Meridian Waste Florida, LLC, an integrated, non-hazardous solid waste services company, launched its second residential collection contract today for the City of Jacksonville, FL, representing the first time the City has granted two residential contracts to one single hauler since consolidation. The combined contracts servicing the Northside which began two years ago today, and the Westside service commencing today grants Meridian Waste the exclusive right to collect for more than 158,000 City of Jacksonville residents for five services including garbage, recycling, yard waste, bulk waste, appliances, and white goods.
Keeping Jacksonville clean and healthy across the two contracted service areas takes a fleet of 72 rear load trucks used for both garbage collection and yard waste collections, 14 automated side loaders for recycling collections, and two appliance collection lift-back tailgate trucks. Dedicated and safety-oriented team members have been hired for the operations. While Meridian Waste has a very experienced management team from corporate leadership to area management to local general and operations managers, the underlying key to successful residential solid waste collection operations resides first and foremost with the field supervisory staff, the CDL-certified drivers, the helpers, the mechanics and the dispatchers. Together, they are the frontline of the work Meridian Waste does to deliver exception customer service.
One hundred and sixteen new employees were hired to service the City’s Westside including male and female drivers and helpers. The team members were hired two weeks or more in advance of the contract start date and received a combined 872 hours of orientation, safety, and driving training which also included auditing routes in which driver and helper teams pre-drive their collections routes to better understand the nuances of their individual routes for a higher level of customer care. The company is proud to announce that of the six new Westside field supervisors, all but one supervisor was promoted from within the ranks of existing Meridian Waste drivers ensuring the highest level of service experienced by the company’s Northside customers, and now transitioning to its Westside customers.
“Customer service excellence is what sets Meridian Waste apart from the competition. You, and all of your team members, are a vital part of the company’s outstanding service,” said Dave Shepler, Area President in Florida, during the Westside collections crew’s work start in the pre-dawn hours on October 2. “Average service is not an option for our team, and your commitment to be the best shows in our superior performance throughout our North Florida and South Georgia collection contracts. Thank you all for your commitment to be the very best and safest solid waste professionals,” he said.
The first route truck rolled off the yard located at 6720 12th Avenue in Jacksonville, FL at 5:40 a.m. on Oct. 2 followed by a convoy of others with the last truck departing by 5:59 a.m. This Monday through Friday, Meridian Waste will service its Westside customers for the very first time. Collection days for most customers have changed to allow for garbage and yard waste to be collected on the same day and to allow for growth as 50 to 60 new residential units are added to the Westside service area monthly. To confirm new collections schedules, customers may refer to the service day change postcard mailed by Meridian Waste in September or call the City of Jacksonville at (904) 630-CITY (2489). Visit the website at www.MeridianWaste.com/Find-My-Schedule.