Should I Conduct a Basic Waste Review? Part

If you’re like most companies, you have a 90% chance you could save 10-30% on your annual waste spend. 

This may sound high, but it’s the average amount that most companies save after our waste review. Below, you’ll learn what that review is and why you should consider doing your own. (In the next part of this series, we’ll look at when and how you should conduct a review.)

First, take the quiz!

You can know for sure whether you’re overspending in two minutes by taking this quiz. It’s the quickest, fastest way to find out if you’re overspending.

If you have any questions about how you may be overspending, click here for more information. Once you know for sure if you’re overspending, take a look at the sections below.

What is a Basic Waste Review?

A basic waste review is a thorough examination of every waste and recycling stream at every location in your portfolio to determine if there are savings opportunities.

The review itself analyzes your contracts, invoice history, equipment on site, actual service levels, and a waste hauler quality review. This process acts as a diagnosis. It evaluates every pertinent part of your waste and recycling streams in order to find where you’re currently overspending.

Many companies are overspending because:

• They have inefficient waste equipment

• They have inefficient service levels

• They have contracts that do not prohibit ancillary fees, price spikes, and auto-renewal clauses

Doing any one of these things means you will overspend. A basic waste review will help you know for sure if you’re overspending in any one of these areas.

A waste review can take one or several months

These reviews can take anywhere from one month to three months depending on how many locations you have. If you have complex waste streams, it can take more time. While this amount of time can seem daunting, it’s important to ask yourself two questions to help you gain perspective:

• Can I afford not to know if I’m overpaying?

• How likely is it that I’m overpaying?

If you’ve already done a recent review of your waste streams at your facilities you may not need to review your streams. But if this is something you’ve never done or if you’re constantly having waste issues, a review may be just what you need to protect your bottom line.

Doing a periodic waste review at your facilities ensures you are paying for services you actually need, at rates that are fair. It ensures that you do not continue to overspend, and will make your cost-cutting solutions clear. We recommend that companies revisit their waste and recycling streams yearly since usage trends and vendor availability can significantly change during that time.

Waste reviews are worth the investment because they consistently find savings.

We’ve found that companies in almost every industry can benefit from a waste audit. The following industries typically save 10-30% on their waste spend:

• Manufacturing

• Multifamily

• Hospitality and Restaurants

• Assisted Living and Hospitals

• Retail

• Grocery stores

Again, 90% of companies are sitting on savings - you don’t have to be one of them.

Imagine saving 10-35% on your monthly waste and recycling expenses. Imagine knowing that your current and future rates will always be fair, and that you have recourse when service issues arise. Imagine having the peace of mind knowing that you are not spending a penny more than you should for your waste expenses. 

With a waste expense review, you can find the savings you need and the peace of mind you want. 

"What is a waste ally, and why do I need one?"

A waste ally is a waste consultant who will provide cost-cutting solutions and prevent waste and recycling problems.

Here at Waste Consultants, we:

• Conduct thorough waste audits

• Find the waste and recycling solutions that are right for you.

• Show you your very best savings options based on our analysis.

• Show you specifically what changes we recommend making to your waste and recycling service levels, contracts, and equipment.

• Implement all changes on your behalf remotely and smoothly.

• Monitor the status of your contract expiration dates.

• Audit all waste and recycling invoices.

• Obtain billing credits as necessary.

• Resolve service issues on your behalf.

At the end of the day, our goal is to ensure you find the cost-cutting waste solutions you can’t afford not to have. You and your staff likely don’t have the time or expertise to find true, permanent waste solutions. Use our expertise to find savings solutions that are tailored to your needs, your geographical location, and your industry.

Why Do I Need a Waste Ally?

You need a waste ally because you’re likely overspending.

90% of our hundreds of clients in the past 18 years have been overspending by 10-35%. Some knew something was “off” in their waste invoices, others had tried various means of reducing expenses. But every one of them benefitted from our expertise - and the responsibilities we took off their plate.

You need a waste ally because:

• Your time is valuable. You and your staff are busy. You don’t need to be spending fruitless hours trying to solve waste issues. You have higher priorities than waste management.

• Your hauler contract is poor quality. Your contract likely allows for price hikes and auto-renewal of terms. It likely has no service provisions and the service levels it stipulates may not actually be efficient. (80% of our clients have been serviced by their waste and recycling hauler too frequently. How would you know if you are?)

