Loads of trash are piling up in Cobb County, leading to a smelly mess.

Channel 2’s Carl Willis spoke with a concerned neighbor who told him that the pickup schedule is behind, and the trash is piling up faster than it can be hauled away from transfer stations.

“I’m seeing a place that’s full,” resident Carl Knill said. “It’s never been like this before.”

Knill has been coming to the Cobb County Station on County Service Road for over 20 years.

He said the issue is getting out of hand.

“On Saturday, I came and there was a line all down almost a quarter mile one way and a quarter mile the other way, going up the road,” Knill said.

Custom Ecology, or CEI, said the buildup of trash results from not having enough Class A truck drivers who can operate an 18-wheeler and haul trash from these temporary holding sites to landfills.

When you combine the shortage of class A truck drivers with recent wet weather, the result is trash stations that have overflowed or shut down altogether.

Thus, residents such as Veronda Carter began to see delays in residential trash pickup.

“This is the first time that I’ve been out here that the trash is stacked to the ceiling,” Carter told Willis. “You can see the trash from the street.”

One sanitation company left an apology for its customers.

As the problem continues to get worse, CEI is working to recruit more drivers and on-site managers from out of state.

To read the full story, visit http://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/cobb-county/shortage-of-landfill-drivers-creates-mountain-of-garbage/563397437.

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