The Rippling Effects of Waste Labor Shortages

Like many industries, waste haulers are still experiencing COVID-19-related difficulties, primarily the effects of labor shortages. Shortages were a problem before the pandemic began, and it has only been exacerbated.

Labor shortages mean that service levels have been difficult for some haulers to maintain. For example, a shortage of drivers means a shortage of trucks (while competition from delivery companies attracts drivers away from waste hauling jobs). Shortage of staff at landfills and recycling centers means that sometimes trucks have to wait hours to dispose of their loads, slowing them down. Shortage of staff also means a shortage of mechanics to fix trucks and compactors, which also causes pickup shortages.

Some cities and waste haulers have dealt with the driver shortage by continuing to pick up garbage each week but cutting recycling pickup to every two weeks and other, similar measures. Some are getting creative about hiring, including offering sign-on incentives, bonuses for working a full week, and other strategies such as creating in-house paid CDL training and reduced-cost in-house daycare.

You may have or may yet experience rate increases, missed pickups, delays in waste equipment delivery, or other issues.

If you have experienced any of these rippling effects of waste industry labor shortages, we are here to help! Conservice’s WasteX team maintains relationships with over 1500 waste haulers across the United States. We monitor both pricing and service levels, and we help our clients find the best possible waste pickup and other waste management services in their area.

Specifically, we offer:

• Contract Negotiation and Management: we identify and secure the best rates and terms for your needs.
• Customer Support: we are your go-between to secure any extra pickups, bulk item pickups, and roll-off dumpsters, and deal with any service issues.

While not directly related to the labor shortage in the waste management industry, other problems can increase your waste costs. To aid you in lowering these costs, we also offer these services:

• Compliance and Reporting: we compare line items against the contract, identifying and correcting any overbilling.
• WasteLine Analysis: we identify and compare expected waste to generated waste; review excess, bulk, and contamination issues; and provide you with cost-saving solutions.
• Compact Monitor: we provide monitors for your trash compactors, which allows us to help you set an optimized trash pickup schedule, where compactors are emptied when full and not before.

To take advantage of these cost-saving opportunities, please email our WasteX team at [email protected]. We look forward to helping you lower your waste costs!

Mckay Luu

McKay is the Digital Marketing Manager at Conservice who likes to play tennis, pickleball, and spend time with his family.