5 Reasons Why You Should Overspend on Waste - Part 1

As strange as it sounds, there are in fact some solid reasons to overspend on waste.

But for the majority of companies nationwide (the actual number hovers in the 90% range), these reasons aren’t actually applicable. These reasons aren’t actually good reasons to overspend! Why would you chose not to save money? Most companies simply don’t realize they’re overspending.

There are 5 reasons why you should overspend on your waste and recycling disposal expenses.

1. You can afford to make your waste hauler rich

2. You love inefficiency.

3. You don’t like to delegate to experts.

4. You like having waste problems.

5. You like to ignore relevant data.

In this series, we’ll explore all the reasons you should keep overspending by 10-30% on your waste expenses. In this blog post (part 1 of a 2-part series), we’ll look at reasons 1-3.

You can afford to make your waste hauler rich

You may be one of the few companies out there who has excess funds. You may be flush with extra revenue, so how much you pay for waste services at all of your locations isn’t of concern to you. You may not have to worry about budget forecasts or balancing the books at the end of the month.

And if you do have excess funds, you may have already decided to allocate them to overpriced waste expenses. You can afford to spend whatever the waste companies charge you. (An aside: most hauler contracts are designed to allow indiscriminate price hikes, so most companies pay more than they should for expenses incurred over the term of their contract.)

Or, you may just enjoy overspending. Maybe you like the idea of helping your chosen waste vendor become rich. You may like helping them increase profits by paying extraneous fees. You may enjoy the sudden price hikes that add to their bottom line.

But chances are, this isn’t true.

You love waste service and equipment inefficiency.

You may love knowing that you’re likely one of the 70% of companies who are being over-serviced by their trash vendor. You may enjoy getting too many pick-ups every week at your locations. After all, who doesn’t love paying for services they don’t need?

These extra pick-up only benefit one person - and it’s not you. Your hauler is likely incentivized to make additional pickups because more pickups almost always mean more revenue. When was the last time you heard of a hauler voluntarily reducing their service frequency?

Additionally, you may like leaving equipment inefficiency to chance. You may be satisfied with inefficient waste and service levels. (50% of companies have too much or too little waste equipment.) You may prefer not to have an expert review your current waste management process for redundant equipment or ineffective waste equipment.

You don’t like to delegate to experts.

You may think you have the resources to complete your own waste review. And some people are able to complete a cursory review on their own! But most CEOs and COOs don’t have the expertise it takes to do their own waste analysis. Waste reviews are not simple processes to complete. It can be difficult to know where to begin, what exactly to assess, and how to assess your current process in general.

And if they do have the expertise, it’s likely they don’t have the time. We provide our clients the two things they need most - a professional waste assessment or review, but with very little demand for their time. (Our reviews are almost always 100% remote). We’ve been doing waste reviews for the past 18 years, and we know how to find your hidden waste problems and solve them - for good!

You can keep overspending on waste . . . but you don’t have to.

We provide our clients the two things they need most - a professional waste assessment or review, but with very little demand for their time. If you don’t mind having inefficient waste and recycling services and equipment, you’ll almost certainly keep overspending. And if you don’t want to take advantage of professional expertise, you can keep paying more than you need to for expenses.

But if these reasons aren’t true of you - if you value your resources and your time - then you can chose to stop overspending on waste expenses.

Are there other reasons to keep overspending on waste? Let me know in the comments below!

What would you do with an extra $12,000? This company found out!

Not too long ago, Anita Huffman got in touch with us. As the corporate director of a large manufacturing plant, Anita knew that there was a chance that they could be overspending on waste. They had several dumpsters and compactors on site, but they were also producing plastic byproducts that weren’t being sold.

When they got in touch with us, we explained that they would take on zero risk during our audit process. They wouldn’t pay us anything if we didn’t find savings.

We began the audit process in 2018 and we examined every waste stream that was available to them.

In the end, we found $12,000 worth of monthly savings!

Anita wrote us:

“My team and I were pleasantly surprised how much of a difference you made on our bottom line. 

During your audit, you uncovered more than $12,000 in monthly savings opportunities. Your exhaustive process and your team’s dedication to our success has permanently changed our approach to waste management. 

With your help, we’ve reduced our waste spend by thousands of dollars every year. We’ve decreased equipment inefficiencies, and we have service schedules that align with our production needs. 

Your team has gone the extra mile, and we couldn’t be happier with the results.”

Anita were overspending on their waste and they had no idea! She and her team found out that they were unknowingly making some critical waste management errors. But now, thanks to our exhaustive audit, they’re saving.

Too many companies in the US are overspending on their waste and recycling expenses. You don’t have to be one of them! What could you do with the savings from a 10-30% reduction in waste?

Top Three Ways Multifamily Properties Can Save

The waste disposal at multi-family properties can be mind-numbingly complicated. There are so many locations - and often just as many haulers. 

So we’ve compiled the top three ways that multifamily properties can save.

This is no simple list. These are actionable steps that we’ve taken at hundreds of properties nationwide. These three things have saved companies hundreds of thousands of dollars. So we know they work - and that they’ll work for you.  

Here are the top three ways you can save are:

1. Get an airtight waste contract

2. Review your valet services

3. Do a utility audit

I can’t overstate how critical all three of these are to your bottom line. We typically save 20-40% on waste disposal expenses - when you add in utility audits, those savings can double. 

We don’t want you to leave any savings opportunities on the table! Let’s take a deep dive into each of these ways to save. 

Get an airtight waste contract

When it comes to your waste expenses, an airtight waste contract is the very best way to prevent overspending - and waste issues!

A good waste contract will:

• Prevent price spikes

• Have great service provisions

• Prevent fee charges

• Is easy to cancel

• Has appropriate service levels

When you contract has these provisions, you’ll have recourse. When you find a price spike, you can successfully fight it - and get a credit. When your hauler starts charging ancillary fees, you can likewise get a credit. And if the quality of their service levels start dipping, you can keep them in line. (A bad contract can be such an expensive mistake!)

Your contract represents an enormous savings opportunity. Don’t overlook yours.

Review your valet waste services

Valet services are an often overlooked way to save. When we complete a waste audit for multi-family clients, we always look at the valet services. 

Valet services is a fancy term for door-to-door trash pick-up. Valet service will pick up garbage bags outside the residents door and dispose of it for them. It’s a fantastic benefit to offer residents because, let’s face it, no one loves taking the trash out. But valet services are often overpriced! 

Let me give you an example.

We recently worked with a multifamily developer/manager who offered valet services at their properties.  The WCI Project Manager noticed that the price per unit seemed to be awfully high. We were able to introduce a new vendor who was able to save them $28,800/year at just 3 properties!  

Make sure you’re not being overcharged for your valet waste services. They can be a huge profit center for valet companies - but you don’t have to fall victim to them.

Examine your contract, and get a feel for market rates. Reach out to other area multi-family residences and ask what they pay for valet services. This will give you a really good idea about whether your services are overcharging you. 

(Or, reach out to us for a completely free waste audit! They make savings simple - and they’re guaranteed cash-flow positive.)

Complete a Utility Audit

As successful as most utility audits are, it’s surprising how few companies know about them!

Consider the odds of winning the lottery - typically, there’s a one in a million chance. But if you know that your odds were better, wouldn’t you go buy one? What if your odds were 80% or higher?

This is exactly the opportunity a utility audit offers you. We find savings on utilities 80% of the time - and if we don’t find anything, you’re not charged a dime. I like to tell people that our audits minimize your resources and maximize your savings potential. 

How exactly? Our audits work: we typically find savings through tax exemptions, rate adjustments, and eliminating unused meters. 

A utility audit is the best way to know that you’re taking advantage of every savings opportunity available to you.

Stop overspending today!

We typically find that multifamily property managers have problems they don’t even know about. These problems typically cost thousands of dollars every year. And most of them are completely avoidable.

Make sure your waste contract is airtight. Ensure it eliminates or regulated price spikes! 

Make sure you’re getting fair pricing for valet services. This is a huge savings bucket that companies typically ignore. 

Make sure your utilities are under control! So many companies nationwide overspend. And they don’t have to. 

Our risk free waste and utilities audits are tailored to your industry and your time constraints. 

