Talkin' Trash

The Storefront feature is now active and ready for all dealer subscribers at TrashTrucksOnline. You’ll see some of the Storefront icons as you browse the listings pages. Click on one and you’ll get an idea of what this can do. Basically, a Storefront gathers all the ads together from one dealer, and places them on a page that looks a bit different…it’s like having a unique web page, without having to pay a web designer, hosting fees, etc.

The listings are still populated through TrashTrucksOnline, but store owners can upload their own logo or header art, customize categories, add extra pages, and more. They can also Email the link to their Store to their customers and prospects.

We know how tough it is to manage inventory and a web site so that it stays current. So that’s one of the things TrashTrucksOnline is doing to fill that niche. Real time product offerings, real time updates, real time information.

Keep watching in coming weeks…we’ll be adding a few different categories, thanks to suggestions we get from haulers and suppliers.

GG

Regular visitors to TrashTrucksOnline have probably noticed some changes in the appearance of the site. We’ve undergone a recent upgrade, and like all things “computer” there are bugs to be worked out. Most have been squashed, but still a few strange things going on. Bear with us!

A good thing about this upgrade will be the new Storefront feature. It is semi-active now, but still getting tweaked a bit. It is currently available to VIP Dealer subscribers, and will be expanded soon to other dealer levels. I will post some pertinent details on the Rates pages when everything is good to go.

What is the purpose of the Storefront?? Here’s the short version…your Storefront will allow visitors to see all your listings at once, on a web page that is uniquely yours. Your Logo. Your “About Us” page. Your customized categories. You can Email your prospects a link to your Storefront, and only your Store and your listings will appear. No other links back to TrashTrucksOnline. It’s like having your own web site, that you can manage through the main site, TrashTrucksOnline.

More details to come.
GG

As we’ve all been watching the tragedy unfolding in the Gulf of Mexico, I’ve already been talking to trash haulers who are getting ready for the onslaught. The pitiful images you see on TV of workers scooping up oily sand with shovels must be another BP media stunt. That’s not how it’s done.

I lived through an oil spill on Galveston island in the 1980s. A Nigerian tanker caught on fire in the Gulf and spewed oil for several months. We saw the smoke every day, smelled the oil as it was nearing shore, and witnessed an incredible sight when it finally made landfall – it looked like somebody had blacktopped the beach.

With tourist season over that year before it had begun, workers spent the next 6-9 months steam cleaning the Galveston seawall and scooping up oily sand. But not with shovels. Think front end loaders, dump trucks and rolloffs. That’s what it will take. And lots of them. If I’m sitting on rolloff boxes right now, or a yard full of dump trucks, I would be calling BP, the Coast Guard, or the governor of Louisiana and offering them a good price on my equipment. Maybe even a rental deal.

As natural disasters like hurricanes spike sales of certain commodities (bottled water, blue tarps, and GRAPPLE trucks!), so will this disgusting man-made disaster create an economic stimulus of its own in an ironic way. The seafood industry and tourism will take a beating for many years to come. But in the short term, those who are poised to get their hands a little oily will find plenty or work. And equipment dealers will be able to unload their surplus of rolloff boxes, rolloff trucks and dump trucks, and put those idle front end loaders to work for quite a few months.

Shovels? I don’t think so.

GG

It’s probably apparent by now that I’m not very diligent about blogging regularly…but we’ll try to change that in the coming weeks.

Waste Expo in Atlanta was a good show, by all accounts. The attendance has been estimated at 8,000 – 10,000, but final figures aren’t in yet. I know from an exhibitor’s standpoint, we saw a lot of folks come by, and some were clearly on a mission to find what they needed. There was a lot of equipment to see, and vendors were generally pleased with the response.

