'Nice Tips' May Keep Hinsdale Garbage Truck Drivers: Firm

HINSDALE, IL – "Nice tips" may play a role in keeping Hinsdale's truck drivers in town as the village switches garbage haulers, an executive said this week.

At Tuesday's Village Board meeting, trustees unanimously approved Oakbrook Terrace-based Flood Brothers for a three-year contract.

As of Nov. 1, the village is ending its longtime relationship with Phoenix-based Republic Services.

The contract with Flood Brothers means reductions in local customers' bills, as detailed in a previous Patch story.

Trustees asked Flood's CEO, Kevin Flood, whether Republic's drivers will stay.

"In a town like Hinsdale, drivers at Christmas and other times get nice tips, so the drivers want to stay," Flood said. "Although we don't poach drivers as a practice, if they come to us, we generally hire a lot of the guys who are already in the towns. It makes it seamless for everybody."

Flood Brothers handles trash service in about 50 towns, he said. As for Hinsdale, Flood said he took a lot of pride in getting the contract because he has many friends in town.

"So we won't let you down. And my phone rings 24-7," Flood said.

He also said his firm would handle collecting Republic's rollout containers and replacing them. In many cases, each company handles its own containers.

By Flood Brothers taking care of both functions, the process is more seamless for residents, Flood said.

Changing haulers was a long time coming for Hinsdale.

In 2023, Hinsdale officials expressed reservations about the "steep" rate increases in a proposed garbage contract with Republic.

At the time, then-Village President Tom Cauley said he would like to go out to bid for the contract in three years. In the last go-around, he said the village didn't have enough time to do so.