• Your invoices have mistakes. We estimate that billing errors happen about 10% of the time in any given year. How many of these mistakes are your staff catching? Do they have spare time to spend on the phone with the hauler attempting to get credits?

• You need industry expertise. Even if you have the time and are catching those invoice mistakes, how can you know you’re not continuing to make expensive waste mistakes? We know how to find the best rates and the best haulers. We know how to hold them accountable. And we know how to find waste solutions that are tailored to your specific needs.

Does having a waste ally really work?

We routinely find 10-35% in savings for our clients. Take a look at a few of them below.

As industry experts, we know where to find the gaps in your current waste management process and provide permanent, cost cutting solutions.

Download a free copy of “4 Reasons You Need a Waste Ally” by clicking the button below.

"Why do I need a service provision in my waste hauler contract"

You need a service provision in your contract so that if your vendor repeatedly fails to resolve an issue, you can terminate the contract with no penalty.

Waste haulers vary in their ability to provide quality service to clients. Some, like GFL, have excellent customer service, are easy to get in touch with, and are quick to resolve waste issues as they arise. Others are incredibly difficult to get a hold of, won’t resolve problems in a timely manner, and or cannot permanently provide a solution.

When repeated waste issues occur - and especially when they occur in conjunction with other common waste hauler problems - you need the ability to terminate the contract.

A service provision clause keeps the hauler accountable for promptly resolving issues. If they know you have the right to cancel their contract if they don’t resolve problems, they are going to be far more motivated to quickly provide solutions.

This kind of clause ultimately ensures that you aren’t stuck paying for terrible service. If you don’t have this clause in your contract, you will have very little recourse when these issues arise. If a hauler is less than amenable to providing permanent solutions, you will be stuck with them for the remainder of your contract until it expires. Since most contracts have five year terms, you could be stuck with an ineffective, frustrating hauler for years on end.

(Psst! Learn more about your hidden waste problems here!)

How can I tell if I have a service clause?

Take a look at the first page of your contract. It may look something like the picture below.

There will almost always be a section for notes somewhere on this first page. If you have a service provision clause, it will be here. In the picture above, the notes section is in the bold black square. As you can see, no service provision exists on this contract.

This clause is not something that comes on standard hauler contracts. It will only rarely appear in the additional pages on your contract. And it is almost always something you need to proactively request. Most - though not all - haulers are not proactive about making sure you’re protected in the event that their services are less than ideal. Very few will provide you an out if they consistently miss pick-ups or if other issues repeatedly occur.

Evaluate your contract to ensure that all of its terms are in your favor. Fill out the form below, and we’ll immediately send you a free, Waste Hauler Contract Scorecard!

7 Ways You're Making Your Hauler Rich - Part 2

In this post, we’re going to talk about the last three ways most people overpay their waste and recycling disposal services. It’s a wide-spread problem, but there are simple solutions.

You’re making your waste hauler rich by not:

• Evaluating service levels

• Knowing market rates

• Having a waste ally 

Let’s take a deep dive into each of these categories so that you can understand how you’re overspending - and stop!

Not evaluating waste disposal service levels

You’re making your hauler rich because you’re paying for services that you don’t need. 

Your hauler is paid to pick up your trash, not to help you pay fair rates. It’s not that they’re out to get you necessarily - they just want to increase profits like most companies. Unfortunately, you literally pay the price as a result.

One of the major ways companies are overspending is by having inaccurate service levels. Your current services may not be serving your real needs.

You may be paying for 5 pick-ups a week when you only actually need 2. Or, alternatively, your dumpsters are too big.

To find the solution that is right for you, you need to find out:

• How full your containers are when serviced

• The equipment history for all sites

• Pricing options for larger dumpsters

• Pricing options for less frequent service

• Whether the materials in these containers can be recycled

• Whether the hauler frequently misses pick ups

• If there is a history of overage fees

All of these things need to be taken into consideration so that you can pay for the service you need at a fair price point.

Knowing waste market rates

You’re making your hauler rich because you don’t know what “normal” or average waste disposal pricing is in your area. You don’t realize, for instance, the company across the street is paying half of what you’re paying for waste services. And your haulers sure as heck isn’t going to volunteer that information. 

Market rates means the going rate of waste and recycling services in your area. 

We wish there were uniform rates throughout the country, but this just isn’t the case. A “good” rate in Virginia may be an astronomically “bad” rate in Idaho. 

Your average market rates depend on:

• The number of haulers in your area. More haulers generally means more competition, which means better rates. 

• Your geographic location. Most Southeast states tend to have much cheaper rates than the west coast states, for instance. 