Why not reach out today? We’d love to show you your unseen savings opportunities - and how you can start taking advantage of them! 

---

Have you ever heard of a waste or utility audit? What other questions do you have about them? Let me know in the comments below! 

How to Find Waste Savings

There are three easy steps to find your savings opportunities.

1. Have a Discovery Call

2. Sign agreement

3. Audit review process

Let's look at each of these.

Have a Discovery Call

A Discovery Call is the first step towards finding savings. It’s a quick, free consult where a WCI rep will ask you questions about your current waste management system.

Some of these questions typically include:

• How much do you spend on waste? (We are able to bring the most value to the table for companies who spend more than $10,000 each month)

• How many locations are in your portfolio?

• How many waste streams do you currently have?

• What problems are you currently experiencing with your waste disposal?

• What are your growth plans over the next 1-3 years?

The purpose of these questions is to gauge how much value we can offer you. We aren’t always the best fit for every company.

For instance, if you have only one location with one dumpster, we’re not going to be able to help you very much! But for most companies, our unique offering is a true opportunity.

Who Should Sign Up For a Discovery Call?

You should sign up for a discovery call if one or more of the following is true for you:

• You spend more than $10,000 in waste.

• You are a key decision maker for your company.

• You want to save on your waste spend.

• You want to ensure your waste management is efficient.

• You are tired of paying too much for waste disposal.

If you suspect or know that you have waste issues, you need to know exactly what they are so that they be addressed. You need a waste ally who will bring their market expertise and high rate of success to your portfolio.

You need to someone who can find waste disposal problems, solve them, and prevent them from happening again. In short, you should sign up for a discovery call if you want a waste ally.

Schedule a Discovery Call by clicking here.

Signing our Agreement

After your WCI rep has explained our process, he or she will show you a copy of our service agreement. It’s a simple document; only two pages long.

In a nutshell, it specifies that you agree to share in the quantifiable savings we implement at a rate of 50% for service period of of 36-60 months (depending on the scope of the engagement).

We never expect that you’ll sign on the spot or pressure you in any way. Your WCI rep will typically follow up within a week of our meeting and see where you and other decision makers are at.

Your rep will answer any outstanding questions you may have, and once you sign the service agreement, we move forward with data collection.

Our Audit Review Process

Our audits find savings conveniently and consistently. If you’re like 90% of companies nationwide, your waste contracts are the primary reasons you’re overspending on waste and recycling.

And to get any new contracts right - or to renegotiate old ones - we know we have to review every pertinent detail about every waste and recycling stream at every location.

Fortunately, we can do that remotely, and with inconvenience to your staff being kept to an absolute minimum. To begin our audit, we request several key documents for each location in your portfolio:

• Copies of current trash hauler contracts

• Copies of the most recent invoice

• A list of every location under review

The majority of our clients can assemble this information in just a few hours.

Then, we take 60-90 day to thoroughly evaluate your current waste management process and find where your problems are. We use google maps and google earth to look at the location of dumpsters on your property.

The documentation you give usually tells us everything we need. Your current service agreement tells us about your terms, pricing, and auto-renewal clauses. Your historic invoices show us the hauler’s record of service levels, equipment, rates, and fees.

Right off the bat, our analysts will know if you’re overpaying for a dumpster based on its monthly rate, or if you need to decrease frequency of pick-ups at a certain location. But other information is not nearly so straightforward.

For anything larger than a 8 yard dumpster, we have to evaluate your tonnage, and your frequency of pickup. Does your site really need to be serviced twice a week? Or is bi-weekly service actually ideal? We’ll also ask your site managers questions about your customer service experience.

Your hauler may have great rates, but misses pick-up frequently - and doesn’t give billing credit. This is vital information, and we take it into account when we review your portfolio.

We look for unexplained price hikes, and we look at usage trends. We also look at your service agreements.

We’ll note expiration dates, and we’ll check to see if ancillary fees are limited or exempt. We’ll look for language that prohibits auto-renewals, and limits price increases to a certain percentage.

Then, we’ll find other pricing options. We keep records of nationwide haulers, and we know equitable rates when we see them.

Some of our clients profit from switching waste haulers, but for others, we renegotiate existing contracts for better rates.

Our analysis will make it clear which option is more financially sound for you. We make sure you don’t leave any savings opportunities on the table - which is why we have a success rate of over 90%.

An exhaustive audit is possible with this solutions-oriented approach. Our clients know our audits are thorough and our process works - and they save big.

Ongoing Billing Review and Service Help

Post-audit, we continue to monitor billing for errors - which we find happen about 10% of the time.

We also keep records of when your current hauler contracts are set to expire and contact them at the appropriate time to renegotiate better rates.

But perhaps our clients most appreciate our ability to take on service issues. We know that trying to resolve issues like missed pick-ups can take up an inordinate amount of your staff’s time.

We take these on so you don’t have to!

3 Reasons Why Our Audits are Risk Free

Not every one of our clients were 100% convinced they had waste problems prior to the review.

And to be frank, they didn’t have to be since our audit process is 100% risk free.

Many of our clients had never had a waste audit before, so our process involves three critical risk reduction factors:

1. You only pay us when we find results. We are willing to take the risk of finding no savings because we have such a dependable rate of finding savings. We’re 90% sure we can find savings. But in the event you turn out to be one of the 10% that don’t have savings, you don’t owe us anything.

As one of our clients, Chris Sprenger of SanStone Health and Rehabilitation Center, told us, ““We had zero capital exposure and very limited time invested with your company. When you couple that with the significant savings we were able to achieve, it makes the decision to hire Waste Consultants seem like a no-brainer.”

2. You only pay us out of the savings we find. In other words, our process is cash flow positive. Our services aren’t an added expense, and they aren’t something you have to budget for.

3. You pay us a rate of 50% gross savings. If we find you $100,000 in savings a year, you’ll keep $50,000 and we will be compensated $50,000. Our revenue comes out of the savings we find for you.

As a result, we’re motivated to find the most savings opportunities we can for you and your waste disposal expenses are further reduced.

This is exactly why our audits have such a high success rate.

We know exactly how to find the expensive problems you have with your waste management.

We know what questions to ask, and how to be persistent in finding creative solutions tailored to your needs.

Our success is your success.

The more savings we find, the more we all benefit.

The initial waste review process is entirely self-funded. “Self-funded” means that we incur the initial expenses of performing the 1-3 month long audit.

In other words, you don’t pay us during the initial investigation and analysis period; essentially making the audit itself free.

You don’t pay for:

• Our review of your contracts

• Our analysis of your invoices

• Our evaluation of market prices

• Our requisition of vendor bids

• Our waste and recycling stream analysis

While our waste and recycling audits have a 90% success rate, we don’t think it’s fair for you to pay for a service that you are not directly benefiting from.

You don’t pay for our analysis, you pay for our solutions - the real-world, cost cutting solutions that actually affect and benefit your bottom line.

Just take it from Jen Morrow, Tenant Services Coordinator at The Simpson Organization:

"The cost reduction opportunities that you identified and implemented were substantial and, in this current economic client to say they were welcomed, would be a vast understatement.

We are currently looking at over $100K in gross annual savings due to your efforts.

I also want to say a quick note about the Senior Analyst assigned to us, Tony Perkins. He has done an exemplary job - always professional and very quick to respond to any requests or questions!”

How Hauler Contracts Make You Overpay on Waste Expenses: Part 2

What if news broke tomorrow morning that you didn’t actually have to pay your mortgage? That somehow, a swanky lawyer somewhere figured out that most Americans were not actually obligated to pay their mortgage? 

You’d probably be elated at first. But give it a day or two, and you’d probably start thinking, “Man, think of how much we could have saved if we had known this two years ago!”

At the risk of bursting your bubble, you definitely have to pay your mortgage this month. But you don’t necessarily have to be trapped into paying your hauler invoices. 

Read Part 1 of this series here!

It’s all in what your contract stipulates. We’ve helped a lot of companies significantly reduce or completely eliminate their ancillary waste fees. You don’t have to include them on your contract, and if they’re not on your contract, you don’t have to pay them.  

I’ll show you what I mean. Let’s look at some common contract fees that can be reduced or eliminated.

