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Trash Problem

C

Car Wash Man

Active member
How often do you have to empty your trash bins at your VACs? We have 30 gallon drums by our vacs, but before and after hours people are abusing them like crazy, I watch the cameras and people will constantly drive up quick dump a whole 30 Gal bag off and drive off. I reported a couple of the returning abusers to the local police, but it is getting to the point where I don't even want to have garbage's out anymore. Sometimes they wont even put it in the trash instead just drop a big bag of trash next to the cans and drive off. It makes us look bad to our regular customers when our garbage is overfilled already after we just emptied it a couple of hours ago.
 
It wont do much good but did help some...first put signs on the island, trash can lid, vacs or wherever your cans are about illegal dumping. I used something to the extent of: NOTICE NO DUMPING ALLOWED No Dumping of household trash, tires, batteries, etc. Violators will be prosecuted in accordance with (whatever the county and state ordinance your in and the code section) At least if you catch someone and they give you grief about it you can point. Unless you police it it will not get better.
I had one contractor every sunday bringing 6 to 10 trucks in to clean out, they were spending good money to vac and wash each truck, but every truck had at least 1 30 gal bag full of trash. They have been very consistent on washing all their trucks weekly, i met them one sunday and we discussed this, the fact that im having all my cans filled from their trash and no room for other customers to use so they pile the loose trash up and it blows everywhere and becomes unsightly, and how it gives others the idea that they can drop their stuff off as well. Now when we go in on sunday morning i leave the dumpster unlocked for them, they dispose of their bags in the dumpster and lock it back for me. It is a win win, im still making the money, im not dumping their trash, my cans stay empty for the most part, and my lot stays clean.
If its rogue individuals with no consistency, that is a different story and unfortunately its either gonna be part of the business or if you want to make a change you will have to put in the time to change it.
 
Welcome to the car wash world. Car washes are synonymous as a transfer site for the dump, a place that the general public can bring or do whatever they want to. Do you have signs posted that the garbage cans are for customer use only? Do you have a camera system? If you do start calling the police on every offender or you can remove your 30-gallon barrels that I’m sure look very attractive and pick up the trash that everyone will leave. I took my 52 gallon Rubbermaid Glutton cans out once, what a mess.
 
We have signs posted around the VACs/Trash Lids. We have a camera with cameras all around our property. I am going to take the cans away for a month and see what happens. Our regular customers never abuse the facility it is always the random people who just pull up drop off their junk and drive off, who never use our wash or vacs.
 
I cut back to one trashcan with a lid and a spring loaded flap on the lid. A lot of my abuse happens after hours and on rainy days. People think they're being slick by coming when it's raining and just dumping trash and then leaving. Since we are on site every day operating a detail shop and a used car lot, we can pull the trashcan when we see fit. So on rainy days and often during the overnight we will pull the trashcan and Tuck it behind the dumpster out of view. We also keep our dumpster locked every night. this hasn't totally eliminated the problem but it has cut back on the trash to a reasonable level and I no longer have over full dumpsters which incur an extra fee from our trash collection company.
 
If your lot is setup for it, install license plate cameras (they are different than regular cameras, and pricier also) at the entrance and exit to catch the perps. Cops can do much more when the license plate is readable and they can track down the registered owner. As cbchevy said, find out the exact law in your state for illegal dumping, and start enforcing it as much as you can. While it won't stop it, word gets around quick once a few people get in trouble to not use your property to dump.
 
It's part of the business whether we like it or not. Personally I would never call the police because of trash but if I did it would be everyday. I like to call them when somethings actually needed and not annoy them because someone made a mess. I just clean it up and move on. The only time I called police because of dumping was when a contractor left 4000sqft of metal roofing in the middle of my back parking lot. Also if I was a customer and I went to a wash to vac/wash clean out my car and there were no trash cans the first thing I would think is WTF they have no trash cans. The second thing I would think is im not coming back. The third thing i would do is tell who ever I call next that I cant believe the car wash I went to has no trash cans. I certainly wouldn't want to piss off 90% of my good customers because the 10% make a mess. Takes only about 10-20 minutes to do the trash. Raising your prices on vacs could be a solution. Wont fix it but might help. Good luck but it least be happy your not giving your vacs away for FREE!
 
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Take trash receptacles out and never look back. When we did that a few years back, I thought I would need a snowplow for daily trash clean-up, but it never happened. Almost all operators within about a 30 mile radius from us have done the same. Trust me, it will be one of the best things you have ever done.
 
I have four yard dumpsters at each site that dump once a week and most weeks I could get by with a two yard dumpster.

I discovered years ago the fewer garbage cans you have on site, the less garbage you will get. I rehabbed a site that I owned that had two 30 gallon barrels at each vac island that were full each morning. I poured the area that held those two barrels and reduced each island to one 30 gallon container. Yes they were full each morning also but it literally cut the garbage dealt with in half.

In your case, change to smaller containers (maybe 15 gallon barrels) or better yet find a container with a lid. I have vac islands with trash can teepees that restrict the size of garbage people can pour in the cans. On the teepees I have decals that say "customer use only, no household garbage" Get a locking bar on your dumpster and install signs that warn against dumping.

You may have to have a talk with a couple of repeat offenders who have found it convenient to drop their garbage off at your site to make sure they get the message. Usually their garbage thrown back in their driveway sends a message. "Wow, I hate that garbage bag broke when I threw it out of my truck bed, sorry bout that".
 
We have locked trash can places built into out vacuum islands and by have a smaller opening that cannot fit big bags through it seem to cut down on the amount of people abusing the trash………….really it is a problem that all business face and hope the idea helps
 
We changed from 4 110gal wheeled containers emptied twice a week to 2 emptied once a week, and we moved them to be near equipment room door. Cut down the number of people bringing their kitchen bags to the wash as we have 4-5 cameras that cover various aspects of that area.
 
How do you guys dump those massive trash cans when they are filled with water bottles, canned goods, or car parts? We have 22-gallon cans, and they get somewhat heavy with this stuff.
 
OurTown said:
How do you guys dump those massive trash cans when they are filled with water bottles, canned goods, or car parts? We have 22-gallon cans, and they get somewhat heavy with this stuff.
Click to expand...
110gal container is lifted by trash truck automatically
 
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