Missed collections are a big problem in the commercial waste industry, and at CheaperWaste we understand how frustrating the consequences of missed collections can be for businesses.
Reasons for Missed Bin Collections
There are many reasons that a waste collection service provider will miss a collection:
- Extreme weather conditions. Like all business waste, collection service providers need to make sure that their staff, their customers and other road users are safe. If weather conditions become hazardous, companies have no choice but to cancel collections and rearrange when conditions improve.
- Inaccessible bins. Through no fault of business owners, bins may become inaccessible through the actions of others. For example, if a narrow street is blocked with parked cars or if there are roadworks then the collection truck may not be able to reach a bin.
- Blocked access. Many businesses are required to keep their bins inside or on their property and occasionally business owners may forget or are prevented from moving their bin to an open position. On these occasions’ bin collections will be missed as waste collection personnel are not permitted to enter a business to look for a bin.
- Last-minute changes to collection schedules. From time to time waste collection companies will be forced to change collection schedules with little to no notice, this can happen due to staff absences or external factors.
There is, however, one more unexpected cause of missed collections, and this is excess weight.
Overweight Bins
As we’ve discussed in previous blogs, commercial waste is measured in weight and business are given a maximum amount of weight that their bin can legally hold. There are several reasons for this; such as the landfill tax, and health and safety restrictions, but another reason is so that waste collectors can correctly plan their routes.
Waste trucks can only hold so much weight before they need to tip their load at a landfill or recycling facility, therefore they can only make so many collections before this happens. To calculate how many collections, they can make per route, they divide the maximum weight the truck can hold by the maximum weight that businesses along its route can have.
For example, if a truck can hold 2 tonnes of waste and each business has a maximum weight allowance of 70 KG, then 28 collections can be made before the truck must tip. (Figures are for example purposes only).
If, however, the first 5 collections on the route are over double their allowed weight allowance, the truck fills up faster than was planned for. This means that the truck can now only make 23 collections before the driver must divert from their planned route and tip their load early.
This diversion will delay them, making them late for the rest of their collections. Additionally, commercial truck drivers are subject to EU driving hours laws, which means that they can only drive for so long before they must finish their shift or take a break, meaning they could ‘run out’ of driving hours before they can get back on track and can’t legally make any more collections, leaving the last five business disappointed and without a waste collection.
Unfortunately, we see this scenario play out all over the country, and due to changing routes and schedules, the businesses who are affected by excess weight-related missed collections can change from week to week. So, we would ask all of our customers if you are having problems with excess weight please contact our customer service team to discuss how you deal with your waste more effectively and avoid missed collections in the future.
