Cart deployments are a complex process with a lot of moving parts. Implementing five best practices will make your next project more successful and less stressful.
By Landon Hutchison and Richard Palacios
Carting has dramatically changed the waste and recycling industry over the past 50 years. Improvements in safety, efficiency, and cleanliness are the calling cards of the carting industry transition. Any great innovation does not come without its challenges. Cart deployments and management can be frustrating for all of those involved. Is there a way to make these often complex projects easier with less headache? Following are five key things to think about with regards to cart delivery you need to smooth out your next cart project.
#1: Let鈥檚 Have a Conversation
Communication is vital to any cart project, especially with the public. Most people are delighted to receive a brand new cart, while others do not appreciate disruptions to the status quo. Cart deployment crews are often approached by residents with a variety of questions:
鈥� 鈥淲hat鈥檚 going on here? No one told me about this new program. Who decided this?鈥�
鈥� 鈥淲here am I supposed to put this thing? It鈥檚 huge. I don鈥檛 have room in my garage.鈥�
鈥� 鈥淪o, this is what my taxes are paying for? I didn鈥檛 vote for this.鈥�
鈥� 鈥淒o I have to take this? I already have a trash can I bought at Big Box Store that works just fine.鈥�
There are number of ways to alert the public about a new cart program. Mailers, social media, television, radio, and automated calls are some of the most effective ways to contact customers. Remember: the more they know, the less headaches for you.
Communication does not stop with the general public. It is critical that you clearly communicate expectations to your cart deployment provider. When expectations are set in the beginning, everyone knows what to expect. Communication rolls right into the next key piece: planning.
#2: Plan, Plan, Plan, and Then Plan Again
There are two very important steps to good planning: 1) creating a well-defined project scope, and 2) ensuring information is complete and accurate. Meet with your cart deployment team prior to the project to discuss the details and set goals for your project.
Every delivery project requires a comprehensive scope of work. Among the questions that need to be answered are:
鈥� Project launch date and the completion deadline.
鈥� Are we delivering carts for a franchise contract or a subscription contract?
鈥� How many addresses are receiving carts? If subscription, what percentage are receiving carts?
鈥� Is more than one waste stream being delivered? Trash? Recycle? Organics? All of the above?
鈥� Is there more than one size per stream being delivered?
鈥� Are there municipal ordinances limiting which hours of the day carts can be delivered?
鈥� Is the cart staging area in the municipality receiving carts?
Answering questions such as these will make your project more efficient with less downtime. Everyone forgets from time to time to ask a particular question, but that is why your cart deployment team is there to guide and support you.
Start with a clean address or customer list. Aside from not having sufficient inventory on hand, nothing can slow down the delivery process like bad data. A cart can generally be assembled and set curbside in 30 to 45 seconds. If an address is missing from the list, the crew must stop until the address is added to the database. This could add an additional 30 to 60 seconds to that delivery. Too many instances of this could result in missing the delivery deadline.
The list should not contain any addresses that will not be receiving a cart. This has historically been commercial accounts that are not removed from the list prior to submission. If they are not removed from the list, the delivery crew will need to stop and assign an unsuccessful delivery reason code, e.g. 鈥淐ommercial鈥�. Coding these addresses is relatively quick, but too many of them can add up to a significant amount of time potentially resulting in missing the delivery deadline.
It is important that the list is properly 鈥渟crubbed鈥� so the crews can quickly find the street and addresses they are delivering to in the asset management software or app they use to record the delivery transaction. It becomes difficult to navigate the app when the list includes 鈥淢ain St鈥� and 鈥淢ain Street鈥�, or 鈥淧ark Ave鈥� and 鈥淧ark Avenue鈥�.
When the completed delivery list is returned to the customer, we find the best practice is to return it as clean as possible for everyone鈥檚 benefit. Often, the completed delivery list is used to update the municipality鈥檚 or hauler鈥檚 billing system (see Chart 1).
