The transaction, first announced in May, closed June 28.
Headquartered in Hatboro, Pennsylvania, Clean Earth is one of the largest specialty waste processing companies in the U.S., providing processing and recycling of hazardous wastes, contaminated materials and other special wastes. Harsco provides industrial services and engineered products that serve large industries, including steel and railways, in more than 35 countries.
Clean Earth analyzes, treats, documents and recycles waste streams generated across many diverse end markets in the infrastructure, industrial, commercial and institutional sectors. Clean Earth is a leader in the hazardous waste market and is the largest operator in the contaminated materials and dredged material management market, operating 27 permitted facilities in the U.S. The company currently maintains a portfolio of more than 200 scarce and difficult-to-replicate permits with a 100 percent permit renewal success rate to date, Harsco says.
In 2019, Clean Earth is expected to generate approximately $300 million of revenue and about $65 million of adjusted EBITDA.
With the addition of Clean Earth, Harsco says it will gain entry into the environmental services markets. Harsco says it also intends to grow within the industrial waste sector outside of the U.S. over time.
“Harsco has been strategically transforming its portfolio with a goal towards value creation. The highly strategic and complementary acquisition of Clean Earth, the addition of Altek Group in May 2018, and the exit of certain businesses together bring us closer to realizing our vision of becoming a global market leader and provider of environmental solutions to a variety of industries,” says Harsco chairman and CEO Nick Grasberger. “This acquisition is expected to create significant strategic and financial benefits for our shareholders and customers, including higher margin and recurring revenues, cost savings and potential cross-selling opportunities beyond what either company could achieve on its own. Clean Earth brings a proven management team and talented employees with a strong track record of growth and environmental and safety performance.”
The transaction is expected to be accretive to earnings in 2020, the first full year of ownership.
The acquisition was an all-cash transaction. Harsco obtained committed debt financing for this transaction from Goldman Sachs Bank USA and Citigroup Global Markets Inc. Harsco says it intends to file a Current Report on Form 8-K with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which will have further details concerning the transaction.
Houlihan Lokey, based in Los Angeles, served as financial adviser to Clean Earth. Houlihan Lokey says the transaction highlights its focus on advising companies in the specialty waste sector and follows its success of advising Clean Earth on its sale to Compass Group Diversified Holdings in 2014.
J.F. Lehman acquires Lone Star Disposal
J.F. Lehman & Company (JFLCO), a New York City-based middle-market private equity firm focused exclusively on the aerospace, defense, maritime, government and environmental sectors, announced Aug. 14 that an investment affiliate has acquired Lone Star Disposal, Delta Waste Services and Tanner Road Facility.
Lone Star is a vertically integrated provider of construction and demolition (C&D) and municipal solid waste (MSW) disposal and related environmental services in Houston. The company’s comprehensive service platform utilizes an asset base consisting of a C&D landfill, an MSW transfer station, a C&D recycling facility and a C&D collection fleet. The company’s diversified customer base includes regional and nationwide C&D and MSW haulers and C&D contractors serving the greater Houston metropolitan area.
“Lone Star represents an excellent addition to our portfolio of companies in the environmental services sector,” says JFLCO partner Glenn Shor. “Lone Star’s industry-leading reputation, vertically integrated service offering and strategically located asset base reflect core characteristics we seek in our investment portfolio. We are eager to continue Lone Star’s history of excellence and look forward to supporting the continued growth of the business through organic development and complementary bolt-on acquisitions.”
Debt financing for the transaction was provided by Chicago-based Monroe Capital LLC.
The right tires are essential for ensuring optimal fleet performance, which is why staying on top of service is so important for fleet managers.
The optimal tires for waste hauling fleets can cost anywhere from $500 to more than $1,000 each, so regular maintenance is critical not only for maximizing uptime, but also for keeping costs low.
Fortunately, fleet managers can conduct much of the maintenance needed in-house by establishing a formal tire management program, tracking the right data and knowing when to retread a tire or when to replace it with a new one.
