Careful consideration should be placed on cart and container maintenance to maximize longevity.

Carts and containers can experience a great deal of wear and tear over their lifespans because of the nature of waste collection. Whether it be from repeated lifting and dropping or damage from the elements, the vessels used to transport waste will eventually need to be repaired.

To extend the useful life of a cart or container, staying on top of preventive maintenance should be a priority. By understanding the typical signs of wear and tear and when to intervene, a hauler or cart provider can maximize the use of their assets and minimize repair-related costs.

An operation can take steps to assess container damage and perform maintenance faster to get collection containers back in the field. Meghan Thompson of Naples, Florida-based FleetGenius LLC offers her best practices for efficient cart and container maintenance.

Meghan Thompson (MT): The most common metal container maintenance-related issues include damaged lids, damaged pockets and rusted bottoms. The most common plastic carts maintenance-related issues include cracked bodies, damaged lift bars and damage to the wheel axle area.

Both metal and plastic containers require dedicated attention and share many pain points, including the management of labor and the transparency of customer service tickets (including container deliveries, size swaps, exchanges and removals). Once the container assets are retrieved from the field, proactive work in the shop is critical to extend the life of that asset. [This work] includes refurbishment, washing, welding, painting, stickering spare parts replacement, digital inventory control, warranty management and end-of-life recycling.

MT: Due to the nature of the collection business and the strength of a truck’s hydraulic system, the reasons for damage can vary [depending on] the driver, truck equipment, type of container, waste stream collected and the environment. For example, the bottoms on metal containers are damaged by rust when organic and wet material erode the metal. Damages can vary and stem from the actions that are performed daily, including picking up and setting down containers.

The best way to mitigate the majority of these issues is [by ensuring] the driver [is] aware, properly trained and operating the correct vehicle calibrated to the correct equipment. The container already being in good condition when in service can also help with [the] mitigation of damages, so we recommend proactive repairs and refurbishment as the safest practice before the structural integrity of the container is comprised.

MT: The way we evaluate containers is very hauler-specific and customized to each partnership. We keep an open line of communication to understand their expectation of what they deem as a repairable or nonrepairable container in their [respective] market. Every hauler has a different standard for the aesthetic of their containers on the street. As a general rule of thumb [aside from aesthetics], each container has to be safe and functional before being put back in service.

For plastic carts, we look for plastic cracks on main contact points, check for lift bar cracks and check if the plastic on the axle is broken.

On metal containers, we look for any rust compromise where liquids can leak out of the bottom. We also look for weak points near the casters and pockets. Most importantly, we want to ensure the container is not … a safety hazard and is fully functional for the application.

MT: The first thing we do is assess the container, which is customized based on each individual customer’s expectation of what it should look like when deployed back to the field. We document the progress of the container throughout the repair process.

We start with a photo of what the container looks like when we receive it. We [then] perform the structural repairs and document with photos. Finally, we send it to be painted with finishing touches as applicable and a take photo when it’s finished for ultimate transparency.

MT: We significantly reduce risk for our customers’ businesses by delivering quality products and services in a timely fashion and performing services on our customers’ behalf in a safe manner. We also save our customers money by enabling them to maximize the utilization of their container assets and minimize the overall lifetime cost to manage, own, service and maintain those assets.

MT: Our CoreX program is another sustainable solution built around delivering value to our customers by streamlining the entire process of managing containers and compactors that are no longer suitable for service. FleetGenius will retrieve old containers or compactors from their existing locations and deliver them back to one of our facilities where they will be evaluated for repair and refurbishment or exchanged for a brand new unit.

FleetGenius completes the process and returns the replacement container asset to our customer or holds it in inventory until it needs to be redeployed.

Our CoreX evaluation program will include a core credit estimate, so our customers can choose whether to replace [a container or compactor] with an all new container or compactor, and the credit for the old unit will be applied to the balance of the replacement asset.

For all containers that are determined no longer usable, FleetGenius will sustainably handle the end-of-life recycling process.

Meghan Thompson is the director of marketing for FleetGenius LLC, Naples, Florida. She can be contacted at mthompson@fleetgenius.com.