NEWPORT NEWS—Women are playing more prominent roles today in what have been traditionally considered men’s jobs. This is certainly true in Newport News, where seven of the city’s 33 equipment operators are females who are changing the face of Public Works.
Rosalind Cooper is one of those pioneers. She has been driving for both Newport News and Hampton for more than 21 years—previously as a school bus driver, and now as a master equipment operator with Newport News Public Works Solid Waste division. What got her interested in driving Solid Waste trucks versus school buses?
“I figured if I could drive a bus, I could drive just about anything else,” said Cooper. “A lot of school bus drivers don’t get 40 hours a week and they sometimes have to go without pay during the summer, depending on how their contract is set up. What I’m doing now is more consistent, and I’m getting 40 hours a week.”
According to Amy Davis, who is the administrator of the Newport News Solid Waste Division, gender no longer plays a role in positions that were previously dominated by men.
“What matters is, are you a good driver? Can you do the job? Those are the things that are more important to us,” said Davis. “Can you do the job, do it well, and provide the service we need?”
This means the window of opportunity is wide open for anyone who wants to take advantage of it. In fact, the City of Newport News is currently seeking Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) drivers in several of their departments, including Public Works, Waterworks, and Parks, Recreation and Tourism. They are looking for equipment operators to drive a variety of vehicles including dump trucks, front-end loaders, hydro seeders, knuckleboom trucks, excavators, dozers, rollers, sweepers, trucks with trailers, and backhoes.
Interested parties don’t need to come to the table with a CDL. Newport News is offering to put people through the CDL training to obtain the license through an approved vendor. “We pay for the training, and they get paid while going through the CDL course,” said spokeswoman Kim Lee.
For Cooper, the rewards go beyond a steady paycheck. Her favorite part of the job is interacting with the public.
“I love the kids,” said Cooper. “They make me happy when I’m working a route because they’ll stand at the window, and they are amazed at what I’m doing. They go into a trance. Normally, after I put a trash bin down after dumping it, I’ll pull up a bit and operate the arm and grabber without the can, so they get a basic idea of how it works. I have some on my route that wait for me, and they stand there and wave. That’s the part I like best about the job.”
While Cooper makes the collection of solid waste bins look easy, it’s actually a practiced skill.
“You have to get the timing right. That’s what it’s all about,” said Cooper. “You have to time the arm going out to get the can and you have to make sure you get it right or you’ll knock the bin over. When you first start—after you cleaned up all the trash that you’ve knocked over—it doesn’t take long to get the rhythm together so you won’t knock the cans over anymore.”
One important thing that equipment operators want all citizens to know is to be aware of where they are placing their bins for curbside service. When residents put their bins out, they are asked to keep them at least three feet away on all sides from immobile objects such as other carts, cars, light poles, basketball goals, cable boxes, and even shrubbery. This helps to make pickup operations go more quickly and smoothly.
For those interested in a career as an equipment operator, Cooper—who is known as “Smiley”—is a big advocate for what she does. “I just want to say, I love my job,” said Cooper. “My co-workers are positive, supportive, and they help you be better. If you need assistance with anything, they’re always here. I just like it because they make me happy when I come in.”