#3: Where Do We Put All of These Carts?
A proper staging area for cart inventory is key for a successful roll out. First and foremost, it should be paved and level. Moving stacks of carts on gravel, dirt, grass or sand is a recipe for disaster as stacks can easily fall over and cause injuries.
Ideally, the staging area would be fenced and secure to prevent theft. The reality is large-fenced spaces are hard to come by and can be expensive to secure. Understanding your area is important in deciding whether a secure location is necessary. Crews are not always working during daylight hours, making overhead lighting a major plus.
There must be enough space for tractor-trailers to easily enter, exit and maneuver into place to be unloaded. These staging areas become high-traffic spaces considering there are incoming loads and delivery crews repeatedly reloading throughout the day.
#4: We Know Your Community, but We Don鈥檛 Know Your Community
A street map of your community receiving carts is an essential tool. Parcel maps are ideal, but not always available so a map that shows all of the streets will work. Parcel maps show every parcel with the house number included. They also show every street name, which makes it easier to navigate the municipality. A good map allows for better communication between the driver and the person operating the RFID/Barcode reader so the operator can quickly switch to the next street being delivered without having to locate a street sign. Surprisingly, there are a lot of intersections that do not have street signs across the country.
A good map will clearly show a municipality鈥檚 boundaries. A poor map can result in missed deliveries or deliveries outside of the municipality鈥檚 boundaries. The crew then must backtrack to make a delivery or pick up a cart delivered in error. If they are unable to backtrack due to a looming deadline, inevitably the municipality or the hauler makes these deliveries and pick-ups.
#5: Put Me in, Coach
While not every project can be staffed with an onsite project manager, having one greatly enhances the experience for all parties involved: the cart manufacturer, the municipality, the hauler, the delivery crews, and, most importantly, the residents and customers being served.
Effective project management is the backbone of optimizing service logistics for carts. It ensures that every phase鈥攆rom delivery to container management鈥攊s executed smoothly, on time, and within budget. In a fast-paced industry like waste management, where delays or inefficiencies can lead to significant financial losses and operational disruptions, proper project management is crucial.
Coordinating Multiple Teams
Project management helps synchronize various teams鈥攄elivery personnel, field staff, drivers, and maintenance crews鈥攖o ensure that everyone is working toward the same goals. This coordination reduces the likelihood of miscommunication and operational delays.
Timely Execution and Scheduling
A good project manager ensures that timelines are adhered to, reducing delays in delivery, recovery, or maintenance of carts. Project management tools allow managers to create detailed schedules and track progress in real time.
Risk Mitigation
Project management is essential in identifying potential risks鈥攕uch as equipment failure, supply chain disruptions, or safety matters鈥攁nd developing contingency plans to address these issues before they escalate into bigger problems.
Let鈥檚 Be Honest
There is nothing glamorous about cart deployments. It is a complex process with a lot of moving parts and it is a lot of work. The good news is you are better equipped to understand and manage the cart deployment process. Implementing these five best practices will make your next project more successful and less stressful. | WA
Landon Hutchison is Field Services Manager for Cascade Cart Solutions. He has worked in the environmental service industry for more than 20 years with roles in sales, operations management, and logistics. Landon can be reached at (859) 707-5325 or [email protected].
Richard Palacios is Assembly, Delivery, and Recovery Manager with Cascade Cart Solutions. He has been leading Cascade鈥檚 ADR team since 2006. He is responsible for the development and implementation of assembly and distribution plans across North America. Richard can be reached at (909) 725-1664 or [email protected].
Cascade Cart Solutions is a leading cart manufacturer supporting haulers, municipalities, and distributers with unparalleled cart design and service. Founded in 1989, Cascade Cart Solutions is based in Grand Rapids, MI and has produced more than 37 million injection molded carts for the solid waste and recycling industry. Since 2008, Cascade has managed the assembly and distribution of more than 12 million carts, serving over 1,500 communities. For more information, visit .