Some residents said that their trash was picked up a day late last week. Now we have the explanation. The Philadelphia Streets Department has just announced that due to the extreme weather the city has experienced over the past several winters, an unusually high number of trash trucks, which double as plows, have been either scrapped or are in the shop for major repairs. As a result, trash pickup has been impacted citywide with scattered one day collection delays.

“We understand the frustration that comes with delayed trash collection, and we regret this inconvenience,” said Streets Commissioner David Perri. “During these past winters, there have been several occasions where Sanitation trucks have been fitted with snowplows to assist in snow removal. In these instances, Sanitation trucks account for over one-third of the vehicles used during snow removal.”

Residents are asked to continue placing their trash out on the regular scheduled day at the normal location as delays are expected to continue for the next several weeks. Materials not collected on the scheduled day will be picked up the following day.

UPDATE (8:35 p.m.): Mayor Nutter’s announcement on whether schools and city offices will be closed tomorrow is coming up at around 10:00 p.m. Stay tuned. The winter storm is expected to intensify overnight, according to Accuweather.

A snow emergency has been declared in the city beginning at 6 p.m. on Monday. If you parked your car on any of the snow emergency routes, please move it before 6 p.m.. Here are snow emergency routes in West Philadelphia:

• Chestnut Street from Cobbs Creek Parkway to 20th Street
• Walnut Street from Broad Street to Cobbs Creek Parkway
• Woodland Avenue from Cobbs Creek Parkway to University Avenue
• 34th Street from University Avenue to Grays Ferry Avenue
• 38th Street from Walnut to University Avenue
• 63rd Street from City Avenue to Walnut Street
• University Avenue from 38th Street to 34th Street
• Island Avenue from Woodland Avenue to Enterprise Avenue
• Cobbs Creek Parkway from Walnut Street to Woodland Avenue
• Schuylkill Avenue from Market Street to Walnut Street

If your vehicle remains on one of these streets it will be ticketed and towed. If your car is towed, call 215-686-SNOW to find out where it was taken.

The city has also cancelled trash and recycling pick-up on Tuesday. If your trash collection day is Tuesday please keep your trash and recyclables until next Tuesday.

UPDATE (2:50 p.m.): SEPTA has announced that Market-Frankford and Broad Street Line train service will operate all night:

MFL: Trains will run all night operating every 20 minutes from approximately 12AM-5AM. NiteOwl bus service will not operate.

— SEPTA (@SEPTA_MFL) January 26, 2015

Here are some more snow and cold weather-related reminders:

Remember homeowners you are required to shovel your sidewalks. Please do not throw snow into the street. You may be fined. — Philly311 (@philly311) January 26, 2015

#Noreaster has begun moving in & #codeblue is in effect. Call 215-232-1984 to help folks experiencing homelessness. http://t.co/8v7oDBtcz8

— Project HOME (@ProjectHOME) January 26, 2015

Veterans Day is observed today nationwide (please check out some locally scheduled events and celebrations). And here are a few things to keep in mind since it’s a federal holiday.

• Public schools, libraries and government offices and courts are closed.

• All USPS branches are closed and there will be no mail delivery today.

• Most banks and credit unions are closed.

• Retail, grocery and liquor stores are open for regular business hours.

• SEPTA buses, trains and trolleys are operating today on a regular weekday schedule.

• There will be no trash and recycling collection today. Trash pickup will run one day behind schedule for the rest of the week (starting Wednesday, Nov. 12).

UPDATE (10/1/2014): Some readers asked for more information about the extended hours for trash pickup and what will happen if they set trash and recyclables out later (after 7 a.m. the day of collection) or earlier (before 5 p.m. the day before collection). Here’s what we learned:

“As the days are getting shorter, trash is permitted to be set out while it is still daylight at 5 p.m. [the] night before…,” the Streets Department tweeted today. The extended hour policy for trash collection is effective from October 1 through March 31. From April 1 through September 30 trash set-out times are from 7 p.m. the night before and 7 a.m. the day of collection.

“Residents will get fined by the city if they put their trash out too early (before 5 p.m. the night before collection day) or too late (after 7 a.m. collection day),” according to a Streets Department message we received today. For more information, visit their website.

9/29/2014: Philadelphia Streets Department announced on Monday that starting Wednesday, Oct. 1 residents can put their trash and recyclables outside after 5 p.m. on the night before collection day. This is two hours earlier than the current policy. The latest time you can set your trash out is 7 a.m. on the day of collection.

This windsurfing board was one of the better scores a few years back. (Photo by West Philly Local)

Since some of our readers will be moving this spring-summer while others will be diving headfirst into dumpsters and dashing to curb alerts (it’s “Penn Christmas” time y’all!), here are a few things to know:

• If you want to get rid of your old mattress, please be aware that the city has a new mattress disposal policy. All mattresses and box springs should be put in plastic mattress disposal bags before you place them curbside for a pickup. You can buy mattress disposal bags at most major retailers and home improvement stores and on Amazon.com. Seriously, they’ll leave it if it’s not bagged up.

• TVs and computer equipment are considered hazardous items and will not be collected curbside (we’ve seen a few of them sitting on the curb though). Unless you find someone who wants your TV or computer, you can bring them to one of the Sanitation Convenience Centers or read below about PennMoves options.

Mattress disposal bag.

• Furniture can be left curbside for a pickup, up to two items per week.

• If you are holding a yard/porch sale please post an announcement about it on our Classifieds page and we’ll share it in our social media.

• If you are putting some decent stuff curbside or see something that may be interesting to your neighbors, feel free to send us a tweet, preferably with a photo (@westphillylocal) or put a photo on Instagram with the hashtag #westphillylocal (use that for Twitter too). We’ll spread the word. Also let us know if you score something particularly awesome or unusual. We’d be happy to spread the good news.

• Last but not least: There’s still no word on the annual PennMoves sale, but it looks like it will not happen, just like last year, and all the gently used items collected from students will go to local Goodwill stores. This year, PennMoves is also working with Philabundance to collect non-perishable, unopened food items, and Goodwill will accept all electronics, both functional and not, as they are teaming up with Vintage Electronics, an e-waste recycler. Off-campus residents may bring their items to Penn’s campus to one of the pickup location sites. For more information on what items are accepted and where you can drop them off, visit this page.