• Consumer tolerance for price hikes. As you know by now, price hikes generally happen 1-4 times a year, at a 10% increase each time. If consumers push back on these, or they simply aren’t common practice, they’ll occur with less frequency. 

Your market rates can also be affected by other factors like fuel and equipment prices. 

An important note: Keep in mind that market rates are average rates, but not the required rate. We find most of our savings for clients through capping price spikes, eliminating ancillary fees, and implementing ideal service levels. The “market rate” can almost always be improved by an independent auditor. We know how to work within industry constraints to find every savings opportunity available to you!  

Market Rates and Accountability Measures

Haulers know you’re not likely to consult with the restaurant across the street when you set up your service contract. They know that you’re not going to ask that restaurant what their disposal rate is, or how often they get price spikes.  They also know that you don’t know what other area haulers are charging, and so you can’t know if they’re overcharging you.

When was the last time your vendors volunteered this kind of information? Never, right? This is exactly what allows price gouging to happen. If you’re in the dark about hauler pricing, how can you tell what is fair?

Not having a waste ally 

You’re making your hauler rich because you don’t have a waste ally. You don’t have someone who will find billing discrepancies and fight for billing credits on your behalf - so your staff’s time and resources are taken up. Waste hauler invoices are incorrect 10% of the time. Are you catching those mistakes?

What you don’t know is costing you. You’re likely being charged at rates that are too high because your contract ensures that your rates will steadily increase, unchecked. You have equipment on site that you don’t need because your haulers don’t care that your dumpsters are half full when they’re serviced. You’re paying too much for your service, because you only need pick-ups three times a week instead of five. 

How much longer will you overspend? 

Want to learn even more about how you’re overspending on waste expenses? Sign up for our free, on-demand webinar!

Just leave your information below, and we’ll redirect you to the video so you can start watching immediately.

"How much can I save on my waste spend?"

We help 90% of our clients reduce their waste and recycling expenses by 10-35%. It’s likely that you’re sitting on multiple savings opportunities, which is exactly why there’s a need for independent auditors.

Waste audits reliably find savings.

Because of the way the waste industry typically operates, most companies will overspend in waste expenses in one of six ways. The most common one? 80% of our clients have overspent on their service levels. The more pick-ups waste disposal haulers make, the more profit they make. So while many haulers are not actually out to trick you, the system is set up in their favor.

They don’t have incentive to evaluate the efficiency of their services, so they rarely do.

Our gross client savings of 10-35% is reached so consistently because haulers are consistently unfair and/or indifferent to your actual needs.

In all fairness, we could go out of business in six months if all haulers everywhere decided to offer fair contracts and reliable services. But many garbage service companies are not willing - or not able - to make changes that could undercut them financially.

Unfortunately, this is how the industry functions. But you don’t have to be held hostage by it. Get recourse by using a third-party waste auditor - they’re trained to find your unique savings opportunities. See some specific client examples below.

How does your pricing work?

Different independent waste auditors have different pricing models. We use a shared savings model - we share in the savings we find at a rate of 50%. If we find you $200,000 in savings a year, you’ll keep $100,000 and we will be compensated $100,000.

Ultimately, using performance-based pricing is in your best interest. It encourages a higher discovery of savings because it motivates us to find every opportunity available for you.

What if there are no savings?

When no savings are found, we charge you nothing.

Over the years, there have only been a small percentage (about 10%) of companies that don’t benefit from our services. 

There can be any number of reasons for this. Sometimes certain markets are really tough. Other times, there are external factors that keep the companies from savings. 

On the rare occasion when this happens, the client in essence gets a free waste audit. They get the assurance that they’re not overspending - that all of their waste and recycling disposal streams are working at maximum efficiency.

"Are your audits convenient?"

From start to finish, our waste audits are designed to fit your companies’ unique waste and utility concerns. As a result, our audits are remote and efficient. Our audits do not require more than just a few hours work from you or your employees.

We often ask companies to think of this commitment in terms of the tradeoff: is just a few hours work on your end worth the potential payoff of a 10% minimum reduction of your monthly waste expenses? For our clients, the answer is almost always yes!

Let’s take a closer look at how our audits are convenient.

Our waste and utility audits are remote.

The majority of our audits are completely remote. This has always been how we functioned, but it’s something we’re especially grateful for now. As of publishing, many areas of the country are still suffering from Covid-19. Hundreds of thousands of employees are still working from home, and many expect to continue to do so for the foreseeable future.

