The everyday business of providing waste and recycling services is enough to keep a solid waste manager in the saddle after hours. For many, solving daily challenges is one of the greatest rewards of the job.
But every now and then, among the future planning, hiring and training, route design, phone calls, and community education, the job can seem overwhelming.
The good news is, green technology that’s purpose-built for the waste industry can help make things easier. Here are a few ways it does just that.
Easily design waste and recycling routes
A growing enterprise hauler, Casella Waste Systems, Inc. uses route optimization software across multiple divisions to easily design better collection routes, saving resources and effort.
“As the name implies, EasyRoute is easy to use and easy to train. We have experienced great success with utilizing the tool across the full spectrum of route optimization. From conversion and automation projects, to complex acquisition integration, we can always count on their support to be top notch,” says Sean Steves, Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Solid Waste Operations for Casella.
Headquartered in Rutland, Vermont, Casella provides solid waste management services consisting of collection, transfer, disposal, and recycling services in the northeastern United States. The company entered into an agreement with Routeware in May 2022 to expand onboard computers and fleet automation software across the hauler’s growing footprint. The company also is using EasyRoute, Routeware’s route optimization solution.
EasyRoute helps Casella design efficient new routes quickly, which in turn helps them integrate new routes into operations and determine return on investment from acquisitions faster.
“When we acquire new companies, we can determine right away how many new trucks we will need to be efficient. This allows us to order trucks and integrate new routes sooner, so that we can see our investment return more quickly,” says Jonathan Bell, Director of Operations Support.
Route optimization also helps supervisors easily track specific productivity measures that are important to the company.
“Most software won’t let you change metrics to some degree. EasyRoute is versatile in this way,” Bell says. “The (EasyRoute) differentiators for us are route sequencing and being able to implement our own metrics.”
Route optimization makes communication between supervisors and drivers easier, too, especially when change takes place. When drivers can’t see why and how routes are changed, challenges with uptake and buy-in can result.
“EasyRoute allows you to review the changes you’ve made with drivers. If they have questions, it’s nice to have a quick answer — and to show them using the route tracing tool,” Bell says.
Easily onboard new drivers — and plan for the future
In the City of Medicine Hat, located along the South Saskatchewan River in southeast Alberta, solid waste drivers stay in their jobs for a long, long time. Because driver retention is exceptionally high, the City was faced with preparing for the retirement of several long standing employees.
They needed a way to store and share important information — about the City’s 80 residential routes and 930 commercial collections — that was being housed in the memories of several drivers. Then they needed to be able to train new drivers with it.
Fleet automation from Routeware made the process simple.
“Drivers used to have to run a route three times to get it. With Routeware, it only takes once or twice,” says Dallas Sutherland, Solid Waste Collection Supervisor.
With onboard computers connected to back-office software, training new drivers now is quicker, and backfilling for soon-to-be retiring drivers will be easier. Plus, route sequencing and notes housed within Routeware are accessible to drivers via tablets at a touch.
Easily manage workflows and billing
A growing private hauler serving California’s San Joaquin Valley, American Refuse needed a solution to help improve internal communication and scale more efficiently.
Roll-off staffing, operations and revenue were suffering due to a lack of real-time communication, and the business could not add new customers quickly enough because rerouting took days to complete on paper.
Easy-to-use workflow and billing software from Routeware solved the communication conundrum, fixed routing issues, and helped get skeptical drivers on board with in-cab technology.
“The software is the heartbeat of the company,” says Jeff Martin, Owner of American Refuse. “I can’t tell you how much EnCORE changed things for our team.”
Easily educate a growing community while lowering inbound call volumes
West of Phoenix is the exploding City of Buckeye, Arizona. Buckeye’s population has increased by 10 percent over the last two decades, making it number one in the U.S. for population growth. With its warm climate, the City also attracts a number of snowbirds who winter there.
Growth and fluctuations in population created challenges for communicating about waste and recycling programs. With as much as 30 percent of the population turning over with the changing seasons, the City needed a solution to teach people when and how to recycle — because the number of phone calls was getting out of hand.
With Routeware’s digital tools for waste and recycling communication, powered by ReCollect, Buckeye pushed the easy button. The digital collection calendars and Waste Wizard — a searchable “what goes where” database — saved the City 500 hours in phone calls in a matter of months.
“With ReCollect’s metrics, I know how many people are looking up their schedule as well as what they are searching for. It gives me the ability to understand all of our time savings,” says Robert van den Akker, Environmental Manager.
Clearly, the right tools can make managing solid waste operations easier. Not only that, but technology that’s purpose-built for the waste and recycling industry makes sense in terms of efficiency and effectiveness, too.
Is it time to push the easy button for your operations? We can help with that. Get Started.
