A rookie driver and a malfunctioning City of Saskatoon garbage truck were behind the destruction of a black disposal bin last July, emails between a city public works employee and a city councillor indicate.
Video showing the garbage truck crushing the bin in the city’s Avalon neighbourhood was captured on a home security camera.
The city said shortly after the footage was released that officials were investigating the incident and looking into possible mechanical failure.
An access to information request filed by CTV News now shows mechanical issues and an inexperienced operator led to the incident.
“Following our investigation, the truck was experiencing mechanical issues with the arm. Combined with operator inexperience (i.e. to pull ahead of the cart before trying to work out the arm issues) as well as failure to follow procedure (i.e. picking up the cart once it was knocked over) contributed to a very unfortunate situation caught on camera,” a July 14, 2015 email from a public works employee to a city councillor reads.
The email states the damaged cart was replaced. Another email sent the next day from a public works employee to an unnamed recipient states the truck was repaired.
“Our truck was brought into our repair shop and fixed over the weekend. It is now operating properly and back in service,” the latter email states.
“We have concluded our investigation and feel confident that the driver and truck are safe to be on the road.”
More than 400,000 people have viewed the video since the footage was posted online in July 2015. Watch the full clip above.
