Waste Pro Garbage Trucks Causes Major Traffic Delays

Wednesday, both north and south bound lanes of Highway 49 were shut down for hours near O’Neal Road in Gulfport when a garbage truck, with its dumpster in the air, struck a power line strung across the highway. The accident happened around 9 a.m. Wednesday morning.

The vehicle involved was a Waste Pro garbage truck and it was travelling southbound on Highway 49. When the truck struck the power line, it snapped the utility pole it was attached to. Traffic was tied up for several hours as crews with Mississippi Power cleared the roadway. Thousands of homes experienced power outages as well. News 25’s cameras were first on the scene and we have an exclusive interview with the driver of the Waste Pro garbage truck.

The driver says, “And all of a sudden, the bucket come down, I guess, I mean, it come down because I hear, ‘pop,’ ‘bang,’ and I look in my right mirror and I see a pole shaking and I seen a line hanging.”

The interview was cut short by another Waste Pro employee. A Senior Vice President for Waste Pro, Ron Pecora told News 25 the device that lifts the garbage dumpster in the air malfunctioned and lifted the dumpster on its own without any action by the driver.