As seen in Waste Advantage
Every day, many waste and recycling companies rely on route helpers to ensure safe and efficient collection operations. This demanding role requires physical strength and a focus on safety and customer service. Route helpers’ performance directly impacts both drivers and customers, making it a critical yet challenging position to fill and even more difficult to retain.
Industry Challenges
Helper-dependent collection operations face several persistent issues:
- High turnover and limited crew longevity
- Insufficient focus on training safety and customer experience
- Under-supervised workforce
- Frequent vacancies and mid-route “tap outs”
- These challenges often lead to more safety incidents, lower route completion rates, strained driver-helper relationships, and subpar customer service.
Introducing a New Approach
Partnering with an industry-experienced workforce solution provider can relieve common pain points associated with helper-dependent collection routes. Leadpoint’s On-Route Support offers a fully outsourced, managed solution that goes beyond simply filling positions. The program focuses on safety, route preparedness, and customer experience, with daily oversight of the route helper crew.
Leadpoint’s thorough pre-employment screening process provides capable and well-trained workers who are supervised onsite to ensure safe and efficient operations. This approach sets a new industry standard for a challenging yet critical role in the waste and recycling industry.
Recruiting
A tech-enabled recruiting platform supports Leadpoint’s full-time, market-specific recruiting team in finding, screening, and placing qualified workers. All candidates must complete a pre-employment physical assessment to confirm they can meet the physical demands of the route helper role. This gives candidates a clear sense of the job and assures Leadpoint that they’re fit for the role—a win-win for everyone involved.
Dedicated Supervision of the Team
A dedicated full-time route supervisor drives the success of the helper team and supports the operation. Mentoring and coaching help increase worker retention and strengthen relationships between helpers and drivers. Supervisors conduct daily morning briefings, on-route observations, and end-of-day assessments to review safety, efficiency, and customer service performance.
Safety & Training
Leadpoint’s best-in-class training and onboarding program ensures employees are fully prepared and fit for duty before they start work. Ongoing safety training covers all essential areas, including loading, riding, mounting/dismounting trucks, backing procedures, proper PPE usage, truck blade operation, and manual lifting techniques.
Retention
Growth opportunities, coaching, and mentoring foster long-term employee loyalty. This also creates a talent pool for other positions, including CDL-certified drivers, ensuring a steady pipeline of skilled candidates.
Access to Key Information
Leadpoint offers clients access to key data, including recruiting performance, daily route completion, driver satisfaction, safety metrics, turnover, and labor costs. This information supports performance accountability and helps operations allocate resources efficiently, leading to cost reduction.
REAP THE BENEFITS
Partnering with Leadpoint brings peace of mind:
- A capable, reliable, and well-trained route helper workforce led by onsite supervision
- Organized and scheduled morning deployment of route helper assignments
- Improved driver-helper relationships
- Increased service reliability and customer satisfaction
Risk mitigation through the transfer of workers’ compensation claims and related costs
Leadpoint’s On Route Support improves safety, efficiency, and customer experience, providing greater peace of mind for your supervisors and managers.