# Garbage Trucks and Squeaky Brakes

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/garbage-trucks-and-squeaky-brakes/540084>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [May 20, 2010, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/garbage-trucks-and-squeaky-brakes/540084 "2010-05-20T01:43:37Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![kornbln](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/838e76/32.png) [@kornbln](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kornbln)\
**Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/garbage-trucks-and-squeaky-brakes/540084/1 "2010-05-20T01:43:37Z")

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Are they intentionally squeaky? Seems that any time I see one, the brakes are squeaking.

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**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\
**Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/garbage-trucks-and-squeaky-brakes/540084/2 "2010-05-20T02:07:17Z")

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Just a WAG but big trucks need big brakes. Garbage trucks use theirs a _lot_ more than something that drives down the road for miles between uses so they’re more worn out.

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**Author:** ![kornbln](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/838e76/32.png) [@kornbln](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kornbln)\
**Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/garbage-trucks-and-squeaky-brakes/540084/3 "2010-05-20T02:20:01Z")

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Thought it had something to do with making people more aware of their presence

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**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\
**Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/garbage-trucks-and-squeaky-brakes/540084/4 "2010-05-20T02:23:59Z")

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Also, and this goes along with what DD said, they don’t just have to stop at every light/stop sight/corner, they stop at. every. house. So if they are loud you hear them every 8 seconds from one end of the block to the other. If the brakes on another truck are loud you might only hear them once or twice.

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**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\
**Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 8:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/garbage-trucks-and-squeaky-brakes/540084/5 "2010-05-20T08:44:24Z")

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> [@DesertDog](#):
>
> Garbage trucks use theirs a _lot_ more than something that drives down the road for miles between uses so they’re more worn out.

Also, a cheap truck owner can delay repairing the brakes without too much concern – they don’t get up too much speed when they’re stopping about every 20 feet along the alley.

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**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\
**Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/garbage-trucks-and-squeaky-brakes/540084/6 "2010-05-20T14:31:17Z")

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Trucks subject to frequent stops/starts and which are built to commercial specs, such as dump trucks, are also more likely to be equipped with brake pads that are more prone to squeaking, as they might have more metal in the actual pad for durability. Combine that with intense start/stop use (dirty, hot), and one would fully expect them to be squeaky.

City buses also have notoriously squeaky brakes.

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