By Kenzo Kawasaki
Image courtesy wikimedia |
Having your company’s trash picked up shouldn’t be
such a big deal. You hire a service.
They send a truck to empty your dumpster from time to time. What’s the big deal? The big deal is that unless you know the ins
and outs of the trash hauling business, you could wind up paying through the
nose to get your trash hauled off.
Why? That’s because unless you
want to pay to have half-empty loads hauled, or worse, you want your parking
lot to be awash in blowing trash, you have to know a thing or two about the
ways in which the industry works. Then
you have to make sure you contract with a hauler that is trustworthy, prompt
and flexible.
How
much wood can a woodchuck chuck?
Just like the rhyme, before you contract with a guy
with a truck, you have to know how much stuff you’re going to chuck. That’s because dumpsters come in a number of
shapes and sizes. Commercial haulers
measure trash by the yard. A typical
2-yard dumpster measures 3x3x6 feet.
This is a great size for a small office or retailer. But it’s woefully inadequate for most service
stations that usually produce about twice that amount of trash in any given
week. Multi-dwelling condos and
apartment complexes can produce from 6-8 yards of trash week in and week
out. They’ll need either a 6x5x6-foot
dumpster or a 6x6x7-foot one.
Manufacturers and warehouses will need 10+ yard dumpster and maybe even
a commercial compactor to handle all the waste they produce.
Image courtesy USAF |
To
compact, or not to compact – Speaking of compactors, if you’re
looking to economize on the amount of times a hauler trundles your trash back
to the dump, sometimes it makes sense to invest in one. Especially if the bulk of what you’re
discarding are things like cardboard, plastic and lumber, a commercial
compactor can crunch this stuff down so you can double or triple the amount of
refuse you load into your dumpster.
There are even food-grade compactors for grocery stores and caterers
that not only help them get more food into their receptacle, it keeps down the
smell and vermin that food often attracts.
Finding
the right trash hauler isn’t as tough a prospect as most
business owners think. In major
metropolitan areas like Jacksonville, there are a number of companies from
which to choose. Many of their websites
are set up to provide you with a free quote.
Just bear in mind that not all hauling companies are created alike. If you run a small business, you are most
likely going to find a small hauler to be a better fit, since their costs are a
bit lower than the larger haulers and they are more likely to negotiate on
everything from price to frequency.
Smaller haulers will generally give you a bit more personal attention to
detail, since you will in all likelihood be dealing with the owner of the
firm. Larger haulers have larger staffs
and more corporate infrastructure to deal with.
This means if you need to ask a question, make a change or request
something other than what’s written in your contract, you could spend a lot of
time just trying to get to speak to the right person in the right
department.
Is
the lowest quote always the best deal? Just as with most other
service industries, bidding is only the start of the process. While every business owner always strives to
get the biggest bang for their buck, be aware that the lowest bidder isn’t
necessarily the best company to go with.
Always make sure you read the contract thoroughly, including the fine
print. Make sure you are comparing
apples with apples. What I mean by that
is you need to make sure that everything from the terms and frequency of pickup
to the penalties should your trash fail to adhere to the terms laid out are
noted. Also make sure the prices can’t
suddenly be subject to change, or you could find out in short order that the
deal you thought you were getting was in fact a raw deal that will cause you to
gnash your teeth at night over for the rest of the year.
Image courtesy PxHere |
Out
of sight, out of mind. – If you’re new to the trash hauling
game, one of the other things you will need to do is decide where to put the
dumpster. This may not be as simple as
you think either since most municipalities have stringent rules about where to
place a dumpster, as well as if it needs to be housed behind a protective
fence. You may also be required to pour
a concrete pad below your dumpster, which could require you to pull a
permit. Before you sign up with a
hauler, you need to first find out what the regulations are in your area. If not, you could wind up being fined and
even forced to move your dumpster to an approved location which will cost you
even more time and money.
Make
sure you check out any haulers before you sign on the dotted line.
Last but not least, you need to extensively research
the reputation of every commercial trash hauler you are thinking about
requesting a bid. Due to the advent of
the internet you will be amazed at how much information, including tons of
online reviews you will find with a simple Internet search. While company websites are a good first stop
when you wish to find a top-notch hauler, it shouldn’t be the only place you
look. Checkout everything from the
Better Business Bureau to Facebook and Google can unearth all kinds of things
about a company. Where in decades past,
slipshod operators could hide their shenanigans, in this wired world the
emperor wears no clothes. While it’s
obvious that you should beware of companies with complaints, you also need to
be wary of haulers who have precious few positive or negative comments. This usually means they are either brand new,
or they changed their name to avoid the all too numerous bad reviews that were
putting a kink in their cash-flow.
Once you get your short list of acceptable haulers,
feel free to ask for a bid. Just don’t
stop there. While you have the owner or
a rep on the phone, also ask for a list of references of other similar sized
businesses you can call to find out what their opinion is. Sometimes you can learn more by speaking to a
customer than you can by talking to a company representative. Find out if they have ever had any problems
with the quality of service, or the attitude of the company reps. Inquire if they have ever been levied an
added fee or whether the company has ever been late for a pickup. Last but not least, ask an existing customer
if they have been completely satisfied with their service. After all, if you wind up with a lemon of a
trash hauler, it’s going to be a long year before you’ll be able to make
lemonade.
Kenzo
Kawasaki is president of BC Hydraulic Services, a commercial trash compactor
service company based in Jacksonville, Florida.
While hiring a trash hauling company seems like a simple task, I can tell you it is anything but.
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