Your Hauler Invoice: Deconstructed

Take a look at your most recent hauler invoice. You’ll likely see a few fees listed near the bottom of your invoice, like this one. 

You’ll notice there are three fees listed in the left hand column: a container service plan, a fuel/environmental charge and a regulatory cost recovery charge. 

These are just three examples of waste fees that can be reduced or avoided altogether on your contract. 

Pull out your most recent invoice, and see which of the following fees you’re being charged. 

Want to stop overpaying? Download our free Guide to Reducing Your Waste Expenses!

The Most Common Waste Invoice Fees

There are dozens of waste fees that can appear on your invoices, but I’m going to focus on the ones you’re most likely to see. 

Container Service Plan: This is a fee that was automatically added to most Waste Management Accounts a few years ago. Enrollment in this plan (involuntary though it may be) allows you to replace your container ev as necessary. But most people don’t need to replace their garbage container frequently - some of our customers have containers that over 5 years old and still look fine. 

So do you really need to be a part of this plan? Probably not. 

Container Refresh fee: This one is specific to one of the biggest haulers out there, Republic. Republic has a fee called a “Container Refresh” fee that allows the customer to get a no-cost swap out of their container every 2 years. Which sounds great - if your container gets rusted out, you can replace it for free. 

But most containers are good for much longer than that. This is a good example of a service that seems like it’s there to serve you, but is actually in the haulers best interest. Haulers wouldn’t offer it if they didn’t profit from it. They know most of their customers will pay $10 a month for a service they will never use. 

Fuel/environmental fee: Almost everyone gets this charge on their invoice. Basically, the hauler is charging you for the gas it takes to get to your site and deliver your trash to the dump. But here’s the thing - they charge everyone on their route a fuel fee. They are more than recouping the cost of gas. 

And those fuel charges add up. The location that got the invoice above is being charged almost $60 a month, or $720 a year. Supposing this is a three year contract, that’s $2160 they could be saving! 

Recycling recovery fee: This fee is charged by the hauler to transfer your recyclable material from your site to the drop off site. You may rightly ask, “Well, aren’t they charging me already for fuel? What exactly does this fee cover?” Herein lies the problem. This charge often isn’t actually covering anything - it’s just another fee that the haulers often tack on because they can. 

Minimum tonnage fees: The hauler will charge you this fee when the containers weight is below a specific threshold. These fees typically only apply to roll-off or open-top accounts. In other words, they are charging you for not having enough garbage in the container.  

Basically, when you incur this fee, the hauler is saying “I made up this rule, and you broke it, so you have to pay.” The dump site does not charge a minimum fee - this is just something the hauler makes up because, well, they can.  

Psst! See all of our resources on how to stop overspending!

Administrative fees: Typically charged if a client elects to receive paper invoices instead of electronic delivery of invoices. Most of the time, this administrative fee is pretty small - less than ten dollars per month. But small does not equal fair! You shouldn’t pay a penny more than you need to on your waste disposal. 

Regulatory Cost recovery fee: Some haulers, (like Waste Management) will charge this fee to cover costs in other regions - not necessarily yours. Your fees go towards paying other people’s garbage disposal. 

You Don’t Have to Overpay on Contract Fees

The fees in the list above - and a whole lot more that we haven’t mentioned - are not required to be in your contract. Local and state governments don’t mandate these; they exist because your hauler wants to make more money. 

If you aren’t interested in overpaying anymore, fill out our contact form! We’d love to hear from you. Or, let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

How We Calculate Your Waste Savings

You know what most people hate talking about? Money. It makes people really uncomfortable.

But I’ve found that when we’re honest about our pricing, the opposite happens. Our clients like knowing what they’re being charged and why.

So today, I’m going to take some time explaining our pricing. It’s something I’m often asked about.

But how do we calculate what you’re charged? 

It’s a three part process:

1. We establish your waste spend baseline

2. We develop and apply recommendations

3. We compare your baseline to your new spend 

This article will show you what you can expect to be charged when  you come on board with us. 

We establish your waste spend baseline

We identify what you are spending now by categorizing the past volumes, type of equipment, and service levels along with the rates for equipment, collection, and disposal along with recycling rates. That is what we refer to as a benchmark. 

This audit process is comprehensive - no stone is left unturned. To analyze this information, we look at the following sources for every location in your portfolio:

• Past waste and recycling invoices, 

• Every current service agreements,

• Information obtained via site survey (if necessary),

• Information obtained from location managers  

This information takes time to accumulate, verify, and document - but we bear the brunt of the burden. (Our process is tailored to minimize inconvenience to you and your staff. Most teams only need an hour or two to send us the initial documents we need!) After that, we may follow up via email or phone calls to your site managers to verify certain sections of information. 

Once we have all of the required documentation, we can move into the next phase: analysis. 

We develop and apply recommendations

After our 30-step audit process, we develop recommendations. We look for alternate services, disposal and recycling options. We find better rates, and better service schedules for you. 

We compare your usage rates and any overage charges, we look at your tonnage each month, and then we look at market rates. Comparing rates and fees helps us see if you:

• Have the ideal service levels

• Have the ideal equipment in place

• Have the ideal contract. 

Where there are issues, we bring expertise-driven solutions to the table. We know what fair prices and good contracts are - and we’ll stop at nothing to make sure you get both. 

Once we have enacted the cost-reducing recommendations, we compare your baseline spend with your new spend. 

(Fun fact: we don’t charge you until our recommendations affect your bottom line. We don’t believe you should pay for something you’re not benefiting from.)

Then, we apply those recommendations to your past data to calculate what you would have paid for services if you had been using our alternative program.  This is how we determine which recommendations make financial and operational sense.

After we implement the recommendations that you approve, and for each month going forward, we provide you with three calculations based on your actual monthly volume:

1.  We use the current months actual volume to calculate precisely what you would have spent using prior equipment, collection, disposal and recycling rates and services. 

2.  We break down precisely what you spent with our new program. 

3. Our last step is to simply subtract those two calculations and the difference is obviously what was saved for that specific month. 

Before we get paid on our first savings invoice, we can go over the details of our calculations to make sure you understand them.

Once we’ve verified your account for accuracy, we send you an invoice each month. 

The breakdown for what you owe is very clear; each invoice lists what you were paying for waste services prior to our partnership. Then it lists what you are now paying. We will charge you 50% of the difference. (Read more about our pricing here!)

We Care About What You Are Charged for Waste Expenses

We’re honest about why we charge what we charge. You deserve nothing less. 

In an industry that is often rife with shady dealings, we seek to put you back in the driver’s seat. Information is power, and what you don’t know is hurting you. 

Stop being taken advantage of. Set up an appointment today to take the first step towards leveraging waste savings. 

How Hauler Contracts Make You Overpay on Waste Expenses: Part 1

Say you’re at Thanksgiving, and your sweet great-aunt Hilda offers you a piece of her legendary pumpkin pie. Of course, you say yes.  

But instead of bringing you pie, she brings you a plate full of green bean casserole. Would you be happy? 

Of course not. 

Unfortunately, this describes a lot of people’s experience with their waste hauler contracts. You thought you were getting a good thing! But you ended up feeling tricked.  

This post will show you how to determine whether you’re getting the short end of the stick on your contract. 

A terrible hauler contract:

1. Allows for unlimited price spikes 

2. Has inaccurate service levels

3. Charges you for additional fees

4. Makes it nearly impossible to cancel 

5. Has no provision for bad service

Even if your hauler contract only does one of these things, it could mean a ridiculous amount of overspending. 

And while reading your hauler contract probably isn’t at the top of your to-do list, it’s completely worth it. You’ll likely be shocked with what your hauler is getting away with, but you’ll also know whether you need to consider renegotiating your contract. 

Download our free Waste Hauler Scorecard!

Price Spikes Allowed On Contract

Your hauler is assuming that he will raise prices at least once a year. Don’t let him get away with that. 

If price spikes happen at least one a year, think about how much you’ll be paying a year from now, or two, or ten. Eliminating the possibility for price spikes now means you’ll be saving more later. 

Getting your price hike situation under control also means that you’ll be able to budget your waste expenses with more accuracy. If you know what to expect, you can factor that into your company budget. 