We can review waste streams and equipment and find the right solutions for you 100% remotely.

First, we use google maps and google earth to look at the location of dumpsters on your property. We can often verify sizes and the number of dumpsters simply through googling your facility.

Second, your documentation shows exactly where your real needs lie. Your service agreement tells us about your terms, pricing, and auto-renewal clauses. Your invoices show us the hauler’s record of service levels, equipment, rates, fees and pattern of overage charges.

These two resources give us a clear picture of what your needs really are and how your current waste and recycling disposal processes are aligned with and meeting those needs.

And just to really be sure that we’ve accurately diagnosed your waste disposal problems, we almost always will get in touch with each site’s manager to verify service levels and equipment on site. We’ll also ask questions about seasonal variance and possible waste solutions. We often find that site managers can give a level of detail that open up other avenues of savings. 

A remote exhaustive audit is possible with this solutions-oriented approach. 

Our waste and utility audits are efficient.

We’re committed to helping you make the best use of your time. So we like to set expectations for exactly how much time you and your team can expect to contribute to our initial audit project.

• 10 minute discovery call 

• 20 minute zoom presentation to learn about our process

• 1-2 hours compiling invoice and service agreement information

• 1-2 hours over 3 months verifying data, or answering questions

• 1 hour going over audit findings and savings report

  In sum, you or your staff will most likely spend a mere 4 hours contributing information to the process. 

What you have to decide is whether those 4 hours are worth it when compared to your returns.

Can putting in that time result in savings for me?

In short, yes. If you spend $10,000 total in your portfolio of locations on waste and recycling expenses, we’re 90% sure you’re sitting on savings. We can’t guarantee that there will be savings every time, but we do typically save companies 10-35% on their waste and recycling expenses on average.

Other companies who put in those 4 hours have saved $114,000, and $126,000 annually on their waste spend. Take a look below to see what some of these companies had to say about working with us.

We know that there’s a 90% chance you’re like the companies above! You’re almost certainly overspending - the question is whether you want to commit those 4 hours to doing something about it. 

Your time is valuable. Be proactive about protecting it, and make sure get returns on any time you invest. 

Our audit process makes it easy for you to do both. 

5 Reasons You May Need a Compactor

A trash compactor can help you significantly reduce waste costs by reducing the number of pick-ups needed for your location(s). A compactor does exactly what you’d think; it compacts trash so that fewer pick-ups are necessary. The most frequently used size is 30 cubic yards. It requires an investment up front, but it can save quite a bit of money over time. 

Is a compactor the right solution for you? Here are 5 reasons you may need one.

1. You’re a higher trash generator.

   Does one 8 yard dumpster picked up every day meet your service needs? If you’re generating more trash, you need equipment that will minimize your waste spend. We typically find that most high trash generators tend to be multi-family complexes, retail properties, and restaurants. Not all of these examples have the space or budget for a compactor, but for many of them a compactor represents a long-term savings option.

   2. Prevent unauthorized access or illegal waste disposal.

   I can’t tell you the number of times we’ve had a multi-family property manager ask us how to cut down on illegal dumping. We recently did a site survey (back in spring of 2020) where we found that someone had dumped mattresses, box frames, and toilets! Needless to say, the property manager was less than thrilled.

   Unfortunately, this kind of dumping is a common problem. There are several ways that you can minimize the opportunity for people to dump, and a compactor is one of them. Depending on the design, some compactors can restrict access to employees or residents, making it more difficult for illegal dumping to occur.

   3. Save valuable space.

   A compactor can take up less space than several dumpsters, and it can maximize the space available to your site guests, residents, or employees for trash.

   Compactors can be 30-40 feet long (though some can be much smaller!), so in order to install one you will need a good bit of space on your site. Many high-trash generators find that the upfront costs to install and rent (or own) a compactor are off-set over several years of use.

   A typical compactor can contain at least 5 tons of garbage - far more than even the largest dumpsters. This means that a site can go longer periods of time between pick-ups, which can significantly decrease your waste spend.

   4. Gain better control of liquid waste.

   Nobody - not one single person we’ve ever talked to - enjoys the smell of garbage. We find that for sites that generate food waste, compactors can be a helpful solution to cut down on unpleasant smells.

   Some compactors are specially outfitted to contain liquid and semi-liquid waste. As a result, the less than ideal smell that radiates from open dumpsters is contained (for the most part) within the compartments of the compactor. This helps keep your location smelling clean.

