By Andrew Edwards
Elmore/Autauga News Staff Writer
It’s been over two months since Waste Management met with the Elmore County Commission to speak openly about concerns of service, the lack thereof, and consumer complaints. On Monday officials came back before the Commission to give an update.
Complaints from consumers have included missed routes, trash on the streets, and waiting over an hour to reach a representative on their hotline.
In the past two months Waste Management has made improvements that they claim have helped to mitigate the issues that were once rampant across Elmore County, including updating tech in and outside of their garbage trucks, moving their call center location, hiring route analysts and implementing daily service reports.
Several of these fixes began to take place earlier this May.
Two Waste Management officials, Mike Mitchell and Eric Hindman, spoke before the Elmore County Commission on Monday afternoon to speak with commissioners.
Since moving their call center from Moody, AL to Franklin, TN, Mitchell says that the wait time for calls has dramatically decreased.
“The average wait time is around 3 minutes and 54 seconds now. Back in April, things were pretty bad, to put it lightly. It’s gotten much better, but it’s still not to our standard. We are continuing to improve to reach that standard,” Mitchell said.
In terms of their operational update, Hindman says that Waste Management has been hot on the trail hiring new drivers. He says that as of two weeks ago, 53 people put in an application for truck driving, and that they have chosen 14 new drivers to fill that position. That puts them at 24 residential drivers in total.
“Once we get these guys officially hired, that will put us at 24 residential drivers in total. With an optimal work week, we only need 19. So, we’re going to be completely staffed,” Hindman said. “This is not going to be a one-day fix. It’s probably going to take us about four weeks to get these guys trained to fit our standard.”
Hindman went on to say they Waste Management runs a 5-day-a-week operation, but only a four-day-a-week work schedule for their employees – typically about 48-hours a week per person.
He also explained that 60 percent of their new hires were not employed upon sending in their application.
“Everyone seems like they’re really excited to be here. It’s hard to say what the difference was for them, but regardless, they’re all on board and ready to go,” Hindman said.
District 1 Commissioner Henry Hines says the issue simply boils down to one point.
“I think the biggest thing is communication. We’ve got to make sure that you all are communicating with us and the highway department about route changes and anything else. I know that was a problem that we frequently dealt with. There were some instances where you guys were changing routes and not telling anybody,” Hines said. “If you guys have somebody who’s out sick, just send us a message and tells us that you’re going to be running behind. That’s all it takes, communication. That’s just how good management works.”
District 4 Commissioner Bart Mercer backed up Hines’ thoughts.
“Communication will help us and it will help you all, too. We do appreciate the steps you guys have taken and are really encouraged to see that those call times have come down,” Mercer said.
Vice Chairman and District 2 Commissioner Mack Daugherty mentioned that he’s had residents in his area that have expressed that the trash situation has greatly improved.
Hindman said that Waste Management will be working/running routes on Monday, July 5.