Now, dust off your hauler contract, and let’s have a look! 

Look in the Payment Terms of your Waste Hauler contract.  It’s typically titled something like “Charges, Payments, Adjustments.”  If you do not find language that limits or prohibits spikes, you need to re-evaluate your contract ASAP. 

Ensure your contract doesn’t allow price hikes, and you’ll protect your company - and your budget - for years to come. 

See all of our resources on how to stop overspending!

Inaccurate Service Levels

If your dumpsters are only half-full when they are serviced, you are paying for too many pick-ups. And if this is the case, you’re in good company: roughly 90% of the companies we’ve worked with over the past seventeen years have containers that are being over-serviced. 

One quick pro tip: even if your dumpsters are full when picked up, you can re-arrange your pick-ups for optimal pricing. If you have five dumpsters, you can reduce your costs by requesting that each dumpster gets picked up at a different frequency.

Contract Includes Additional Fees

Most haulers will pass on the cost any number of administrative and overage charges to you. A lot companies pay these outright because they think they have to. You don’t.

Look for these on your current hauler contract:

• 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?

You can reduce or eliminate all of these fees; you don’t have to pay them.  But you have to do it prior to renewing a contract, or getting a new one. It’s extremely difficult to negotiate these fees in the middle of a contract.  

Waste Contract is Nearly Impossible to Cancel 

What’s worse than a bad contract? Not being able to get out of it.

Most hauler contracts are written such that it’s extremely difficult to exit the contract. A lot of haulers probably do this simply because it’s industry practice - not because they’re intentionally unscrupulous. They’re doing what is unfortunately normative in the industry.

But just because it’s normal doesn’t mean you have to roll accept it. This isn’t how transparent people do business. 

And let’s face it: if hauler services were prompt and honest, they probably wouldn’t have to make contracts that trap their clients.

You know what’s best for your business. You should be able to make decisions about which services are the best for your company. If you can’t get out of your contract, you’re powerless to make those decisions.   

Has no provision for bad service

When there are service issues, you should be able to get them resolved quickly and promptly.

When a hauler misses a pick-up, it should be easy to get in touch with them to resolve it. If they’re leaving stacks of garbage around the dumpsters or make a mess every time they service them, the hauler should only need one request to service more conscientiously. But this isn’t often the case. 

Why pay someone for a service who is actually making your life (and your staff’s lives) more difficult? If you had multiple hauler problems with no resolution in sight, you need to know that you have an out if you need one. 

A thorough contract will include steps for resolution - and what will happen if you continue to be dissatisfied with service levels.

You Don’t Have to Overpay for Waste Services

By default, your haulers are going to let these things happen to your contract. But you don’t have to let them. You can solve current problems and prevent new ones from happening - all it takes is effort, and some persistence.

We help companies across the nation find waste solutions and implement changes on their behalf. Don’t be part of the 95% of companies that are overspending on their waste disposal! Drop us a line to learn how you can fix your contract.

3 Steps to Getting an Airtight Valet Contract

What if I told you that ten minutes of your time could yield thousands of dollars in savings? 

Sounds crazy, right?

It’s not actually as crazy as it might seem. By spending just a little time evaluating the long-term efficacy of your valet service contract, you may very well find some ways to save. 

Sound intimidating? It doesn’t have to be! We’ve broken it down step by step below for you. 

The only thing between you and savings is time - and just a little bit of knowledge. 

Let’s look at the process of evaluating your contract. 

1. Know what a good one looks like (and a bad one!)

2. Evaluate contract specifics: service levels, service provisions, rate stipulations, and terms. 

3. Figure out the next steps: renegotiate the contract or get a new provider. 

Ready? Let’s dive in together!

Know What a Good Contract Looks Like

Most people don’t really know what a good contract includes. A good contract is one that has terms that are fair to the client as well as the vendor. 

Good valet contracts:

• Limit price spikes

• Have accurate service levels

• Are easy to cancel

• Have provisions for poor service

If you have a good contract, a lot of your problems will be addressed before they even begin. A good contract can’t prevent issues, but they can give you immediate recourse. 

A bad contract is, of course, less than ideal. It won’t protect you from increased charges. The service levels listed in it won’t reflect your actual needs, and the contract itself will be really, really difficult to cancel. And - you won’t have recourse for when your valet porters don’t service entire buildings. (Yes, this has really happened before!)

Evaluate your Contract

Pull out your contract - it’s likely just a few pages long. Take a look at the term length, your service levels, and your termination specifications. 

Take a few moments and ask yourself these questions. 

Are my service levels aligned with my needs?

Consider if your current service level is really what you need. Do you residents enjoy having their trash picked up three days a week? They might like having it picked up five days a week. 

Are price hikes capped or eliminated?

If there isn’t language in your contract that wards off price spikes, you’ll almost definitely get them. A $20 increase here or there may not seem like much, but it’s vital to remember that increases accrue over time. $20 hikes over the term of a contract can result in thousands of dollars in overspending. And it can all be prevented by just a few lines in your contract!

Do my rates reflect the market value?

If your rates are too high, you may be getting overpriced services. You could likely be getting the same services for less - in some cases, much less! When we recommend switching valet services, we calculate your contract buyout fee versus the amount you’ll save with a cheaper service. 

But having rates that are too low can be an issue, too! As I write this, we are in the middle of an issue with one of our valet providers. Their rates are below market prices - but their services leave something to be desired. So we’re bid to other providers. Paying bottom dollar isn’t ideal if you’re not receiving quality service. 

Call around to a few other providers to get a feel for what they typically charge for their services. 

How easy is it to get out of my contract?

Termination processes may differ from vendor to vendor, but many have a clause similar to this:

All that fine print boils down to this: to cancel the contract, the company that employs this vendor must send a written letter of termination via certified mail 90 days prior to the end of the term. It’s not as simple as walking away.

Are there provisions for poor service?

What will happen when a valet porter “forgets” to service entire buildings? Or when they leave a trail of garbage down the halls? You want to make sure that you have recourse if service issues happen. We typically recommend that you ask for an invoice credit if service doesn’t happen as it should. And if there are enough issues, you need to have grounds to terminate the contract.   

Know What You Want to Change About Your Current Contract

Make a list of things you want to change about your current contract. Some of these things may include:

• Service levels - the number of pick-ups made by the hauler per week

• Term - the length of the contract

• Fee Caps - language that limits or eliminates ancillary fees.

• Auto-renewal - cancelling your auto renewal puts you in the driver’s seat when it comes to whom you entrust your valet services.

Now, prioritize that list. You have to be prepared to not get everything you want - especially if you’re trying to renegotiate in the middle of a term. Having clear top priorities will help you let smaller issues go, if need be. 

Make Changes to Your Valet Contract

If you decide to make changes, you can go one of two routes:

Renegotiating Your Contract - Some companies don’t need to get out of their contract completely; they just need different terms or different service levels. Other companies may not financially be able to exit their contract. Either way, for a lot of companies, renegotiating their contract makes financial sense. 

Finding a New Hauler/Getting a New Contract - Some companies, on the other hand, find that it makes more financial sense to exit their contract, and pay out for the remainder. If you find yourself in this spot, send out bids to other area haulers and see if someone else can provide better levels of services. 

Make Sure Your Valet Contract Protects Your Interests

Go the extra mile with your contract, and you could see big returns. If you evaluate your current contract, determine to fix its gaps, and implement changes, you’re securing a better financial position for your company for years to come. 

But you’re also doing more than that. You’re setting yourself up for peace of mind. So often, when things go wrong with a vendor or service provider, it’s because the right preventative measures weren’t put in place. When issues do arise, you have recourse. 

Set yourself up for success! Take a look at your contract - and if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to get in touch!

---

What other questions do you have about valet contracts? Curious about their typical length? Not sure what changes you should make? Let me know what you’re thinking in the comments below!

How Valet Services Overcharge You - And What to Do About It!

Let’s face it, no one likes taking out the trash, right?

In the past few years, valet services have become increasingly popular. No longer do multifamily residents have to haul their own trash to the dumpsters - they can just leave it outside their door! A valet employee collects it and disposes of it. Sounds dreamy, right?

