🗑️ Garbage Truck Driver 3D
Collection day! Line up the robot arm, lift the wheelie bins and empty the hopper at the depot.
How to play
- Choose a bin lorry and a shift, then press Start the Round.
- W or ↑ accelerates, S or ↓ brakes (hold it at a stop to reverse), A/D steer.
- Follow the blue arrows to the next wheelie bin.
- Stop in the yellow box with the arm level with the bin, then press F (🦾).
- When the hopper is full, or the round is done, empty it at the depot (F in the green bay).
- Stop at red lights, keep to 25 mph and don't knock the bins over.
- C changes the camera (try the arm camera), H horn, L lights, R back on the road.
It's collection day
Garbage Truck Driver 3D puts you behind the wheel of a big bin lorry on collection day in Maple City. Wheelie bins stand at the kerb all over town, and your job is to empty every one of them, then take the full truck to the depot before the end of the shift. It is a proper 3D driving game in your web browser, with a whole city of streets, traffic lights and other traffic, and a garbage truck with a working robot arm.
Different countries call it different things: a garbage truck, a trash truck, a bin lorry, a dustcart or a refuse truck. Whatever you call it, it is one of the most popular vehicles with young drivers, and in this game you get to work the arm yourself.
How the arm works
Modern bin lorries have a side-loading arm, so the driver never has to get out. In the game, the arm sits on the right-hand side of the truck, just behind the cab, on the kerb side. As you get close to the next bin a yellow box appears on the road, with a small yellow square showing where the arm should stop. Pull up so the box turns green, stop, and press F or the 🦾 button.
The arm slides out, grips the bin, swings it up over the top of the truck, tips the rubbish into the hopper with a shake, and lowers the empty bin back onto the pavement. If you stop a little too early or too late, the game tells you whether to pull forward or back up. Switch to the arm camera with C to watch it up close.
Filling the hopper
Every bin you empty goes into the hopper, and the gauge in the corner shows how full it is. The Side Loader holds eight bins, the Recycling Truck nine and the Electric Bin Lorry ten. When the hopper is full you cannot pick up any more, so the GPS sends you to the city waste depot to empty it. Pull into the green bay outside the shed, stop and press F, and the truck tips its load. At the end of every round you finish at the depot too.
Five shifts
Morning Round has eight bins on three quiet streets: the perfect first shift. On Recycling Day the bins are blue and everything goes to the recycling centre instead of the depot. Downtown has ten bins in heavy traffic, where waiting for a gap matters. The Night Shift is eight bins after dark with your headlights on and the streetlamps lit. And the Big Clean-Up is fourteen bins on five streets, more than any truck can carry, so you have to empty at the depot halfway through. Free Drive lets you drive the bin lorry anywhere in the city with no clock.
Rules of the road
A bin lorry is big and heavy, so the round has a 25 mph limit. Run a red light and you lose ten points; bump into another car or a building and you lose six. Clip a bin by driving up the kerb and it costs three. Every shift also has a finishing time based on the length of the route, shown at the top of the screen, and finishing late costs points too. Score 88 or more out of 100 for three stars, or 70 for two.
Three bin lorries
You start in the green Side Loader. Earn five stars to unlock the blue Recycling Truck, which holds one more bin and is a little quicker, and eleven stars for the Electric Bin Lorry, which is silent, accelerates fastest and has the biggest hopper of all. Fewer trips to the depot means quicker rounds.
Tips for a spotless round
Slow down early as you approach each bin: it is much easier to stop in the right place from a crawl than to reverse back. Keep to the right-hand lane next to the kerb. Watch the traffic lights at every junction, and remember that turning a long truck takes room, so swing wide on tight corners. On the Big Clean-Up, plan when to empty: going to the depot once the hopper is full saves a wasted trip.
Controls
On a computer: W or the up arrow accelerates, S or the down arrow brakes (hold it when stopped to reverse), A and D steer, F works the arm and empties the hopper, C changes the camera, H sounds the horn, L switches the lights, Q and E work the indicators, R puts you back on the road and P pauses. On phones and tablets, on-screen pedals, steering and an arm button appear.
Free, safe and made for every device
Garbage Truck Driver 3D is free to play in the browser with no download, no account, no chat and nothing to buy, and your progress is saved only on your device. It runs on computers, Chromebooks, tablets and phones. See the Parents & Safety page for more.
More truck games
Drive the school run in School Bus Driver 3D, haul freight across America in Truck Simulator USA 3D or get stuck in the mud in Mud Truck 3D. Every truck and lorry game is on the Truck Games page.
Frequently asked questions
How do I pick up a bin?
Stop in the yellow box with the arm level with the bin (the box turns green), then press F or the 🦾 button. The arm lifts and empties the bin by itself.
The game says pull forward or back up. Why?
The arm can only reach a bin that is right beside it. Move the truck a little until the yellow box turns green, then try again.
What do I do when the hopper is full?
Follow the arrows to the depot, stop in the green bay and press F to empty the truck. Then the GPS takes you back to the round.
How do I get 3 stars?
Finish the round on time with a score of 88 or more: no red lights, no bumps, no knocked bins and no speeding.
Is it a garbage truck or a bin lorry?
Both! Americans say garbage truck or trash truck, people in Britain say bin lorry or dustcart. They're the same thing.
Can I play on a phone or tablet?
Yes. On-screen pedals, steering and an arm button appear on touch screens.
Is Garbage Truck Driver 3D free?
Yes. It is free to play in the browser with no download, no account and nothing to buy.