Mount Pleasant garbage trucks get GPS

Aiming to make the town's garbage collection a smarter process, Mount Pleasant will stop sending its garbage trucks where there is no trash to be picked up.

In the past, garbage crews would go down every alley and street, but sometimes find the whole stretch was a waste of fuel and time by the several-man crew. The new system, called PinPoint GeoTech developed at Clemson, sends a driver in a car in advance of the collection crew to see where the trash is and isn't. That data is recorded and uploaded into a database that then tells the garbage truck only where it needs to go.

Based off results in other areas, the town expects to save some $160,000.

It's good news for a town that's already been getting creative to save money because of rising fuel costs.

The City of Charleston also uses GPS in their garbage trucks, but only to monitor the progress on the truck's route. The city is studying the system used in Mounty Pleasant for possible use in Charleston.

Head over to NBC News 2 for more details.

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