Trash valet services are a fantastic amenity to offer to your residents. But they aren’t always fantastic when it comes to pricing. 

As with so many other areas of the waste industry, vendors will often increase prices because they can - or charge fees way above market level!

How can you make sure this doesn’t happen to you?

In this post, we’ll go what valet services are, some ways you might be overcharged, and what you can do to prevent overspending. 

Psst! Ever wonder why you should care about waste in the first place?

What exactly is Trash Valet Service?

Valet services are a really fancy way of saying “doorstep trash pick-up.” In most situations, it happens exactly as is described above. Residents leave trash outside their door, and a valet employee picks it up and disposes of it. 

Different locations will have different frequency needs. Some will only offer valet waste once a week; others offer it every day during the week. 

Most vendors will service your location at night so that your residents aren’t disturbed - and so they have time to place their trash outside their door. 

How You’re Overcharged for Valet Waste Services

Your trash pick-up provider can be sneaky - just like waste haulers, unfortunately! In fact, valet services are one of the top ways that multi-family complexes overpay on their waste expenses.  

Providers often overcharge you because they think they can. Most multi-family management companies don’t evaluate the valet invoices they receive, or they just don’t know how to ensure their contract is in their best interest. 

What you don’t know can cost you hundreds or even thousands of dollars over time - but it doesn’t have to!

Your rates may suddenly increase. Every so often, you’ll see an uptick in the rates listed on your invoice. It can be as little as 5%, but it can also be much more. But even a 5% increase compacts over time! If you’re charged an extra $20 each month, during the term of your contract you may overpay by hundreds of dollars. 

Rates can increase as much as 1-2 times a year! Your fees can raise whenever your vendor feels like it. Not all vendors will take advantage of this - but some undoubtedly will. 

We recently worked with a multifamily developer/manager who offered valet services at their properties.  The WCI Project Manager noticed that the price per unit seemed to be awfully high. We were able to introduce a new vendor who was able to save them $28,800/year at just 3 properties!  

Rate increases compound over time. Before you know it, you may be significantly overpaying. 

Because there’s so little information out there about valet services and how they do what they do, you may think it’s normal. Or even something that you should expect. 

But just because everyone else is paying at these rates doesn’t mean you have to as well. 

Make Your Waste Valet Contract Airtight

The two best ways to prevent overpaying? Get a feel for the market, and then evaluate your contract.

Find out:

• What are other area trash valet services are charging? Get at least one or two estimates. 

• What are other area multi-family complexes being charged? Get in touch with a contact, or just make a cold call - you’d be surprised how far a friendly voice and cheerful attitude can get you!  

Then, take a good hard look at your contract and answer the following questions:

• Are price hikes capped or eliminated?

• Are rates locked in?

• How easy is it to get out of my contract?

• Are there provisions for poor service?

It can be expensive to stay in a bad contract - or have continual service issues with no recourse!

In the end, you may need to weigh your options. If you have a terrible valet service provider who is not interested in lowering their prices, it may be worth it to break your contract and get a cheaper service provider. 

Protect your bottom line! 

Fix your valet contract, and you’ll not only prevent overspending - you’ll know how to budget for years to come because you’ll have fixed rates. 

You can have peace of mind knowing that you’re not going to be trapped into paying outrageous prices. And you’ll have a contract to protect your best interests. 

Don’t wait until a price spike hits to worry about your valet services!  

---

Do you use valet services at your multi-family property? Thinking about getting them at some point in the future? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

Top Three Ways Multifamily Properties Can Save

The waste disposal at multi-family properties can be mind-numbingly complicated. There are so many locations - and often just as many haulers. 

So we’ve compiled the top three ways that multifamily properties can save.

This is no simple list. These are actionable steps that we’ve taken at hundreds of properties nationwide. These three things have saved companies hundreds of thousands of dollars. So we know they work - and that they’ll work for you.  

Here are the top three ways you can save are:

1. Get an airtight waste contract

2. Review your valet services

3. Do a utility audit

I can’t overstate how critical all three of these are to your bottom line. We typically save 20-40% on waste disposal expenses - when you add in utility audits, those savings can double. 

We don’t want you to leave any savings opportunities on the table! Let’s take a deep dive into each of these ways to save. 

Get an airtight waste contract

When it comes to your waste expenses, an airtight waste contract is the very best way to prevent overspending - and waste issues!

A good waste contract will:

• Prevent price spikes

• Have great service provisions

• Prevent fee charges

• Is easy to cancel

• Has appropriate service levels

When you contract has these provisions, you’ll have recourse. When you find a price spike, you can successfully fight it - and get a credit. When your hauler starts charging ancillary fees, you can likewise get a credit. And if the quality of their service levels start dipping, you can keep them in line. (A bad contract can be such an expensive mistake!)

Your contract represents an enormous savings opportunity. Don’t overlook yours.

Review your valet waste services

Valet services are an often overlooked way to save. When we complete a waste audit for multi-family clients, we always look at the valet services. 

Valet services is a fancy term for door-to-door trash pick-up. Valet service will pick up garbage bags outside the residents door and dispose of it for them. It’s a fantastic benefit to offer residents because, let’s face it, no one loves taking the trash out. But valet services are often overpriced! 

Let me give you an example.

We recently worked with a multifamily developer/manager who offered valet services at their properties.  The WCI Project Manager noticed that the price per unit seemed to be awfully high. We were able to introduce a new vendor who was able to save them $28,800/year at just 3 properties!  

Make sure you’re not being overcharged for your valet waste services. They can be a huge profit center for valet companies - but you don’t have to fall victim to them.

Examine your contract, and get a feel for market rates. Reach out to other area multi-family residences and ask what they pay for valet services. This will give you a really good idea about whether your services are overcharging you. 

(Or, reach out to us for a completely free waste audit! They make savings simple - and they’re guaranteed cash-flow positive.)

Complete a Utility Audit

As successful as most utility audits are, it’s surprising how few companies know about them!

Consider the odds of winning the lottery - typically, there’s a one in a million chance. But if you know that your odds were better, wouldn’t you go buy one? What if your odds were 80% or higher?

This is exactly the opportunity a utility audit offers you. We find savings on utilities 80% of the time - and if we don’t find anything, you’re not charged a dime. I like to tell people that our audits minimize your resources and maximize your savings potential. 

How exactly? Our audits work: we typically find savings through tax exemptions, rate adjustments, and eliminating unused meters. 

A utility audit is the best way to know that you’re taking advantage of every savings opportunity available to you.

Stop overspending today!

We typically find that multifamily property managers have problems they don’t even know about. These problems typically cost thousands of dollars every year. And most of them are completely avoidable.

Make sure your waste contract is airtight. Ensure it eliminates or regulated price spikes! 

Make sure you’re getting fair pricing for valet services. This is a huge savings bucket that companies typically ignore. 

Make sure your utilities are under control! So many companies nationwide overspend. And they don’t have to. 

Our risk free waste and utilities audits are tailored to your industry and your time constraints. 

Why not reach out today? We’d love to show you your unseen savings opportunities - and how you can start taking advantage of them! 

---

Have you ever heard of a waste or utility audit? What other questions do you have about them? Let me know in the comments below! 

How to Get a New Waste Hauler Contract

There are lots of reasons to get a different waste hauler and new contract. Maybe your services provider is awful. Or maybe you’re sick of missed pick-ups. Or maybe they raised your service fees one too many times. 

Point is, you’re done, and you’re ready to move on to greener pastures. 

Getting a new hauler can seem like a daunting process, but these step-by-step instructions below will show you exactly what to do. 

To get a new hauler you’ll need to:

1. Let your current hauler know you are terminating service (if applicable and only after determining that there are other waste hauler options in your area). 

2. Make a list of things to ask potential haulers

3. Get bids for new haulers

4. Compare bids

5. Set up a new contract

A new hauler will do a lot to eliminate your waste headaches, so it’s important to conduct a thorough search.  

See all of our resources on how to stop overspending!

Questions for Haulers

Before you do anything else, make a list of everything that bothers you about your current waste management situation. 

Do you want someone who will promptly pick up your trash? Want a contract that precludes price spikes? Whatever concerns you have, you want to make sure that they don’t become a part of your new contract going forward. 

