For Tangelous Green, the key to success is simple: treat people the way you want to be treated. Tangelous, a residential driver in Waste Pro’s Natchez, MS Division, first joined the company in March 2014, but she was no stranger to driving big vehicles. She obtained her commercial driver’s license (CDL) in 1999 and had previously been a bus/van driver for the Tensas Parish Detention Center and later a school bus driver. “But I wanted to try something different,” she said of her choice to transition into the garbage business. “I knew a few people who worked here, and I thought to myself, ‘I could do that.’”
In her nearly 10 years with Waste Pro, Tangelous has become well known among her customers in the Natchez and Port Gibson areas of Mississippi. “I’ve made pretty good friends with a lot of the customers,” she said. “They can even tell when I’m not working; if I’m on vacation or something. They’ll tell me it’s not the same without me!”
That kind of admiration comes from her simple method: getting out there and doing her best. “I like to empty the cans, not leave paper or anything in front of anybody’s house, because I don’t want that to happen in front of my own house,” she said.
Her positive attitude is only one aspect of her success at Waste Pro – she is also committed to safety, a habit that has twice earned her the company’s coveted $10,000 Safety Award. “I go out there, I do my pre-trip, and I make sure whoever is on the truck with me has what they need, and I have what I need to get out there and do what we do,” she said. “I want to come back home the same way I left, and the same goes for my helper.”
To earn the $10,000 Safety Award, drivers must go three years without an at-fault accident, injury, or property damage, maintain a clean truck, and have a strong attendance record. Tangelous earned her first award in 2019, and just earned her second award earlier this year. “It’s an honor to be able to receive that kind of appreciation and recognition just for doing what you’re supposed to do,” she said.
When she’s not behind the wheel of her Waste Pro truck, Tangelous enjoys spending time traveling and exploring new places with her family.