He’s the best in the nation but no trash talker

Anthony Lucious never expected the praise. As a teen, he was a Bonanza High School student frustrated by his inability to make the wrestling team. Later, he was an unemployed young father finding trouble on the streets.

Who would ever care about Anthony Lucious?

Well, it turns out, a lot of you do. Las Vegas Valley residents let it be known they appreciate a garbage man who puts their cans back where they belong, picks up every piece of trash that might have escaped the bin and hauls away tree branches of all sizes.

These guys aren't required to do this and because of that, a lot of them don't.

Customers' letters of appreciation led to the 22-year Republic Services worker being named 2010 Driver of the Year by the Environmental Industry Association. Considering he was up against 130,000 drivers nationwide, that's no small accomplishment.

"It seemed like no one noticed me, but they did," the 42-year-old said. "I'd come in, do my job and go home. Come in, do my job and go home. Then, bam! I became one of the elite drivers."

At a ceremony in Atlanta, Lucious was presented a brand new automated truck. When he approached the monstrous vehicle -- one far more advanced than any he had previously driven -- he whispered to his boss, "That's the wrong truck."

This one is air-conditioned, so gone are the days of sitting in a 130-degree cab. This one has a robotic arm that loads trash with the touch of a joystick, so forget lifting hundreds of 40-pound bins over the shoulder in the heat of summer. It's more like playing a video game than hauling trash.

The red-and-white beauty even has Lucious' name painted on the door.

And you know what? He's not all that excited about it.

"This might not be good," Lucious said, dead serious.

What?

Well, if he doesn't have to get out of the truck, he won't have that one-on-one contact with customers.

Plus, he's afraid he'll get fat. Working the rear-loader is like doing 1,200 30-pound curls every day for eight hours, a workout that might even impress the Biggest Loser's drill sergeants.

Lucious isn't your typical trash man. Sorry: "A sanitation engineer, that's what I call myself around important people," he said with a self-deprecating chuckle.

He is adamant about returning trash bins to the side of his customers' houses.

"I don't leave it on the sidewalk because I don't know if they're handicapped," he said.

Michael Phillips was trained by Lucious and quickly learned his definition of doing the job properly.

"He put the cans back and closed the lid, and it doesn't matter if we were at The Lakes or at a trailer park. It just didn't matter," Phillips said. "At Christmas time, I've never had a customer not only shake my hand, but give me a hug."

Phillips has learned well, too. He gets frustrated with new crew mates who refuse to pick up trash around the bins or landscaping leftovers.

"I never had to worry about anything ever at all with him," he said.

With the new trucks comes a new route, which means Phillips and Lucious no longer ride together and the residents who nominated Lucious will lose out on their super driver. They may wish they never put him up for the prize, but Lucious will never forget it. He will always remember when his name was announced.

"I almost couldn't breathe for a second. They said, 'Don't cry,' and I was fighting it. I don't know how I stopped it," he said.

He'll adjust to the new truck. But the better reward for being named Driver of the Year might be the trash-talking material that accompanies it.

"My wife was a back-seat driver: 'Turn here. You're going too fast. You're going the wrong way,'" he laughed. "I said, 'Is this enough for you to stop and leave me alone?'"

Some residents in North Las Vegas will be lucky enough to have truck No. 1534 cruising their neighborhood streets this summer. And they should care about Anthony Lucious, because he cares about them.

If you have a question, tip or tirade, call Adrienne Packer at 702-387-2904, or send an e-mail to roadwarrior@reviewjournal .com. Please include your phone number.