   5. Eliminate litter from wind-blown debris.

   Another feature of a trash compactor is its ability to reduce litter across a given location. If the garbage is fully contained in a compactor, it’s much more difficult for large amounts of debris to escape. This makes it less likely for garbage to be strewn about your site, which helps make a good impression on your site visitors. This also helps prevent complaints, which your employees will be happy about.

   Benefits of waste and recycling compactors

   Compactors can be excellent solutions for companies that are hoping to reduce their waste disposal expenses. They offer an opportunity to reduce pick-ups by compressing waste, can minimize illegal dumping, and can keep your location clean and tidy.

   How much could a compactor help me save?

   If you’re a high-volume waste generator, a compactor installation could be one solution that could help you save 10-35% on your waste expenses. By reducing the number of pickups, we can significantly reduce waste disposal expenses. When we conduct our thorough audit for clients who may need this piece of waste disposal equipment, we typically evaluate short and long term savings opportunities based on your location, the pricing for equipment, and the service estimates provided by area haulers.

   You’re sitting on savings. You need different equipment and better contracts. Learn more at our on-demand webinar!

   Just fill in your information below, and we’ll redirect you to the video so you can start watching immediately!

"Why do short waste contract terms result in savings?"

Short contract terms allow us to frequently reevaluate your current rates in comparison with available waste rates. It gives us the opportunity to help you take advantage of the best rates in your area as often as possible.

How long are most waste and recycling contracts?

Most waste and recycling service agreements or contracts are 5 years in length, though some are 3.

It may seem like a great idea to sign a 5 year contract. After all, who wants to think about trash arrangements more than they have to? It’s really convenient to sign a contract and not have to think about it for another 5 years. What’s not convenient are the savings opportunities that this contract all but guarantees you’ll miss.

How do long contract terms make me overpay?

5 year terms are too long because they can ensure that you pay for waste disposal and recycling services at a higher rate than other area companies. The rates that other area haulers charge will change - and possibly improve - in the time it takes your contract to expire. Do you want to miss this savings opportunity?

If you’re four years in to a five year contract, you won’t get the chance to employ a new area hauler who is charging a third less than your current vendor. We make sure this never happens.

With a waste ally on their side, our clients don’t have to worry about missed savings opportunities. We track every client contract expiration date, and are ready to renegotiate contracts or find other haulers as necessary. The vast majority of the contracts we negotiated have short terms of three years and typically have no auto-renewal clause of those terms.

This means that we can continue to review your area hauler options and renegotiate your waste hauler contracts continually in the future. Every three years, we will continue to evaluate your service rates and your haulers to ensure you are paying competitive prices.

We almost always will request pricing bids from area haulers, even if you are thrilled with your service. The reason for this is that even if you intend to stay with your hauler at a certain location, it’s much easier to get reduced pricing if we can prove that other area haulers are offering better pricing.

If you’re already under contract with a hauler and you are nearing the end of your contract, this is the perfect time to renegotiate your terms. Haulers are much more willing to acquiesce to your request for different terms if they know there’s a chance they might lose your business.

I have long waste contract terms. What can I do?

First, don’t worry. The vast majority of clients we work with have long contract terms. You have two options:

1. You can set calendar reminders to review your rates and cancel your auto-renewal clause. In order to have time to renegotiate your rates, you must cancel your automatic renewal clause. This clause is usually found in the second page of your contract and stipulates that unless you cancel the clause within a certain window of time (usually 90-180 days prior to expiration). Your contract will renew in its entirety, meaning price hikes and poor service will continue to occur for the next 5 years.

   If you chose this option, you or your staff will need to have the time necessary to keep on top of this deadline, send the auto-renewal cancellation letter in a specific timeframe, follow up for receipt (you’d be amazed at how often haulers “forget” they’ve received these letters), and then send out bids for pricing.

   This option is ideal for those who have a pretty good handle on a) what’s wrong with their hauler contract b) how to fix it. You’ll have to be comfortable renegotiating your own waste contract(s) and finding other area haulers to obtain bids from. (See the video above for some helpful tips!) It’s also ideal for those who have the staffing resources to bring the process to complete resolution.

2. You can sign up for a free consultation to learn more about our waste ally services. If you know you need expert help at untangling your waste management process and that you don’t have the time to find your savings opportunities, a discovery call is the next logical step for you. As waste allies, we excel at providing tailored, cost-cutting solutions to companies in almost every industry.

"I already have a waste hauler contract. Can you still help me?"

