Welcome to Waste Management of San Diego the largest yard WM operates in Southern California. The history of this yard is very interesting, however, not much is known about their fleet prior to 2000. This fleet still seems relatively old school because of all the old trucks still running today. In 1999, WM partnered with PG&E to develop a pilot project to test out natural gas garbage trucks. WM ended up purchasing 120 LNG powered Macks, and today, many are still working hard picking up trash throughout San Diego County.

Being the huge Mack fan that I am, I've really taken a huge liking to this yard as the number of Macks across SoCal has decreased year after year. On September 14th, Moises and I made a trip down to the area to meet up with WM's awesome Phil Smith, who is a 46 year veteran of the company. He knows so much about the history of the waste industry and shared many interesting stories with us. I learned that WM worked under the name Universal Refuse & Removal, who occupied the current property where WM of San Diego currently sits at. He remembers when WM ran PODs out of El Cajon something I didn't know about until recently! I also found out that Western Waste had a yard close by WM where half a dozen trucks were parked in a small lot for them to service the county.

In this video, you can see many of their older garbage trucks unloading at the transfer station. I also made sure to capture many of their chromed out trucks both new and old. The fleet pride in El Cajon is absolutely incredible. I don't think there is a Waste Management yard I've seen with more fully chromed out trucks than this yard. Below are some of my favorite trucks in the fleet:

(0:49) 205593: This is the last truck in the El Cajon fleet that still sports the old "Breathe Easy" logo from back when these Wittkes were brand new.

(5:58) 212976: This is one of my favorite trucks in the fleet despite being a new "Think Green, Think Clean" truck. The driver chromed it out really well and really makes it stand out in comparison to the other Peterbilts.

(6:50) 408138: I never realized how awesome these trucks are until Tyler posted a clip of one a few months back. These LNG Mack roll offs SCREAM when the right driver is behind the wheel!

(8:25) 263271: This is one of the nicest front loaders in the fleet. The previous driver chromed this truck out really nicely until he got a new truck. They still kept the truck looking really nice and you can see how clean the truck is today.

(14:33) 263584: Here's a truck I didn't know El Cajon had until this day! Refurbished LE/Wittke driven by super cool driver Uzi Merino.

(14:46) 200036: I believe this is the very first LNG Mack that El Cajon received. It's incredible how it still runs daily!

(15:40) 211352: This is probably my favorite truck in El Cajon's fleet a oneofakind 2011 CNG Mack MRU Amrep HX450 FL! Moises showed me that the body on this truck is actually from the 2009 LNG Mack MRU Amrep HX450 FL that WM bought and displayed at Waste Expo! The drivers of this truck have taken really good care of it and today, it looks really nice and runs well. Thankful that it's been kept in great condition all these years!

(17:02) 205530: By far El Cajon's most photogenic driver!

(17:54) 101490: One of several Wittke Crocodiles that WM still operates down here. This is one of the meaner sounding ones they run too.

(19:20) 206436: This Mack MR Wittke was repainted within the past year I believe and it looks amazing! Really cool to see El Cajon still repainting Macks these days.

(25:06) 205828: I really enjoyed watching this truck in particular unload. Smooth sounding truck and the Curotto Can grippers on the truck is definitely unique! On top of that, the oil based paint job on the truck has kept it looking really good all these years.

At the end, starting at (27:16), are some old photos of WM of San Diego from the early 2000s. The ones from 27:16 27:40 are courtesy of John Tiquet, WM's natural gas fleet manager. John started out as a tech in El Cajon and rose up to become in charge of all of WM's natural gas fleet technology due to his extensive knowledge of the systems. He can even be seen in an interview in this video here:    • Video  

Thank you so much to everyone at Waste Management of San Diego, and a special thank you to Phil Smith and Dawn Carmen for taking the time to talk with us about the history of the local waste industry. Another thanks to John Tiquet for sharing his experience and some photos of the early LNG fleet with me! And finally, thanks to Moises for making this trip possible.

Hope you all enjoy & thanks for watching!