South Tahoe Refuse donates used trucks to Sister City Ameca, Mexico

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - South Tahoe Refuse is donating two of its dump trucks to the City of Ameca, the sister city of South Lake Tahoe located in Jalisco, Mexico.

John Marchini of South Tahoe Refuse was part of the first Sister City delegation from South Lake Tahoe that visited Ameca in February, 2020. During that visit they toured the city's wastewater treatment facility, its disposal services and landfill. With Marchini's assistance they are looking at the possibility of relocating that landfill and becoming more environmentally conscious.

About that same time, Marchini was approached by Victor Mora, owner of Los Mexicanos Restaurant in South Lake Tahoe. Mora asked if South Tahoe Refuse had any old trucks to sell.

As luck would have it, the local disposal company had just made plans to take two trucks out of service. They had been moved to their property in Nevada to be scrapped since they no longer met California's emission standards. Normally the company takes parts off old trucks to use on its current fleet, and sells the rest to a scrap metal company.

Instead, Marchini told Mora Ameca could have them for free.

That turned out to be the easy part.

Marchini researched transporting the two trucks to Ameca and got estimates of about $20,000 per vehicle. Since that was not cost effective, staff from Ameca will be coming to pick them up.

Representatives were in town recently to accept the gift, something that will work well with its current rear loader. They brought with them new truck signs representing the partnership and adhered them to the two trucks.

"These two front loaders will enhance their ability to haul waste more efficiently," said Marchini. "They will be a huge benefit for their collection."

All involved are currently working out the logistics of transporting the vehicles the approximate 2,000 miles to their new home. Marchini is making sure everything is in good working order from front to end so they'll be reliable on the journey. The trucks will be driven by Ameca staff to the border, then transported south by a trucking company.

Ameca will have the proper insurance and bill of sale and take responsibility once they leave South Tahoe Refuse, Marchini said.

There is a large workforce in South Lake Tahoe from Ameca, including refuse company staff. One of those staff members accompanied Marchini to Mexico and helped with translation and as a tour guide.

South Tahoe Refuse was started in 1962 by the Lehman, Tillman and Marchini families. There are now fourth generations of the founders working for the company.