Having a current waste hauler contract is not an obstacle for us; it’s an opportunity.

We are frequently able to renegotiate the terms of your contract with your current vendor. You stay with your service provider but get better rates and more favorable terms. You get recourse for service issues, and your ancillary fees are either limited or completely reduced.

Take Rhonda Cummons of Presbyterian Homes. She had waste contracts in place, but we were still able to save her 22% of her gross waste expenses. We renegotiated several current contracts so that they did not include ancillary fees. We also adjusted their service levels since they were being serviced too frequently.

As a result, her gross waste savings was $25,000 yearly - or $100,000 in the next four years! So having a waste contract is not an obstacle for our services. Every client we’ve had in the past 18 years have had waste contracts in place.

This is typical because the term length for contracts tend to be long. Most trash hauler service agreements have terms of 5 years. This means that you only have the opportunity to find better pricing once every 5 years! This is not ideal because so much can change in your area from year to year. There may be better pricing available to you, but you almost certainly can’t take advantage of it if you’re in the middle of a long contract term.

Additionally, your service levels may change significantly over this period of time. What you need now may not be what you need in five years.

So when we negotiate our client’s contracts, we include 3 year terms, not 5 year terms. This shorter time frame allows your waste and recycling streams to be reviewed more frequently. It gives us more opportunities to find the best pricing, thus potentially finding savings for you.

When a client’s contract term is up - and it’s not one that we were originally able to update through renegotiation - we will not only evaluate pricing, but ensure the ideal provisions are included in it to maximize your savings. We cap or eradicate price hikes and fees, we include service provisions, and we prohibit the auto-renewal of terms. These adjustments eradicate waste issues (and overspending!) before they happen.

How likely is it that my waste contract is a bad one?

There’s a really easy way to tell if your contract is costing you. Pull out yours and ask these questions:

1. Does my contract cap or eliminate rate hikes?

2. Is there recourse for service issues?

3. Is there an auto-renewal clause?

4. Are my terms limited to 3 years?

5. Are my service levels accurate?

If the answer is no to any of these, there’s a high chance that you’re overpaying. Most waste hauler contracts are not structured with the provisions and clauses that will protect your bottom line. Most waste hauler contracts, in other words, tend to be bad.

Want to know for sure how good your contract really is? Download our free resource, “The Waste Hauler Contract Scorecard.”

"Why do I need a service provision in my waste hauler contract?"

You need a service provision in your contract so that if your vendor repeatedly fails to resolve an issue, you can terminate the contract with no penalty.

Waste haulers vary in their ability to provide quality service to clients. Some, like GFL, have excellent customer service, are easy to get in touch with, and are quick to resolve waste issues as they arise. Others are incredibly difficult to get a hold of, won’t resolve problems in a timely manner, and or cannot permanently provide a solution.

When repeated waste issues occur - and especially when they occur in conjunction with other common waste hauler problems - you need the ability to terminate the contract.

A service provision clause keeps the hauler accountable for promptly resolving issues. If they know you have the right to cancel their contract if they don’t resolve problems, they are going to be far more motivated to quickly provide solutions.

This kind of clause ultimately ensures that you aren’t stuck paying for terrible service. If you don’t have this clause in your contract, you will have very little recourse when these issues arise. If a hauler is less than amenable to providing permanent solutions, you will be stuck with them for the remainder of your contract until it expires. Since most contracts have five year terms, you could be stuck with an ineffective, frustrating hauler for years on end.

How can I tell if I have a service clause?

Take a look at the first page of your contract. It may look something like the picture below.

There will almost always be a section for notes somewhere on this first page. If you have a service provision clause, it will be here. In the picture above, the notes section is in the bold black square. As you can see, no service provision exists on this contract.

This clause is not something that comes on standard hauler contracts. It will only rarely appear in the additional pages on your contract. And it is almost always something you need to proactively request. Most - though not all - haulers are not proactive about making sure you’re protected in the event that their services are less than ideal. Very few will provide you an out if they consistently miss pick-ups or if other issues repeatedly occur.

Learn more about how you’re overspending! Get premium access to our on-demand webinar, “7 Ways You’re Making Your Waste Hauler Rich”

Sign up right now and we’ll send you a bonus 20+ page PDF showing you exactly how to reduce your waste expenses!

"What are ancillary waste fees and am I paying them?

Most haulers will pass the cost of administrative and overage charges to you. Most companies assume they have to pay them, but in fact, it is not mandatory for them to appear on your invoices.

