6 Garbage Man & Trash Collector Jobs in Tennessee

Nationally, Helper / Laborer roles in the waste industry average $15.50 per hour, about $32,000 a year. Most positions fall between $12.50 and $19.23 per hour; those hourly figures are converted from annual pay at 2,080 hours per year, not separately surveyed. Actual pay in Tennessee varies by employer, route type, and contract. Check each listing for the posted rate.

Route days routinely run long, and storm cleanup, holiday backlogs and short crews add hours, so overtime is a normal part of helper earnings. Because the base rate is at the lower end of the industry, those premium hours make a proportionally larger difference to annual take-home here than in most other roles.

This is the classic no-experience entry point into waste management. There is no licence, certification or diploma requirement in most postings. Employers hire on reliability, physical fitness and the ability to pass a drug screen, then train on the truck. It is also the standard on-ramp to a driving career: many haulers sponsor CDL training for helpers who show up consistently, which turns a laborer wage into a driver wage without leaving the company.

Helpers riding on municipal sanitation trucks and at unionised private haulers are frequently in the same bargaining unit as the drivers, represented by a Teamsters, AFSCME or comparable local. Where a contract applies, the wage scale, progression steps and overtime rules are set by it rather than negotiated individually, and it typically governs how helpers bid into driver vacancies as well.

Helper work is one of the easiest waste roles to do part-time. Weekend commercial routes, seasonal bulk-collection and yard-waste programmes, holiday volume cover and on-call extra-board slots are all commonly staffed part-time or temporarily, and the shifts start and finish early, which suits people combining the job with study or a second role.

Based on current listings on this site, the most openings are in La Vergne (2), Murfreesboro (2), Memphis (1), Oak Ridge (1). Listing counts change as jobs are filled and new ones are posted.