Competitive Carting is using trucks with Duffy’s on the side, confusing residentsPrior Fines Unpaid, Vendors Seeking Payment and Horrible Service to the Customers, the taxpayers of Yorktown
By Dan Murphy
The Westchester Solid Waste Commission, at their meeting on June 14, fined Competitive Carting Co. $42,000 for failure to pay prior fines and violations. Competitive Carting was hired by the Town of Yorktown last year to take over the garbage and recycling operations for Yorktown residents and homeowners.
According to the Facebook group Yorktown Trash Talk, Competitive Carting has provided a dismal performance, including late pickups, no pickups, and breaking down and leaking trucks.
The Solid Waste Commissioner violation read, that Competitive Carting is fined $42,000 for failure to pay commission fees, failure to complete license requirements, and a prior violation for failure to pay fines, which were $21,000.
Reports are coming in that Competitive is not paying its vendors. That includes a gas station, an automotive service, and tire company, all in Westchester. We did speak to the owners of these businesses and confirmed the financial trouble they were having with Competitive. One Competitive truck is at the auto shop and will not be leaving until the bill is paid.
Yorktown Trash members have reported on a truck with Duffy’s on the side picking up on their street. Duffy’s located in Vermont, has no connection to Competitive Carting, other than they sold the truck to them. Apparently, there may be a financial issue with the purchase of the truck. We called Duffy’s and left a message. Some on Yorktown Trash claim that the truck still has Vermont plates.
The Duffy’s signage and the registration are violations which were not addressed by the Solid Waste Commission.
Some of the recurring themes and comments on Yorktown Trash Talk include:
-Unmarked truck picking up regular garbage in Shrub Oak. 5:15 pm. They ran the compactor and left puddle-leaking fluids.
-I’m in Mohegan Lake near Shrub Oak and our garbage wasn’t picked up today! It’s still out there!!
-At 5:30PM my cardboard recycling got picked up by an orange truck with a handwritten sign that says competitive carting. Five minutes later a plain black truck came to pick up the plastics in the bin. Well at least it wasn’t Duffy’s truck this week!
And here’s the question that more and more people are asking in Yorktown. Our Board at work. They picked the least competent trash collection money could buy. Wonder why?
A lawsuit filed by AAA Carting, the previous garbage company hired by the Town, alleges that the town awarded the contract to a company, Competitive, who was not qualified to complete the terms.
Competitive was the low bidder at $3.5 Million; AAA bid $3.8 Million. So, the Town, and Supervisor at the time Matt Slater, could say that they saved taxpayer money by going with Competitive. But at what cost?
Earlier this year, Competitive had to reduce the Bond that it posts to protect the Town and its taxpayers, from a yearly term to monthly. Why? Because they couldn’t afford to pay for the yearly insurance bond. Now we hear that Competitive has a yearly bond, but all of this points to Competitive’s financial outlook in severe financial distress.
Another interesting part of the violation against Competitive was for Failure to comply with license requirements. The contract between Competitive and the Town of Yorktown was for five years. Two-year contracts are the term that is approved by the commission, but the applicant can request a five year term. But Competitive never asked for it.
It is also interesting that the Town didn’t require Competitive to get permission for the longer contract.