We reduce or eliminate most of the following fees on all client contracts:

• Fuel/environment fees: This fee supposedly helps recoup the cost of gas, but is actually a huge profit center.

• Recycling recovery fee: Covers the fees incurred by hauler to transfer recyclable, but again, is typically a profit center.

• Minimum tonnage fees: Fee charged by the hauler (typically on roll-off or open-top accounts) when a container’s weight upon pickup is below a specific threshold. 

• Administrative fees:  typically charged if a client elects to receive paper invoices instead of electronic delivery of invoices.

• Regulatory Cost recovery fee:  Some haulers, (like Waste Management) will charge this fee to cover costs in other regions - not necessarily yours. They explain it like this:
  “This charge is not specifically tied to such costs to service your account, but instead helps us cover Waste Management’s enterprise-wide costs for host community fees, waste disposal taxes and similar charges to service all WM operating company customers in the United States and Canada, and to achieve an acceptable operating margin.” (From Waste Management, retrieved July 23, 2019.)
  The regulatory cost recovery fee is not “tied to . . . your account.” In other words, you’re helping cover their costs to service other companies. Why should you pay for what you don’t benefit from?

Where will these fees appear on my invoice?

These fees will most often appear as itemized entries on your monthly billing invoice. Their names may be confusing, but once you know what to look for they are easy to spot. 

In the picture above, you can see this company is paying $71.82/month. These fees may not initially seem like that much, but over the course of a five year contract this company will pay $4309.20. This is why we always ask the haulers we work with to cap or completely eliminate these fees. Otherwise, you'll continue to overpay. 

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"How do I know if I have inaccurate waste service levels"

About 80% of our clients have had inaccurate service levels. It’s one of the main ways that companies overpay for waste expenses.

The best way to know if your service levels align with your actual needs is to get a free waste audit. Every company needs an independent, objective oversight on their waste management processes. Haulers are not financially motivated to provide cost-cutting solutions. They don’t have incentive to recommend changes that will cut into their bottom line.

An independent audit will thoroughly examine your waste service levels in conjunction with every other relevant aspect of your waste and recycling streams.

What are indicators of inaccurate waste and recycling service levels?

When we complete our exhaustive audit, we examine the following to determine if your current service levels are ideal:

1. Dumpster fill level when they are serviced. If your dumpsters are only half full when they are serviced, you are paying for too many pick-ups.

2. Compactor size, if relevant. Having a bigger or smaller compactor may reduce your costs, depending on your true waste needs.

3. How many dumpsters you have on site. For some companies, it is less expensive to vary the pick-up schedule for sets of waste containers. Suppose you have five dumpsters at two locations at your property. You may be able to save on your waste expenses by having dumpsters 1 and 2 and dumpsters 3-5 serviced on different days of the week. It’s a less conventional solution to a common problem.

Waste service levels and waste equipment must be evaluated simultaneously.

You can’t evaluate your service levels, however, without also evaluating the waste equipment you have on site. If you don’t have the correct equipment onsite to begin with, you almost certainly have inaccurate service levels - and vice versa!

When we complete our waste audits, we thoroughly analyze every component of your existing waste equipment and service levels to find the solutions that are right for you. But we also examine possible solutions as well - we often ask other area haulers to bid on services to see if better pricing is available. And we look at possible ways to divert waste streams and recycle, both of which will impact your need for waste and recycling pick-ups.

We get the whole picture of your waste services so that we can find the very best waste solutions for you.

How much will inaccurate service levels cost me?

The answer to this question depends on how misaligned your current service is with your real needs. If you’re employing the most expensive hauler in the area and are receiving too many pick-ups per week, you’re likely overspending by at least 10% every month. If you have a hauler with better pricing - and your contract does not allow price spikes - you won’t be overcharged as much, but you will still overpay since you’re receiving too many pick-ups.

Overpaying by $100 a month may not sound like a lot, but that adds up to a hefty $6,000 over the life of a five year contract - and that’s assuming your inaccurate service levels are your only problem!

As with most waste problems, inaccurate service levels can be completely eradicated by simply ensuring your contract is airtight.

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"How often do haulers increase their rates?"

If your contract doesn’t include rate caps, it’s not a matter of when and if you will receive price increases, it’s a matter of when, how much and how egregious the price increase will be.  

You can expect your hauler to increase prices up to two times each year, by as much as 15% each time. In the worst cases, we’ve seen up to four prices hikes in one year. Most haulers will only increase your rates once a year, but if there’s nothing stopping them from increasing more frequently, chances are they will.

