We find that most of our clients initially don’t have waste hauler contracts that maximize savings. For most of them, their sites are being serviced too frequently. Some are paying top dollar for low-quality service. For others, their rates rise several times a year. If you don’t have a contract that prevents these problems, you’ll overpay - and most companies do.
Knowing the difference between an efficient contract and a poor one will affect your bottom line. This article will give you the tools to evaluate the quality of your contract.
We’ll discuss:
What is a waste hauler contract?
How is my contract costing me?
Waste contract solutions
The more you know about the potential pitfalls of your contract, the more aware you’ll be of savings opportunities that can save you thousands on your annual waste and recycling spend.
What exactly is a waste hauler contract?
A waste or recycling hauler contract is a service agreement between you and your chosen vendor to provide waste and recycling service at a location or at multiple locations. You agree to pay them at a particular rate for a 3 or 5 year term, and they will pickup and dispose of any waste and recycling onsite.
99% of haulers will not do business with you unless there is a contract in place. Larger vendors like Republic Services and Waste Management will always require a contract in order to provide service. Some regional providers will operate on a gentleman’s agreement, but this is rare.
The agreement itself is typically short - only 2 or 3 pages. The first page specifies your billing and service information, pricing, and any special terms of the agreement. The second page usually states the contract terms, any auto-renewal language, and other service information.
Below, you can see an example of a contract one of our clients had with Waste Management. It includes an automatic renewal clause that made it more difficult for them to get better pricing from other vendors (this section is in the black square).
Should I sign a waste hauler contract?
You almost certainly need a waste hauler contract for; but you need to ensure you have a good one!
Most of the contracts we’ve seen in the 18 years we’ve been in business favor the hauler, not you, their client. They can raise prices at their discretion, and there is no language limiting service issues. As a result, some of our clients have overpaid by 50% on their waste expenses.
You should only sign waste and recycling contracts that:
Limit price spikes
Have no auto renewal clauses
Include the correct service levels
Have an unresolved service clause
Reduce or eliminate ancillary fees.
Not sure if your current hauler contracts meet this criteria? Fill out the form below to download our free Waste Hauler Contract Scorecard today and find out!
How Your Waste Contract is Costing You
We’ve mentioned a few ways most companies overspend. In this section, we’ll look at the specific ways most companies are overspending, and how this typically happens.
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:
They do not preclude price spikes
They have inaccurate service levels
They charge you for additional fees
They make it nearly impossible to cancel
They have no provisions for bad service
If your contract includes even one of these items, it’s not a question of if you’re overpaying, but by how much.
Waste Hauler Contract Solutions
In the past 18 years we’ve been in business, our contract solutions have found consistent cost-cutting solutions. We save 90% of the companies we partner with 20-40% annually on their waste savings. Can you afford not to have us evaluate your contract?
In the sections below, we will discuss:
Our proven audit solutions
Customer success stories
Our partnership process and pricing
Don’t leave your savings to chance. Below, we’ll show you how people nationwide have had tremendous results using our thorough audit services.
Our Proven Audit Solutions
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 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 also 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 post-audit 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%. Read more about how our clients feel about their new found savings.
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.
We Already Have a Waste Contract: Can You Still Help?
Every decision we make in our evaluation process is about what the the data shows us and how much savings you can gain as a result. We evaluate your locations, your invoice history, and all vendor options to determine what makes the most financial sense to you.
Having a current waste hauler contract is not an obstacle for us; it’s an opportunity.
For the majority of our clients, we are able to renegotiate the terms of their contract with their current vendor. Most of the time, they don’t even switch vendors!
Our analysis process makes it clear whether you should renegotiate your current contract or get a new one with a different garbage or waste vendor. In both cases, we handle all negotiations and transitions on your behalf.
You deserve to know exactly what is and isn’t working in your waste disposal process. You deserve to know whether your waste streams are operating at maximum efficiency. You deserve to have the relief of knowing that your savings are secure.
A free consultation, or a Discovery Call, is the first step towards finding savings and peace of mind.
It’s a quick, no-obligation consult where a WCI representative will ask you questions about your current waste management system. It’s easy and informal; a time for you to ask whatever questions are on your mind and for us to learn more about your unique needs.
We typically cover these questions in a Discovery Call:
How much do you spend on waste and recycling? (We are able to bring the most value to the table for companies who spend a total of 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 hauler?
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. This call is the best way to find out if we may be a good fit for your needs.
If there was a possibility that a 15 minute phone call could save you over $100,000 each year, would you make time for it?
Anita Huffman, the Corporate Finance Director at TWE Smart Nonwoven Solutions, did. As a result, her company will save $300,000 in the next three years.
She told us, “You uncovered more than $12,000 in monthly savings opportunities. Your exhaustive process and your teams dedication to our success has permanently changed our approach to waste management.”
Anita took the first step toward her $12,000 savings with our Discovery Call. The questions we asked on that call made it clear that there were likely overlooked savings opportunities - and the rest is history!
90% of companies nationwide are overspending on their waste and recycling expenses. Stop being one of them.
Who Should Sign Up For a Discovery Call?
You should sign up for a discovery call if the following is true for you:
You spend more than $10,000 total in waste and recycling each month.
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. We provide the solutions you can’t afford not to have.