Download our free Waste Hauler Scorecard!

Once you have a list, you can then ask potential haulers what their approach is to each of the issues you have. Whoever you partner with will need to be willing to listen to your needs and act accordingly. 

Get bids for new haulers

To find other area haulers, try googling “waste haulers near me.” Contact them and ask them to provide bids for servicing your locations. You’ll need to tell them:

• The number of locations you have

• The types of equipment at each site and their size 

• How frequently each site and equipment should get serviced

Most waste sales representatives will get back to you with estimates in under a week. 

Alternatively, you can also ask other businesses or companies in your area for recommendations. Since waste haulers can have spotty service records, it’s a really good best practice to employ someone you know has a good service record. 

You’ll want to go over your list of service issues or questions with the haulers and see what their responses are. Some may be a bit cagey about their service reliability. Others may not care to limit their price hikes. Asking questions will root out the bad apples.

Compare bids

The more bids you have, the more you can compare services and find the one that’s right for you. You’ll obviously compare prices, but you’ll also need to compare service levels. You don’t want to go with the cheapest option if they have an awful service record!

Terminate Service 

After you have found a service provider, you will need to let your current provider know that you are terminating your contract with them on a specific date. You may have to pay a termination fee (something you can find out more about on your contract), so be prepared for that in advance. 

A typical termination fee (for prior to expiration) is the average of the most recent 6 invoices X 6. So if you pay $1000 a month, you’ll owe your hauler $6000. This may sound like a lot but for many companies, this is actually the less expensive option in the long run. 

Most contracts require that you give 90-180 days notice if the standard clause is intact. Read your contract carefully to make sure that your termination notice falls within the required time allotment.

And most haulers require notice be given via certified mail and return receipt. So a simple email just isn’t going to cut it, unfortunately. 

Set up a new contract

Your new hauler will send over a service contract for you to look over. This is when you will want to insist on certain language being put in. Go back to your list of priorities, and make sure that each of them are included in your contract. 

Want to learn more about how we evaluate and fix our clients waste worries? Or how you can stop overspending on waste disposal? There are solutions to your waste worries!

How to Renegotiate Your Waste Hauler Contract: Part 2

You’ve done it! You’ve evaluated your waste hauler contract and gathered all the necessary information, so now you’re ready for the next step: the renegotiation process. A successful renegotiation process will significantly reduce your current waste problems and prevent most future ones from occurring. 

This process can be lengthy, but this post will give you an idea about what to expect and how to prepare. You’ll need to:

1. Expect Resistance 

2. Contact Your Sales Rep

3. Negotiate Fair Terms

4. Sign a New Contract

Let’s take a look at each of these below!

Want to stop overpaying for good? Download our free Guide to Reducing Your Waste Expenses!

Waste Haulers Like It When You Overspend on Waste Services

Haulers really like that they get the better end of the stick most of the time.They like that they can raise prices whenever they want. They like that it’s hard for you to get out of your contract. They like that they can get away with charging you extra fees for no reason at all. 

So they’re not going to be thrilled you got smart all of a sudden and want to shake things up. 

Most haulers will do everything they can to keep the status quo. They’re going to make it hard for you to change course and get a contract that is fair. 

But be encouraged - if you know your contract and market rates(LINK), you’ll be in a much better position to renegotiate. 

Prepare yourself for a fight, but also be prepared to compromise. 

Contact Your Waste Hauler Sales Representative

Once you have all the necessary information, get in touch with your waste hauler sales representative via a phone call. You’ll want to follow up with an email. In both pieces of communication, you’ll want to outline roughly the same points. 

What exactly you say will vary based on the situation you’re in. But consider using the email template (to be edited based on your exact situation)  below as a guide for what to ground to cover in your email (and phone call!). 

Dear Sir, 

We have contracted with you the past two years for waste removal services at (your address. While we have appreciated the consistency of service, the price hikes have been increasingly difficult to cope with, not to mention unexpected.  

That said, we would like to renegotiate our contract with you. We propose that a new one include:

• Capping price increases at 5%

• Term of 3 years

• No cancellation fees

• Removal of the auto renewal clause

We have been in touch with several area haulers, all of whom can provide the same levels of service, but at a much lower price point. 

We think the changes listed above would create a contract that is in the best interest of all involved. We’d like it to be effect at the end of next of month. 

Please consider this letter as notice of our cancellation of auto-renewal as well. 

Please contact me directly so that we can discuss the details of this matter.

Signed, 

Tony Stark  

This lets your hauler know the reasons for your dissatisfaction, and how you would like to resolve the issues. It’s polite, but it’s firm. 

It tells the hauler you mean business - and that you’ve done your homework. 

See all of our resources on how to stop overspending!

Negotiate Fair Hauler Contract Terms

This letter will result in one of two things. The hauler will either listen, or they won’t. 

If they aren’t going to listen, you’ll have to wait until your contract expires to get favorable terms. 

But if they are willing to listen, he may be open to new contract terms. He may come back with a different set of terms, or agree to part of your suggested terms. If this happens, you’ll want to carefully evaluate the offer. Don’t back down just because you’re tired of the process - make sure you and your company are getting the best terms possible!

Sign a New Waste Hauler Contract

Once you settle on terms and know which hauler you will employ, you’ll need to let your current hauler know that you intend to terminate your current contract. (If yours auto-renews and you know you want to terminate the contract, you will need to send notification of the cancellation of auto-renewal as soon as you know you have found an alternate waste vendor.)

Your new hauler will give you a new contract to sign, which will replace the old one. Make sure that there is no gap of time between when the old one starts and the new one begins! You don’t want to have garbage piling up while you wait for your new service. 

You will also want to coordinate removal of the dumpsters with your old provider. Your new waste hauler will provide their own dumpsters.

Renegotiating Your Hauler Contract is a Critical Part of Your Waste Expense Reduction Strategy

By preparing mentally and managing your expectations, you can have a successful contract renegotiation. You can have a waste contract that has terms that are fair to you, and one that prohibits the hauler from charging nonsense fees! All it takes is some research and persistent effort. 

Want to learn more about how we evaluate and fix our clients waste worries? Or how you can stop overspending on waste disposal? There are solutions to your waste worries!  

How to Renegotiate Your Waste Hauler Contract: Part 1

No one I know reads their waste hauler contract for fun. No one who finds a few hours to spare in the work week says, “You know what? I should really take an hour and look at the fine print on my contract.”

But they should - because they’re overspending.

If you devote some time to your contract, you’ll understand where you’re overspending. You’ll save your company hundreds if not thousands of dollars, and you’ll have peace of mind knowing that you’ve prevented future headaches.

You probably already know something is wrong with your waste spend. and you’ve narrowed it down to your awful contract. And you’ve realized that it’s actually better for you to stick it out with your current waste disposal provider than to get a new contract. 

Renegotiating a contract can sound tricky - but it doesn’t have to be! You’ll first need to gather some information, and then you can renegotiate fully informed. 

Prior to a renegotiation, you need to:

• Know what a good contract has in it, 

• Evaluate your own contract, 

• Decide what you want to change, 

• Know what market rates for services are. 

Set yourself up for success, and spend some time gathering some critical waste disposal information. 

See all of our resources on how to stop overspending!

Before you Begin the Renegotiation Process

You’ll need to know what your current contract length is. If your contract is a almost up, consider including some service or pricing addendum in the next contract. It’s much easier to negotiate a renewing contract than a current one. (This is also why those of you with month-to-month contracts actually have the best shot at renegotiating!)

And it’s also important to keep in mind that it’s incredibly difficult to renegotiate a contract that has quite a bit of time left in it. It’s not impossible, but it’s not something that we recommend doing. Haulers are simply not as likely to agree to new terms simply because you want them - there has to be some benefit in it for them as well. And since you’ve already signed a contract with them, they know they can just tell you “no” and go on their merry way. 

However, if your contract is about to expire, you have some leverage. The haulers know that if they don’t give you at least some of what you want, you’ll likely switch to a different provider. So they have incentive to bend a little more than they would otherwise. 