Take the screenshot below, for example. This Republic customer’s rates increased by 200% over the past two years.

They were paying $275.42 for service. Now they’re paying almost $300 more - $573.15. That’s a 200% increase at a single location! If this increase occurred in a portfolio of many locations, this client would in effect be overpaying by thousands - something they could have prevented by just a few additional lines on their contract.

This is why we’re so intent on solving every contract issue you have. When we lock in your in your price, we eliminate the possibility that this will happen to you. Your staff will be able to budget with confidence for the entire term of your contract since your rate increases will be capped. And we’ll be there to hold the hauler accountable if they “forget” the price cap.

Are Some Price Spikes Legitimate?

As time passes, the cost of providing services increases. Fuel prices tend to rise over time, disposal charges at the landfill increase, as do the price of dumpster and garbage trucks. It’s reasonable for your hauler to increase prices to match the cost of doing service. But price spikes often go beyond these allowances.

How do we know? We know how haulers calculate their costs. To service your locations, your hauler incurs the following charges. We would expect for them to pass on some of the cost of these fees, but we find that they typically pass on the majority of them - and how much is added in on top of that.

Disposal cost to drop off waste materials at disposal facility. Waste disposal facilities (landfills) charge for the garbage they receive. Haulers must pay this fee, and this fee can be passed onto you in its entirety.

Cost of hauler equipment. Dumpsters, garbage trucks, and compactors are expensive to make and they can be extremely expensive to service. The trash haulers isn’t gentle on equipment. Dumpsters lose tops. Dumpster container bottoms become rusted. Compactor parts stop working. Since most companies rent the dumpsters or compactors from their waste hauler company, the haulers have to buy the equipment and service it.

Cost for servicing account. It’s expensive for haulers to drive their trucks to and from your locations. Haulers have to take into account employee compensation, the fuel charges, and the cost of maintaining the trucks. Haulers will typically divide up the number of locations they have to service to figure out how much to charge each customer.

This means you aren’t necessarily charged exactly what it takes to get from your location to another; it’s presumably divided up equally among those who are on the same route. However, it must be said, there’s no external oversight on this. Most companies trust that their haulers are accurately and fairly charging them.

Haulers should make a profit doing what they do - it’s important work! But they don’t need to overcharge simply because they can. 

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"How is my waste hauler contract costing me?"

Through no fault of their own, most companies have terrible hauler contracts. You don’t know what you don’t know - and most companies just don’t know!

All terrible hauler contracts have at least one of the following problems:

1. They do not preclude price spikes 

2. They have inaccurate service levels

3. They charge you additional fees

4. They make it nearly impossible to cancel 

5. They have no provisions for bad service

Below, we’ll go over each of these in detail. If your contract includes even one of these items, it’s not a question of if you’re overpaying, but by how much.

Take Rhonda Cummings of Presbyterian Homes, for instance. She had a poor contract, just like many of you. She was paying ancillary fees, and she had inaccurate service levels. As a result, Rhonda was overpaying by $22,000 in her waste expenses every year before we stepped in. What could you do with an extra $22,000?

Waste Industry Profit Centers

The five contract problems above are examples of waste industry profit centers. Most waste companies are typically set up to exploit profit centers. 

A profit center is an opportunity that haulers use to generate revenue. Profit centers yield more revenue, and they are almost never tied to the actual cost of servicing your locations. The ancillary or additional fees on your waste hauler contract, for instance, are huge profit streams. These fees are often not actually tied to recouping costs, and they are different from the line items for the services performed. They exist on your invoice because they can. 

On the sample invoice below from Waste Management, this company is being charged:

• A Fuel/Environmental charge

• Regulatory Cost charge

• Administrative charge

All of these are additional fees that do not necessarily have to exist on your invoices each month. They can be either reduced or completely eliminated.

If your contract allows, your hauler can - and almost always will - pass on excess charges outside of standard operating costs.

Most haulers will not willingly or voluntarily cap their revenue. Very, very few haulers are going to come to you with ideas on how to reduce your expenses - because it’s not in their financial interest to do so. For this reason, it’s critical to have an impartial third party review your waste and recycling expenses. Without review, haulers have no accountability to charge fair pricing for their services or to provide ideal service levels.

As industry experts, we know where to find the gaps in your current waste management process and provide permanent, cost cutting solutions.

Want to learn more about how you’re overpaying on waste?

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