CLEVELAND, Tenn. — Installing global positioning systems on Cleveland Public Works trucks is a good idea but would be costly, Director Tom Grant said.

Mr. Grant recently reported to the City Council after being asked to look into GPS as a means of saving fuel and time for city trucks picking up trash and debris.

Having GPS would allow dispatchers efficiently to send properly equipped trucks and personnel to calls, he said.

“Knowing the travel route and real-time location that our vehicles are using, we would redirect a truck that is nearest to the location requesting service,” he said.

GPS on a single vehicle is not a good idea, Mr. Grant said. He said that would require that a driver “run all city streets every day.”

“Everyone does not place their brush and debris on the street at the same time of day or day of the week,” he said.

City Councilmen Bill Robertson and Richard Banks had asked for a comparison with Savannah, Ga., which provides once-a-week brush and debris pickup.

“My concern has been with the person who throws out a sofa, a commode or something like that, and the neighbors have to look at that for as long as two weeks,” Mr. Banks said.

But Mr. Grant said weekly debris and brush runs would double his present costs.

Savannah also charges a fee, $7 for every 15 minutes it takes to load the debris, he said.

Cleveland tried fees once before, City Manager Janice Casteel said, but discovered it’s hard to find the people who made the mess. But she said the city staff will restudy the idea.

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