I haven’t seen that many garbage trucks in the show in several years. McNeilus seemed to lead the way with 20 trucks or more, scattered around the show floor. Heil also had more than a dozen, G&S Products really ramped up their presence with a bigger booth and more trucks, New Way was showing off their new automated unit which is now ready for the streets, E-Z Pack had 3 automated trucks in the show to demonstrate their commitment to their new side loader, and Wayne Engineering brought three trucks to the show including their new high compaction small rear loader.

Two trucks really stood out – the University of Tennessee party wagon in the Heil booth and the bright pink E-Z Pack side loader in a corner of the show floor near the auction booth.

The UT party truck was furnished by Waste Connections. It’s actually a retired Heil 5000 rear loader, outfitted in bright orange and Tennessee themes, with beer taps in the side, flat screen TV mounted on the body, and I think it had a grill in the tailgate. Okay, so I’m partial to Tennessee big orange, too. But what a great way to entertain at a ball game!

The pink E-Z Pack ASL is owned by Waste Services, Inc., and was headed to their operation in Miami when the E-Z Pack folks decided it would make an impressive statement for breast cancer research, which is the point of the truck. WSI has a similar truck in Canada. It’s their way of becoming more involved with their communities and promoting awareness of an important need. Waste Expo organizers graciously donated the booth space for the truck, and WSI helped pay for other expenses. The E-Z Pack team should take a bow for spearheading the effort to bring the truck to the show.

CNG was a common theme in many truck booths, as manufacturers are jumping on the alternative fuel bandwagon. And now with the oil spill in the Gulf, our foreign oil dependence will become more of a hot button in the future. CNG is a natural fit for garbage fleets, since the range of a garbage truck typically keeps them close to home and a fueling station, while the infrastructure for fueling stations on the nation’s highways is probably many years away before CNG becomes popular for long range truckers.

All in all, Waste Expo was an upbeat show, in contrast to the past two years when everybody was just trying to survive the recession. We’re not out of the woods yet by any means, but we’re starting to see more activity as pent-up demand can stay bottled up only so long. There are a lot of old and worn out garbage trucks on our street, and our used truck sellers (especially on our site) are really moving some equipment, if it’s in good condition. If the financing will loosen up a bit, we’ll really start to see this business pull itself out of the doldrums. About time!!
GG

It’s that time of year, when the first of the two big trash shows is almost upon us. Waste Expo in Atlanta kicks off in just about 2 weeks (May 4-6). I’m particularly excited about this year’s Waste Expo, because we’ll be there as a regular exhibitor. Please stop by and visit! Booth #4358, in the vicinity of the McNeilus booth.

We hope to see a big crowd, but it’s too early to tell. Show organizers tell us that, in general, trade shows seem to be holding their own – just like the economy right now. Advance registrations are down for many shows, but late arrivals and last minute decisions are bringing the numbers back up.

The Wastecon show later this year should be a winner, since the show will be combined with APWA. And Boston is a great destination, if you’ve never been. Wastecon has struggled in recent years with soft numbers and small crowds, but the attendees who do show up are always serious shoppers.

I suspect the numbers this year will be better than they’ve been in many years. Particularly in smaller municipalities, the public works director makes buying decisions for everything from garbage trucks to lawn mowers. If they can only go to one show, APWA is a logical choice. Now he/she can look at garbage trucks, too, at this year’s APWA/Wastecon.

Finally, a newcomer on the show scene has called it quits before they’ve begun. The Private Haulers Expo (a banner advertiser on our home page here), has decided to wait until 2012 to try their concept. They had some early interest, but apparently too many key companies changed their mind after committing to the show. The concept certainly has merit, holding it on a weekend so small private haulers could more likely attend. I never was sure if Memorial Day weekend was a good choice, though. I like my holidays too much. Hope to see them try again in a couple years.

Stop by and visit us in Atlanta, and tell us what you think the rest of the year holds in store!

It’s always interesting to watch the movement of people within the waste industry. Here are some recent moves that caught our eye:

E-Z PACK named Greg Podell as the new president  and CEO back in November, replacing Phil Daetwyler, who resigned after resurrecting the company in a 3-year rebuilding effort. Podell is an industry veteran of 25 years, most recently as COO with WasteQuip, and before that as president of Galbreath, moving up through that company’s ranks after starting in sales.

