There’s a new truck in town, and the city wants to be sure its citizens are ready.

On Monday, the city will collect and empty garbage using the long mechanical arm of its new truck.

The truck switch will move two utility workers to less hazardous positions and cut city spending, says Arnold Hiller, the city’s public works director.

Previously, three workers rode around town hopping on and off their rear-load collection truck to grab garbage cans.

Now, only one driver and his speedy sidekick, the “fully automated packer truck” is needed.

But for the truck arm to be able to grab and dump the garbage carts properly, the hoppers must be within eight feet of the street’s pavement and three feet away from any other object.

Also, facing the mouth of cart towards the street helps make sure it’s completely emptied and that it won’t clip and carry out trash already in the truck.

“With the public working with us, and we working with the public, making it convenient for them and them making it convenient for us, this operation should be a lot more efficient and safer than the past operations we’ve had with the three men,” says Hiller.

Other guidelines from the city:

• Don’t have loose trash, especially loose, plastic shopping bags in your cart; enclose everything in a trashbag.

• Have your (only city-issued) trash carts out by 7 a.m. on collection day.

• Return it to its non-pick-up-day position after it’s emptied by 8 that night.

• Your trash won’t be emptied if the cart isn’t within eight feet of the street’s pavement and three feet away from any other object.

The city purchased the $186,000 truck it tested out last fall and with it estimates around $50,000 in annual savings.

The city is still “ironing the bugs out” of the new trash pickup system and currently training two men for the one-man job.

So, if you’ve spotted two men in the collector cab, it’s only temporary, says Garry Riddle, public works service supervisor.

Soon, only one worker will operate the truck.

The other two collection workers have moved to open utility positions within the city and Newberry and its taxpayers will indirectly benefit from the one-worker-only labor savings.

“We have eliminated two employees, but we did not fire anybody. That was through attrition. We just did not rehire,” says Hiller. “So it’s an overall savings in the long-run of two salaries.”

Plus, the arm-collection truck is safer than having two men crisscross street traffic to pick up and dump trash carts.

About three years ago, a city worker was struck by a car while collecting garbage.

Hiller says the new automated truck will be a safety advantage.

“It is very efficient,” says Hiller. “One of the main factors is you’re taking two people off the back of a packer truck. They’re always crossing in front of traffic and cars and so forth and the safety factor certainly means a lot because you are taking people out of a hazardous environment.”

The truck has three cameras mounted outside it to relay pictures to an inside monitor. One camera even looks inside the trash cart when it’s dumped to make sure everything is emptied.

For questions about the new trash pickup system, call 321-1020.