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The Harlan City Council received information concerning the condition of one of the city’s vehicles during the panel’s recent March meeting.

Mayor Joe Meadors brought the panel up to date following a council member’s question about an issue with a city garbage truck.

“I’m not well versed in this, except I know it’s the same issue they keep talking about,” Meadors said. “There’s a pollution control device on these vehicles – That started out in California – it recirculates the emissions through (the system) and it keeps burning it and burning it. For whatever reason, we must not get that truck hot enough.”

Meadors explained if the system is not hot enough, the pollution control device will not operate properly.

“They’re suggesting now that when we start it up in the morning, we take the truck for about a 15- or 20-mile ride and then back for 15 or 20 miles and get the motor hot so it can burn all that stuff off,” Meadors said. “We’ve tried that. They say it works, but we’ve had issues, it doesn’t seem to work.”

Meadors pointed out the sort of stop and go travel the garbage truck is generally used for while picking up garbage around the city is not causing the vehicle’s motor to heat up sufficiently to allow the pollution device to operate properly.

“From now on, we’re probably going to drive the truck halfway to Cumberland, turn around and come back,” Meadors said. “We’ll get it good and hot and see if it helps burn those emissions off.”

Meadors noted the issue is common among vehicles equipped with the same type of pollution device.

“The guys who work on them in Middlesboro say it’s the worst thing…they can’t keep the trucks on the road,” Meadors said. “When it gets fixed this time, we’re going to try (to heat the truck up) every morning. The route they take doesn’t heat the truck up enough.”

Meadors said the city’s garbage pickup will begin approximately 45 minutes later due to the time required to heat the truck’s system enough to operate properly.

“Other than that, the truck’s doing great,” Meadors said. “A new one is $225,000, that’s a lot of money.”