Albury Council was told the trucks had resumed pick-ups, though a spokesman for Cleanaway’s parent company Transpacific was unable to tell The Border Mail how many vehicles had been mechanically tested at its Wodonga depot.

He was also unable to answer questions about which areas were back in service and how long it would take to empty bins which have been awaiting collection since Tuesday night.

However, Albury Council’s waste management team leader Andrea Baldwin said she was receiving regular updates from Cleanaway which hoped to be fully operational over the next week.

“They are looking at essential services first so we are yet to get any other notification on what areas, but I understand there will be nine trucks starting,” Ms Baldwin said,

“They will start doing the backlog first so at this stage we are unsure whether Friday’s bin collection will be affected.”

Ms Baldwin believed the nine trucks in service would be spread across council areas serviced by Cleanaway.

Wodonga, Corowa, Indigo, Benalla and Towong have also been affected by the grounding of trucks which was prompted by a fatal crash in Adelaide.

Ms Baldwin said parts of Thurgoona and East Albury, who normally had bins collected on Wednesdays, were covered yesterday, while West Albury should be next on the list.

In Wodonga bins were collected last night in areas east of Beechworth Road which are normally cleared on Wednesdays.

Among those waiting was Castleton Street resident Mike McCrea, who put his bin on the kerb on Tuesday night.

In a statement Transpacific chief executive Robert Boucher yesterday thanked customers for their understanding.

“I would like to thank all our customers for their understanding and the positive way they responded when we took the decision to ground the entire fleet on Tuesday,” Mr Boucher said.

“We will work tirelessly to clear the backlog.”