Podell’s industry experience will serve him well, and he is already surrounded by a team of veterans and waste industry pros from other companies. E-Z Pack has also named Gordon Shaw,  former president of Marathon, to their board of directors, joining Ted Flood and Fred Leach on the board. Lot of heavy hitters at E-Z Pack these days.

WAYNE ENGINEERING has lured Scott Kanne out of “retirement,” as he takes over as vice president of sales and marketing. Kanne spent the last 3 years operating a family business back home. Before taking his leave from the industry, he had been vice president of E-Z Pack, and before that was national sales manager for Scranton Manufacturing (New Way). Wayne also added Todd Morrison to their sales team, luring him away from E-Z Pack to become director of sales and national accounts. Morrison brings over 18 years of experience to his new position at Wayne.

HEIL ENVIRONMENTAL is now without a president, after Michael Jobe’s departure to seek other opportunities. The move is part of the plan to bring Heil, Bayne and Marathon (all Dover companies) under one environmental services umbrella in the Dover family. You have to wonder if that means they’ll be bringing them together under one roof, too. Time will tell. What we have heard, though, is that the Heil staff is still partying in Chattanooga. Another insider referred to some Heil veterans as “positively giddy” over the management change.  There are fewer old timers left at the company, though, as the last 5 years saw a mass exodus of talent from the venerable body maker.  Maybe they’ve stopped the bleeding for now.

I ask that question a lot, and for the past two years the reaction hasn’t been very upbeat. Common refrain – “It sucks…but it could be worse.” But at least now I’m hearing most say that “the worst is behind us,” that we found bottom a few months ago, and the climb back out of this economic quagmire will take a while.

At least there’s a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel, and maybe this time it’s not another train. While Class 8 truck sales are forecast to be flat this year, at least it’s not expected to be worse than last year. Glimmer. Roll Off trucks, hoists, and containers are still struggling, but there are signs that the housing market may be trending upward. Glimmer. There is also plenty of pent up demand in the trash truck market. So when demand does take off, those who are prepared to handle the business should have plenty of it. Glimmer.

Until then, we’ll still see a lot of haulers and fleet managers trying to extend the life of their equipment before they get the green light to buy replacements. That means parts sales, tires, refurbished equipment, and so on. If you’ve got good quality used equipment, demos, or trucks ready to work, I’m guessing your prospects will be better this year than last. Brighter glimmer.

So how’s business in your neck of the woods?

Welcome to the first installment of Talkin’ Trash. I talk to a lot of trash haulin’ folks and equipment dealers  every day, and this blog will be a way for us to share information, trends, hot topics and news about the waste industry. If you have comments you would like to share, or to respond to any topic posted, please feel free to do so. Nothing malicious, of course, but open, free discussion is encouraged.

This is also where we’ll post items of interest about TrashTrucksOnline…okay, a little shameless self-promtion on occasion, too. So indulge me. We’re proudly celebrating our 4th ANNIVERSARY on the web, and for one more week we’re offering a 3-for-2 special on any Dealer Subscription plans. Buy 2 months of any plan, get the 3rd month FREE.  Call or E-mail me to get started. Gary Gengozian 877-247-8424, or Email gengoz@netzero.net. Offer ABSOLUTELY expires Friday, March 5.

Why am I excited?? Because we’re now averaging 300 Unique Visitors each day…that’s over 9,000 per month. Regular advertisers and subscribers are telling me they’re getting solid leads, good calls, and selling equipment. Best of all….TrashTrucksOnline is No. 1 in Google search rankings for “Garbage Trucks For Sale.”  We must be doing something  right. Thanks to all for stopping buy, calling about equipment, and for placing your business with us.

That’s all of the shameless promotion for today. GG