craig. “You want to take care of it yourself, or you want somebody else to do it for you?”
For perspective, Tony Walker, deputy director of Streets and Solid Waste and Fleet Management for the City of Mount Holly, said the city collects garbage and recycling between the hours of 7 a.m. and 5 p.m.
Walker said in an email, “We respect our citizens and have put those times in our collection hours for that reason.”
The City of Charlotte picks up trash between 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Lail said going forward, she would simply like a little forewarning to know what to expect in the middle of the night.
“They just need to alert the residents,” she said. “And let them know that they’re going to be coming through here.”