A city will have a number of services in place to maintain itself, and perhaps one of the more underrated services for any urban center is the work of sweeper trucks. They can perform parking lot sweeping and sweep up trash and debris along roads big and small, and this in fact can save the city a lot of trouble and money than if the messes were left alone and parking lot sweeping was not done at all. Various cities will have their own street sweeper fleets, such as Maryland street sweeping in Baltimore and other cities, along with DC sweeping service done in the nation’s capital. Parking lot sweeping does a lot of good, and the consequences of neglecting this work would become evident very fast.
What They Do
Street sweepers are simply trucks that have large brushes and arms on them, along with circular brushes and vacuums for collecting and putting away trash in their storage bins to keep streets and parking lots clear of organic and man-made trash and debris alike. They may also take care of liquid problems such as oil stains or runoff on roads, which may include pesticides or other chemicals that are harmful to people and pets, so street sweepers are needed for that, too. Runoff from rain or melting snow can flow across bridges, across rooftops, parking lots, and other surfaces in an urban area. While a sweeper truck won’t end up on a building roof, it can keep highways and overpasses clear of such harmful chemicals daily. They will also pick up solid trash like plastic bags, cardboard, soda or beer cans, and much more that ends up on a city’s roads and parking lots, along with organic trash ranging from thrown away food to built-up dead leaves.
Why is this work important? Trash and organic debris that remains in place can become a problem in several different ways. For one thing, built up trash and leaves can block off storm drain pipes, and this can lead to significant flooding, which in turn can disrupt traffic and cause water damage to nearby buildings. For another, if trash remains in a street, this presents a very bad image to people who visit or want to find a new place in which to live. This is because people consider the beauty and maintenance of a building or property’s exterior to be just as important as that of the interior, and a trash filled street may show that the owners cannot be bothered to even perform regular cleanup, so the property may be neglected as well. This can be a disaster for property owners, if people will not even bother to visit the interior if the exterior is poorly looked after. Parking lot cleaners are there to keep streets and parking lots clear so that any business or residential space can maintain a good image for anyone visiting, and shoppers may be turned away from a retailer whose parking lot is filled with trash. A third reason to undertake street sweeping operations is to prevent wildlife from becoming a problem. parking lot sweeping trucks and regular street sweepers will clear away all trash, organic or not, that may build up, but if they do not, wildlife such as mice and rats, raccoons, and opossums will be attracted to organic trash to eat, and this can further damage an area’s image and reputation with out of control animals. These animals can also be a hazard to nearby people and pets, since they may attack or bite and even spread rabies or other diseases.
Street sweeping is a big business that makes a lot of money and employs many people across the United States. Ever since their invention in the mid 19th century, street sweepers have been a lucrative business. In fact, around 9,224 businesses across the United States provide this service, and overall, the road and highway maintenance industry makes some $42 billion per year and employs 134,714 people or so. All of these sweepers can prevent a lot of expenses related to buildup of trash every year, and they can remove several tons of debris from city streets every year, to minimize pollutants that end up in storm water runoff.
