Earlier in 2019, Republic Services purchased the assets and customers of Curbside Recycling & Disposal. Unfortunately, all but one of Curbside's side loaders were deemed too unsafe to repair or use again. Therefore, the older side loaders that would have been replaced by the recently-received 520 ZRs have seen continued life running Curbside's old routes. While Curbside and Republic competed against each other in open market areas of Phoenix HOAs, Cave Creek and Carefree, many of their routes were in very rural areas Republic or WM didn't wish to service. Unfortunately, Curbside was one of those smaller companies that existed to build a customer base to sell off. Many of the Curbside customers who preferred to support local business have moved to Area Disposal, who recently expanded their service area into this part of town ;)
Seen here is an Autocar Python collecting recycling in an unincorporated/rural portion of far north Phoenix, just south of Cave Creek. On this particular route day, former Curbside customers receive trash & recycling, while Republic customers only receive recycling. A total of four trucks tackle a relatively small area as the stops are spread out among windy dirt roads. Other trucks in the area included 2 new ZRs and a 320 Rapid Rail.
Huge thank you to the awesome driver Cris.