How Roll-Off Dispatch Software Streamlines a Site Services Operation

A site services operation is essentially a balancing act. On a particular day you could be handling roll-off containers, portable toilets, temporary fencing, and storage, each of which has its own equipment, its own service schedule, and its own crew. The dispatch department is the point where all these activities come together and go out on the road, and roll-off work is the most difficult. A container is delivered, exchanged when it’s full, taken to disposal and then pulled away when the job is finished, and sometimes you don’t know which truck it will be going on until the morning of. 

The software used for roll-off dispatch is what converts that rush of activity into a schedule that can be operated. Rather than having to rely on a spreadsheet and a series of phone calls, the dispatcher can assign jobs, route them, and keep track of each stop all from a single screen, and the driver sees the updates on their handheld device just shortly afterwards. The following explains how it works, taking the dispatch features in Routeware Elements as an example, and shows how it simplifies the entire site services operation. 

Key Takeaways 

• With roll-off dispatch software, an operator can assign, route, and track each work order from a single board, as opposed to using spreadsheets and phone calls. 

• The work involved with roll-off trucks is non-linear since you have to deliver them, then swap them, haul them, pull them, and in most cases the truck isn’t selected until the day itself – which is precisely why a dispatch board is designed to deal with such a situation. 

• So any changes made by the dispatcher on the board are quickly sent to the driver’s handheld device, keeping the field and the office in step. 

• Dispatch becomes more efficient only when it is linked with inventory and billing, so a box tracked in the field is directly forwarded to the correct invoice. 

What Is Roll-Off Dispatch Software? 

Roll-off dispatch software is the system a site services or waste operator uses to assign, route, and track roll-off work orders, and the deliveries, swaps, hauls, and pulls that make up a roll-off job, from the office to the driver in the field. It replaces the spreadsheets, whiteboards, and radio calls many operators still run on with a single board where a dispatcher can see every truck, every route, and every open order at once. 

During a site services operation, roll-off is typically positioned together with other equipment, portable sanitation units, fencing, and storage. Consequently, the most effective dispatch tools consider roll-off as part of the overall operation rather than as a separate tool. For instance, in Elements, roll-off dispatch is carried out on the same board and uses the same customer records as all the other services that the operator offers. 

Why is the dispatch of roll-off trucks more difficult than that of a regular route? 

Roll-off doesn’t follow a set route; a container is dispatched, remains at the site for an indefinite period, is then swapped for or pulled by the customer when they contact them, and returns once the job is completed. In many cases, the dispatcher does not know which truck a particular stop should be assigned to until the morning of the day in question, something that a standard route planner is unable to deal with. Furthermore, it is a costly and frequent error in a mixed-site services fleet to send the wrong truck or the wrong crew to a location or to send a service truck to a site where the container has already left. 

The bottom line depends on getting this right. Since a roll-off container is a costly asset, a busy roll-off business will have a whole yard full of them. If a box is lost, misplaced, or is left idle and not billed, it has a direct adverse effect on profits, which is why the entire purpose of the job is to ensure that each box ends up on the correct truck, the correct route, and the correct invoice. 

How Does the Dispatch Board Work? 

The dispatch board plays a central role in roll-off dispatch since it displays the routes and stops for today, and it allows a dispatcher to turn on view every truck that is available, even those which currently have no orders. As it is not uncommon for a roll-off stop to have no truck allocated to it, the stop can remain on the unassigned board until the dispatcher moves it to the truck they wish to assign it to. As soon as it is assigned to that truck, it is sent to the driver’s handheld device, and if the dispatcher then moves it, it immediately moves from one route to another, thus ensuring that the office and the field stay in sync. 

The dispatcher has the option of working from a live map, this map being filtered by business unit, yard, supervisor, route, equipment type, or status, with an alert sounding when a new order is received. When a route is expanded, the stops associated with it are displayed and turn green as the driver completes them. A stop can be assigned to a different driver with just a few clicks, or a whole set of stops can be selected on the map and rescheduled, reassigned, or cancelled all at once, which is why a bad day, a breakdown, a sick driver, or a wave of cancellations can be dealt with in just a few clicks rather than having to make a series of phone calls. 

The contrast with a spreadsheet-run operation is stark: 

How Does Dispatch Connect to Inventory and Billing? 

The value of dispatch and delivery on its own is only part of the story. In the case of a roll-off operation, the box that is dispatched is also an asset that is tracked and one against which a charge is billed, and the efficiency is achieved by seamlessly tracking these variables. With regard to inventory, each container can be tracked by its serial number or by a scannable tag, showing its location, its customer, when it was last serviced, and how long it has been at the site, so a dispatcher will never send a truck to a box that has already returned. 

On the billing side, the work that a driver carries out is subjected to a pre-billing audit in which the office verifies that the completed, skipped and rescheduled orders have the correct charges before issuing an invoice. Roll-off billing has its own particularities: it includes swap, haul and tonnage charges as well as inactivity fees for boxes that have been left idle beyond the permitted period, and the system deals with these on the billing cycle that the operator uses. Since dispatch, inventory and billing all use the same customer record, a box which goes out in the morning is tracked, serviced and billed without anyone having to re-enter the details. If you want to get a broader view of how to run this aspect of the business well, our guide on the benefits that roll-off businesses obtain from using purpose-built software is worth reading. 

What is the role of the Customer Portal? 

The final element is the customer; with the use of a self-service portal, customers are able to see their locations and the services available to them, check their service history and any upcoming work, place orders within the limits set by the operator, and view and pay their invoices, thereby taking a large number of routine calls off the office. If a customer can see for themselves that a stop was blocked on a particular day, then the dispatcher will receive one fewer call and the office will have one more hour to spend on the work which requires a person. This is one of the reasons why a site services operation seems modern to those who pay for it. 

How Roll-Off Dispatch Software Streamlines the Operation 

Put together, a roll-off dispatch system streamlines a site services operation in a few concrete ways: 

• One board for the whole day: every truck, route, and open order on a single screen so that dispatchers can assign and reassign without phone calls or a spreadsheet. 

• The field and office in sync: a change on the board reaches the driver’s handheld, and the driver’s progress shows straight back on the board. 

• Bulk changes when the day shifts: select a group of stops and reschedule, reassign, or cancel them together when a truck breaks down or a driver calls in. 

• Every box accounted for: inventory tracking ties each container to its location, customer, and service history, so nothing is lost or serviced twice. 

• A clean line from dispatch to invoice: the work a driver completes flows through a pre-billing audit into accurate billing, with roll-off and inactivity charges handled without rekeying. 

Running Roll-Off From Dispatch to Payment 

In a site services operation, roll-off dispatch is the most important stage, and it is here that the benefits of using the right software are felt most quickly. If the board, the map, the inventory, and the billing all operate within the same system, then a dispatcher will be able to load the correct box onto the right truck, make adjustments as the day progresses, and be sure that each stop results in an accurate invoice. This is what it means to streamline a site services operation from dispatch through to payment. 

Routeware Elements combines roll-off dispatch with inventory, billing, and a customer portal for operators of site services. Find out how it applies to a roll-off or site services business for haulers at Routeware.