Determine if your contract is month to month. If it is you have more leverage and should get pricing from 1-2 other waste haulers if possible to determine the market pricing in your area.

Know What a Good Contract Looks Like

Most people don’t really know what a good contract includes. A good contract is one that has terms that are fair to the client as well as the hauler. 

Good contracts:

• Limit price spikes

• Has accurate service levels

• Limits ancillary fees

• Is easy to cancel

• Has provisions for poor service

A contract that includes these things will actually prevent waste headaches before they start. If you have a haulers who keeps missing pick-ups, you’ll already have a penalty in place. If a hauler tries to raise prices above a certain percentage, you can point to your contract and kindly say, “Not today, amigo.”

In short, you’ll have immediate recourse for when things do go wrong. 

Download our free Waste Hauler Scorecard!

Know What You Want to Change About Your Current Contract

Make a list of things you want to change about your current contract. Some of these things may include:

• Service levels (the number of pick-ups made by the hauler per week)

• Term (the length of the contract)

• Price Increase Caps - language that limits or eradicates price hikes

• Fee Caps - language that limits or eliminates ancillary fees.

• Auto-renewal - cancelling your auto renewal puts you in the driver’s seat when it comes to whom you entrust your waste disposal.

Now, prioritize that list. You have to be prepared to not get everything you want - especially if you’re trying to renegotiate in the middle of a term. Having clear top priorities will help you let smaller issues go, if need be. 

Know the Waste Market Prices

Even if you’re not intending to switch haulers, it can be exceedingly helpful to have a few bids from other area haulers. Some bids may be higher than your current service fees, but some are bound to be lower. 

Knowing waste market prices will give you an additional bargaining chip. Unfortunately, a lot of times haulers are banking that you don’t know what other haulers charge. If you’re blind, you’re more likely to accept the prices they’re charging you. 

But if you know market prices, you’ll have a pretty good idea about what’s fair and, well, what isn’t. 

If you know what you don’t like about your contract, what a good contract includes, and what area haulers charge, you’ll be well armed to renegotiate your contract. 

Renegotiating Your Contract Is a Critical Part of Your Waste Expense Reduction Strategy

Your contract can play a huge part in protecting you and your bottom line from waste expense increases. Renegotiating your contract can be time consuming, but you’ll reap the benefits for years to come. 

Ignoring waste problems don’t make them go away, unfortunately. Strategizing about how to stop overspending on your waste disposal and coming up with a plan of attack can yield surprising savings - and peace of mind!

Take a step towards savings: schedule a free consult today with our CEO Tyler Brunson today!

What to do About Your Terrible Waste Services

Are your waste “services” really serving you? 

Most of the folks we talk to would answer a big fat “no!” If you’re like them, your haulers can be impossible to deal with, and can leave you feeling overwhelmed and frustrated. 

A lot of people dread dealing with their waste haulers. But they don’t know what to do. 

You aren’t powerless when it comes to your waste services. This post will show you how to evaluate whether you’re overspending on your waste services. Then we’ll look at the two best options to fix your waste hauler contract - one of them is likely right for you!

How to Evaluate Your Waste Services

You can’t fix problems you don’t know about. So evaluating your waste management process by doing a basic audit will pinpoint problem areas. You’ll see the holes in your contract and current service levels. (It will also give you leg up when it comes to evaluating your equipment efficiency!)

Another really good way to evaluate your disposal process is to take a close look at your hauler contract. 95% of companies are overspending on waste - and much of that overspending stems from awful contracts. You can also look over your invoice history and see where there are suspicious price hikes. 

All of these suggestions will give you a much clearer picture about the real status of your waste disposal process. 

Download our free Waste Hauler Scorecard!

How to Fix Your Waste Services

The two main ways to fix your contract are:

1. Renegotiate with your current hauler provider

2. Get a new contract

The option you choose depends on contract stipulations, your waste spend, and your satisfaction with your service provider. 

After we run the numbers for some of our clients, we find that it actually makes more financial sense for them to stick with their current waste hauler and renegotiate their contract. But other clients have truly awful service - and that isn’t okay! So for others, we recommend they switch to a different hauler.  

How to Renegotiate A Waste Hauler Contract

Renegotiating a contract can sound tricky - but it doesn’t have to be! The most important thing is to know what your waste hauler contract specifies. You are more likely to have a successful renegotiation if you know some knowledge a head of time!

1. Determine your current term and expiration date. These facts will help you evaluate when to renegotiate your contract. If your contract will expire in six months, there’s really no reason to go forward with a negotiation.  

2. Determine if your contract auto-renews. If it does, you need to send out a notice of cancellation ASAP. If you know your contract is bad, you don’t have to stay in it! Let your hauler know that you don’t want your contract to auto-renew under its current terms. 

3. Determine if your contract is month to month. If it is, you have more leverage and should get pricing from 1-2 other waste haulers if possible to determine the market pricing in your area.

Lastly, prepare yourself for some resistance. You likely aren’t going to get everything you want from your hauler if you are in the middle of your contractual term. Be prepared to stick to your guns, but also know when to compromise.

If you are under contract you can absolutely still negotiate, but you cannot get out of it without paying liquidated damages.   Be prepared for the hauler to essentially tell you to “go play in traffic” if you are still under contract and inquire about a new term or better pricing. 

If your contract favors a renegotiation and the timing is right, move forward with the renegotiation. Get other bids for hauler service, then present the facts to your hauler. Let him know where his service and pricing is lacking, and let him know that you have received bids that undercut his prices (if this is in fact true!). Ask that he decrease his prices to a more reasonable rate - the worst he can say is no. 

If he does say no, make sure that it’s in your best interest to stay in your current contract. Does it make long-term financial sense for you to stay in this contract? If not, you consider getting a new one, as described below. 

How to Get a New Waste Hauler Contract

If you remember nothing else about this post, remember this: 

A good waste hauler contract:

• Makes provisions for bad service

• Reduces, regulates, or eliminates ancillary fees

• Provides the right levels of service

• Regulates or eliminates price hikes

• Is easy to cancel

If you include these things in your hauler contract, your rates will be much more reasonable! And you’ll have recourse if your hauler consistently under-performs. 

Prior to getting a new contract, make sure you have a good idea about exactly what you want to be in yours. Being specific about what is and is not allowed in your contract will eliminate waste headaches for you, your staff, and your own customers. 

Once you know what you’re willing to agree to, begin the search for vendors. To find other area haulers, try googling “haulers near me.” Contact them and ask them to provide bids for servicing your locations.  Alternatively, you can also ask other businesses or companies in your area for recommendations. 

After you have found a service provider, you will need to let your current provider know that you are terminating your contract with them on a specific date. You may have to pay a termination fee (something you can find out more about on your contract), so be prepared for that in advance. 

You Can Eliminate Your Waste Worries By Fixing Your Waste Contract

Your waste contract is the cornerstone of your waste management. It will affect your bottom line, your staff’s sanity, and your own customers or clients. Making sure your waste services work - and is working for you - is critical. 

By ensuring your contract sets you up for success, you can have freedom from waste worries. You won’t have to worry about price spikes or what to do if a pick-up is missed; you’ll have eliminated those problems through your contract. 

Find yourself low on time and resources? See all of our resources on how to stop overspending!

WCI's Audit Process

We’re serious about finding savings for our clients. So our waste audit process is exhaustive. They show every aspect of a client’s waste spend, and they show us how where to look for savings. 

We know that the more thorough the audit, the more peace of mind you’ll have.

Let’s take a few minutes to talk about what our audit process looks like, why it’s unique, and why it’s reliable. 

WCI’s Unique Waste Audit Process

A big reason our waste audit process works so well is that our project managers have over 30 years experience between them in the waste industry. They’ve seen it all, and so they know where to look for savings opportunities. 

Our teams leave no stone unturned - and we know they work. We’re disappointed if we can’t find at least 20% of savings on your annual waste spend. 

This is where we can really offer value to you, our clients. We take on all the hard work to find you the very best waste management options available to you. And it works. (Tad saved over $6,500 a month on waste expenses!) 

What Our Waste Audit Is

What exactly is so exhaustive about what we do? We go through your invoice history for every location for every piece of equipment. 

