Before Ryan Purcell was helping cities optimize their waste operations in SmartCity, he was doing something surprisingly similar in a different industry altogether: heavy haul trucking technology. The parallels turned out to be closer than most people would expect \u2014 and they’re a big part of why he’s so good at his job.<\/p>\n
We sat down with Ryan to talk about the metrics that matter most, what a summer heatwave means for drivers and dispatchers alike, where camera technology is taking the industry, and why the biggest mistake operators make has nothing to do with the software they choose.<\/p>\n
If Ryan could only look at one number to gauge how well an account is performing, he knows exactly what he’d check: route completion data on the Route Tracker page in SmartCity.<\/p>\n
\u201cRoute completion percentages, paired with issues reported per route over time \u2014 that\u2019s your baseline. That\u2019s how you know if an account is doing the fundamentals or not.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n
\u2014 Ryan Purcell, TAM<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
It sounds straightforward, but there\u2019s real depth to it. Completion rates don\u2019t just show whether trucks finished their routes \u2014 they reveal engagement trends over time. A team that starts strong and gradually slips in completion percentage is telling a story that warrants a conversation. One that shows consistent improvement is a team that\u2019s getting the hang of it. The data doesn\u2019t lie.<\/p>\n
Pair that with issue reporting volume and you start to see the full picture: not just whether the work got done, but how much friction the team encountered along the way.<\/p>\n
When the temperature climbs, so does the complexity<\/h2>\n
There\u2019s a part of Ryan\u2019s work that rarely makes it into a product demo: helping cities manage mandatory heat break policies for drivers during extreme summer weather. It\u2019s not a flashy use case \u2014 but for the drivers behind the wheel of older trucks with no air conditioning, it\u2019s a serious quality-of-life issue.<\/p>\n
WHY IT MATTERS<\/strong><\/p>\n
Cab temperatures in older garbage trucks can exceed 100\u00b0F in summer heat. When a city mandates heat breaks above a certain temperature threshold, drivers need to know where to go \u2014 and supervisors need to know they got there. SmartCity can support both sides of that equation using City Alerts and Geofences as a workaround workflow.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
While it\u2019s not a purpose-built feature, the workaround Ryan has helped clients implement uses City Alerts and Geofences to identify designated rest spots around the city and create a reporting mechanism to confirm compliance. It\u2019s one of those moments where creative configuration turns a real operational need into something trackable \u2014 and where the human side of waste collection gets the attention it deserves.<\/p>\n
The trends shaping the next few years<\/h2>\n
Ask Ryan where the industry is heading and two themes come up immediately: camera technology for pickup verification, and AI-powered contamination detection. They\u2019re related \u2014 and together, they\u2019re responding to a wave of regulatory pressure that\u2019s only going to intensify.<\/p>\n
\n
- Pickup confirmation cameras: On-truck cameras capturing image evidence at the point of collection \u2014 automating exception documentation.<\/li>\n
- AI contamination detection: Computer vision identifying contaminated loads in real time \u2014 reducing manual inspection and improving compliance.<\/li>\n
- Contamination regulation: States like California, Oregon, and Washington are leading new mandates around waste contamination tracking and reporting.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Currently, contamination tracking is largely a manual process \u2014 slow, inconsistent, and difficult to scale. Camera technology has the potential to change that equation significantly. For cities facing regulatory deadlines, it\u2019s not a matter of if they\u2019ll need a solution, but when.<\/p>\n
The strategic mistake most operators make<\/h2>\n
Ryan has seen a pattern in how organizations evaluate technology, and it concerns him a little. The instinct is almost always reactive: how do we prove we didn\u2019t miss that pickup? How do we satisfy this new regulation? Those are valid questions \u2014 but they\u2019re the wrong starting point.<\/p>\n
\u201cOperators need to think beyond the system they\u2019re buying. Can it integrate with other platforms? Does it handle operational data and resident engagement, or just one?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n
\u2014 Ryan Purcell, TAM<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The distinction Ryan draws is between tools built for collecting accurate data \u2014 like SmartCity \u2014 and tools built for community education and engagement \u2014 like ReCollect. Operators who recognize that they need both, and plan for how those systems will work together, are the ones who set themselves up for long-term success. Operators who buy reactively often find themselves stitching things together after the fact.<\/p>\n
Which brings him to a related opportunity he sees going underutilized at almost every account he works with.<\/p>\n
The untapped opportunity hiding in plain sight<\/h2>\n
Two things stand out to Ryan as consistently underused: the community engagement capabilities inside ReCollect, and the go-back tracking and charging workflow in SmartCity and RCC.<\/p>\n
Go-backs \u2014 when a truck has to return to a property because a resident forgot to put their bins out, or a pickup was genuinely missed \u2014 are a real operational cost. Most haulers absorb that cost without question. But SmartCity and RCC can track every one of them, and that data can support a workflow where customers are charged for repeat service calls they caused. It\u2019s a revenue opportunity that most operators don\u2019t know they\u2019re sitting on.<\/p>\n
On the ReCollect side, the resident-facing engagement tools \u2014 reminders, policy updates, community education \u2014 are frequently configured and then forgotten. Ryan sees a lot of room to help customers get more out of what they already have.<\/p>\n
What he\u2019s most excited about<\/h2>\n
When it comes to what\u2019s coming on the product side, Ryan doesn\u2019t hesitate: the integration of Sigma\u2019s custom reporting tool across platforms beyond Elements is the thing he\u2019s watching most closely heading into the coming year.<\/p>\n
\u201cCustom reporting is a huge need and something we\u2019re currently very limited in. Sigma is going to be a big lift internally, but the payoff for customers will be significant.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n
\u2014 Ryan Purcell, TAM<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
He\u2019s candid about the ramp-up that comes with it \u2014 Sigma isn\u2019t always intuitive out of the gate, and there\u2019s meaningful internal training ahead. But the end state is something customers have been asking for: the ability to build and customize their own reports in a way that actually fits their operations, rather than working around the constraints of out-of-the-box reporting.<\/p>\n
Five things that would make customers better served<\/h2>\n
Ryan thinks about this systematically. He\u2019s identified five areas where Routeware could meaningfully improve the customer experience:<\/p>\n
\n
- Listen more deeply to customer feedback and act on it visibly.<\/li>\n
- Provide clearer, more reliable roadmap communication.<\/li>\n
- Create dedicated product user groups and beta testing cohorts.<\/li>\n
- Improve how new releases are rolled out to minimize disruption.<\/li>\n
- Build a stronger internal knowledge base so accounts get faster, more consistent answers.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Why he\u2019s in this industry<\/h2>\n
For Ryan, the move from heavy haul trucking to waste management wasn\u2019t as unexpected as it might sound. The use cases overlapped more than people realize \u2014 fleet management, in-cab technology, operational data, driver workflows. What he didn\u2019t fully expect was how much he\u2019d enjoy the people.<\/p>\n
\u201cWaste management customers are generally down-to-earth people trying their best to use technology to better serve their employees and communities. That\u2019s a great group to work with.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n
\u2014 Ryan Purcell, TAM<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
There\u2019s also something he finds genuinely interesting about the dynamic of being in a tech-forward role serving an industry that is \u2014 with notable exceptions \u2014 still finding its footing with technology adoption. It creates real opportunity to make a tangible difference, not just deliver software. When a city sees value in something they never thought to track before, that moment doesn\u2019t get old.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Ryan Purcell is a Technical Account Manager at Routeware, where he works with municipalities and private haulers to drive performance through SmartCity, ReCollect, and the broader Routeware platform. This post is part of Routeware\u2019s ongoing employee spotlight series.<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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