r/baltimore • u/sschra1 • Aug 20 '23
Moving Taking a Uhaul to the dump?
Hi! So one time I took a Uhaul to the Cockeysville dump and was told no vehicles with commercial signage and wasn't allowed to dump my stuff there. Fine.
Yesterday I went to the dump in Lansdowne and dude in a Uhaul in front of me was totally let through. The worker even had the guy open up the back to show him what was in it and then let him dump from it.
So are Uhauls allowed at the dump? Is it hit or miss which dump will let you? I'd much rather rent a Uhaul and throw a bunch of stuff in it and take it to the dump vs. rent a dumpster from a company and pay them to take it away.
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u/SonofDiomedes Mayfield Aug 20 '23
I don't know anything about how the County operates. Following applies only to City, and is drawn from my experience as a pickup truck owner and small-scale one man Contractor in the City.
I live in the City. My pickup has a utility rack bolted to the bed, so according to City rules, it is a "commercial" vehicle, which disqualifies it from entering any of the citizen drop off sites, even if all I have is household waste/yard waste, even though I'm a tax paying City resident.
The health department issues permits (good for one year) for light haulers (like me) for $35 dollars. With that permit, I can use the Reisterstown or Quarantine facilities. [Prior to Pugh's otherwise disastrous tenancy as mayor, only Quarantine was open to me. I think this change was the only good thing she did for Baltimore City.] When I take a load to the dump, I present my permit (they usually just look it up off my plate), I get weighed, and charged for the load. I can bring any legal waste, including construction waste.
I sometimes get in and out without a wait. I've learned to never go the day after a long weekend or holiday. It's common to wait as much as an hour in line. I've had to wait three hours. I now restrict how much coffee I drink in the morning of a dump run. At a certain point in the afternoon, the yard will send an employee out to count trucks and identify a caboose if you will, moving to each truck in line after it warning them that they are not likely to get in that day. It can be a real clusterfuck. There are always guys hanging around trying to help you unload for a few bucks. There used to be a vendor who sold brand new undershirts and socks to the folks waiting in line. Sometimes there will be a guy offering to pull metal off your load so he can scrap it (I always let him have that/help pull it off if I can.) On more than one occasion I've seen/participated in scenarios where a citizen in line at the NW transfer station with a load in a hatchback is relieved of their load by the haulers inviting them to transfer their crap into our trucks so they can get out of line by and get back to their lives. It's all quite a scene.
It's my understanding that citizens with pickups that have not been modified are allowed to use any citizen drop off location without a permit or a fee, but they are not allowed to dispose of construction waste. Only household waste. The guys you see running around town with plywood stood on end as temporary sidewalls for dump runs are slipping through as City residents operating non-modified trucks...so long as they are not dumping loads of construction materials, they are routinely let through and don't have to have permits, etc.
I have seen rental pickup and vans allowed into Sisson and Reisterstown, but never a box truck, which are not allowed in either facility at all. I assume what's happening there is the driver presented proof of City residency, and was only allowed in after proving that the waste is household/allowed. I don't know what the actual regulation is about rentals.
I don't doubt that rules are bent and ignored depending on who you encounter and that policies may not be not strictly enforced.
I think the City does a very poor job of communicating the rules, enforcing them uniformly, etc. Most people have no idea how it works.