We compile data. We record all benchmark service information, and perform history audits for every piece of equipment that is over 8yds long. We look for and record price fluctuation, increases, and fees. When all the data is in, we analyze. Our analysis shows:

• where you’re overspending

• what equipment is working and not working

• identifies gaps in your service

• Where there may be opportunities to introduce technology

• the best way you can stop overspending. 

Regardless of the whether you have 1 location or 100 locations, we will look at every invoice to make sure no savings opportunities slip through the cracks. 

We talk with you. In order to serve you well, we ask you specific questions about how satisfied you are with your current waste and or recycling service levels. If you have a hauler with decent rates who just can’t seem to ever be available when you need him, or who consistently skips pick-ups, that’s not acceptable. In a scenario like this one, we would find a better hauler for you - one who can actually do what he’s agreed to do. 

We scour the market. We’ve been in business over 17 years, so we know good hauler rates from bad ones. We know if you’re overpaying - and by how much. We know if we can find you a better hauler, and we know where to look to find them. (Just ask Lisa from Ardmore Residential!)  

We scour your hauler contract. We know that areas most people overlook in their contracts. We look at whether your contract allows ancillary fees, whether it regulates price hikes, and how difficult it is for you to end your contract. The more we know about your contact, the easier it is for us to see what your next steps should be to eliminate your waste headaches. 

Read about how the audit fits into our Six Step Process . 

How Long It Takes

You may be thinking “Man, this must take a while!” And you would be right - it does. The average time for our waste audit completion is 60 - 90 days. We’re thorough.

We don’t do a rush job because that isn’t ultimately what’s best for you or your bottom line. And at the end, we can pinpoint your waste issues - and show you how to solve them.

Post-Waste Audit

After we’ve conducted the waste audit, we create a savings report called the Waste Savings Summary. It shows you exactly where you’re overspending and how we can fix those problems on your behalf. 

We talk you through our recommendations, and why we think they would be the best choice for you. Nothing super complicated here - it almost always comes down to a matter of who can provide the best service at the most ideal price point. We never recommend our clients get cheaper haulers who are not, in fact, reliable and trustworthy. We never suggest that they sacrifice quality for price. 

Once we’ve discussed the changes with you, we implement them. This means that we renegotiate contracts or find new haulers and services as necessary. 

After the changes affect your invoice, we share in the savings with you at a rate of 50%. 

Then, we audit your waste disposal bills to make sure they’re accurate, and continue to provide monthly reports that show the on-going effects of the service or contract updates. 

Our Audit Process Will Solve Your Waste Headaches

Our waste audit process is thorough because it’s the very best way to end your waste worries. Whether you find yourself drowning in over-priced services, or harried by constant missed pick-ups, there is a solution to your problems. 

Schedule a quick, informal call with our CEO, Tyler Brunson today to see how you can benefit from our services.

How to Stop Overspending on Your Waste Disposal

Sometimes it seems like the waste industry is just one big headache. Contracts are difficult to get out of. Pick-ups are often late, or missed completely. Expensive haulers get away with being paid even more. Ultimately, you can end up overpaying by thousands of dollars as the years pass. 

Your disposal services are likely not really serving you. 

But with some effort you can fix that, starting today.

Download our free Guide to Reducing Waste Expenses to help you get started!

To figure out how to stop overspending, you’ll need to

• Review your waste process

• Learn the ins and outs of your contract

• Make strategic service changes

• Monitor those changes

Think of these as the four keys to unlocking savings. 95% of businesses - across all industries - are overspending on waste services. It’s likely that you’re sitting on hundreds or thousands of dollars of waste savings. But use these four keys, and you can find them!

And since you’re likely to be short on time, this post boils it down to the essentials and will walk you through each step.

Reviewing Your Waste Process

You may be looking at your waste stream and thinking, “Where do I even begin?” I recommend that you start with finding support and go from there. Even if you have less than an hour a week to contribute to a review, it is completely doable if you build a team and assign tasks. Your team can support you through the review process.

1. Recruit colleagues. Having a team to support the review efforts will ensure accountability and effectiveness. 

2. Pick a time frame. Take your team’s availability and scheduling issues at your locations. 

3. Conduct the Basic Audit. Familiarize yourself with the details of your waste streams. Are your dumpsters always full when they are serviced? Do your haulers frequently miss pick-ups? You won’t know until you conduct a basic audit.  

4. Review Your Contract. Pay special attention to key sections on your contract like: pricing, service levels, and terms. (Use the next section to help you know what to look for!)

5. Analyze findings. You may find that you need different equipment, or fewer pick-ups, or a new hauler.  

6. Evaluate next steps. Now that you know what to fix, you can take steps to solve on-going issues. Get a new hauler and a contract with better terms. Or adjust frequency of pick-ups. All of these will affect your bottom line for years to come.  

Learn about Your Waste Hauler Contract

Nobody except legal reads contracts, right? But I like to think of waste hauler contracts as maps - what they contain shows you how to navigate your waste process and find savings.

And don’t worry; you don’t have to read it end to end! Below, you’ll learn what sections of your contract to pay the most attention to. 

Terms - This part of your contract discusses how long your contract is in effect. Most hauler contracts are 3-5 years in length. But you’ll also want to check and see how easy it is to get out of these terms. Is there a fee associated with terminating the contract? What options do you have? Answers to questions like these are critical for implementing long-term, ideal waste solutions.  

Fees - Does your contract allow price spikes? How often can your hauler raise prices? An ideal contract will regulate or even eliminate price hikes. 

Service - How often are your site(s) being serviced? You may not actually need as many pick-ups as you think! There is often a lot of savings to be had in reducing the number of pick-ups, or getting different size dumpsters - or both.

It may also be helpful for you to look over your past few hauler invoices. Do you notice any increases to regular fees? Are you paying for services that aren’t in your contract? If the answer is yes to either of these questions, you know you’re overspending!

Making Disposal Service and Waste Equipment Changes 

Every company has at least three options to reduce waste expenses. Once you know your waste process and your hauler contract pretty well, you’ll be able to see where it’s possible for you to make changes.

Suppose, for instance, that you now know that your haulers fees have increased twice in the past year, and that there are other haulers in the area who could do the same service for less. This is valuable information! You could use it to renegotiate your contract with your current hauler, making sure it includes decreased service fees.

Every business is a little different, but at least one of these options will likely be the best one for yours.

Renegotiating Your Contract - Some companies don’t need to get out of their contract completely; they just need different terms or different service levels. Other companies may not financially be able to exit their contract. Either way, for a lot of companies, renegotiating their contract makes financial sense. 

Finding a New Hauler/Getting a New Contract - Some companies, on the other hand, find that it makes more financial sense to exit their contract, and pay out for the remainder. If you find yourself in this spot, send out bids to other area haulers and see if someone else can provide better levels of services. 

Getting New Equipment - Depending on your situation, getting different sizes of equipment can significantly reduce expenses related to waste equipment. If, for instance, you have two four-yard dumpsters that get picked up five times a week, you could upgrade to an eight-yard dumpsters that gets picked up three times a week - and save a nice sum each year as a result. (Learn more about different kinds of waste equipment!)

Monitoring Those Changes

Moving forward, you’ll want to make sure that the changes you’ve implemented are actually working. If you’ve gotten a different contract or a new hauler, you should see a difference in savings almost immediately. The same with equipment - the savings should be evident on the next month’s invoices. 

But in order to make sure you’re getting the full effect of the your efforts, you’ll need to also monitor hauler invoices. We find that haulers make mistakes about 10% of the time - and that adds up fast! Make sure you know what you’re supposed to be charged, and make sure your billing reflects that. 

It’s also worth it to periodically revisit your basic audit. Waste needs tend to change over time in every industry, so you want to be sure that you aren’t overlooking savings you could take advantage of. 

You Don’t Have to Keep Overspending on Your Waste Disposal

With some effort and patience, you’ll see how waste savings can add up. If you carefully review your waste process, your contract and service levels, and make strategic choices, you can reign in overspending. But you can also find relief from waste worries - from price hikes, from awful service, and from terrible contracts. 

You can take charge of your waste worries, and you can start today! 

What questions do you have about your current waste management process? Let us know in the comments below, or shoot us an email.