Choosing the right tire
Selecting the proper tire at the outset is critical for starting off a tire maintenance program on the right note. Waste hauling fleets are tasked with navigating a variety of conditions, so finding one that can resist the everyday wear and tear of the road is a must for mitigating damage.
Nick Davis, a senior product marketing manager for Goodyear, based in Akron, Ohio, says most fleet managers look for three primary things when choosing the tires for their fleets: durable and retreadable casings, ample traction requirements, and treadwear that provides the most hours before removal.
“Treads play a vital role in a tire. They are designed to provide traction and protect the underlying tire casing so it can be retreaded,” Davis says. “Irregular wear signals an issue with tire or vehicle maintenance and should be addressed promptly.”
Casings are a layer of crisscrossing threads beneath the tire tread and are rated by the number of threads per inch (TPI). Tires with a lower TPI resist wear better, while tires with higher TPI typically weigh less.
Tires with wide treads, deep tread depths and a high net-to-gross tread pattern yield the best results for long-lasting treadwear, Davis says. High net-to-gross tread patterns have more open tread patterns, which gives tires improved traction.
In general, two tread designs exist: rib designs and lug designs. Rib tread designs, which consist of a series of parallel zig-zagged grooves, generally have shallower treads, less traction and better wear rate. Lug designs, which consist of parallel and perpendicular lines forming blocky shapes, have better traction but tend to wear quicker and have inferior fuel efficiency compared with rib designs.
Because refuse trucks face a variety of conditions, which to choose depends primarily on one’s traction needs.
“Fleet managers should evaluate the traction they need from their tires. Depending on the routes those tires are running, they may want to opt for a lug design over a rib design,” Davis says. “For example, fleets that primarily operate in suburban neighborhoods with paved, even roads may benefit from a tire with a rib design, while trucks that frequently navigate through water, mud, dirt or snow might see better performance from tires with lug treads.”
Preventative maintenance
Once the right tires are selected, fleet managers can take steps to assure the tires last as long as possible.
Before pulling off the lot every day, daily pre-trip inspections should be made to ensure tires are inflated correctly.
“Proper inflation is critical for optimal treadwear and casing durability,” Davis says. “By rule, tire pressures should be checked cold before the truck starts running its route. Tires that measure below the recommended operating pressure should be properly inflated; any tire that is less than 80 percent of the specified pressure should be removed and replaced. Dual tires should be adjusted so pressure variations are less than 5 PSI [pounds per square inch] to ensure long, even wear and optimal casing durability.”
Davis says many fleet operators choose to place stickers on the fender above each axle to help drivers understand the pressure at which the tires should be operating. In-ground sensors also exist to provide more accurate measurements on tire pressure, axle load and total weight.
In addition to daily checks, managers should also schedule regular preventative maintenance every four to six weeks to address the rapid wear waste tires experience out on the road. This should include checks of tire pressure, tread depth, and tire and wheel conditions.
Tires should also be checked to ensure valve caps are on to prevent air leaks and protect from dirt and moisture.
“Dual tires should be matched within a 4/32-inch tread depth and within 5 PSI to prevent fast and irregular wear. If irregular wear patterns are noted, axles should be checked for alignment,” Davis says.
Because tires in waste applications wear quickly, they may not need regular rotation. However, if irregular wear patterns develop, a rotation may assist in prolonging the life of the unit.
“As a general rule, the right steer tire will wear faster than the left steer tire,” Davis says. “To maximize steer tire life, a rotation at 50 percent of the tire’s life may be necessary to extend its use, especially if the right front is wearing faster than the left front. Likewise, the rear axle on dual drives will wear faster than the front axle.”
Fleet managers can rotate tires across axles when the rear axle has 4/32-inch less than the front axle. Doing so wears both axles evenly and simultaneously. Davis also recommends rotating drives in an ‘X’ pattern and reversing the rotation of the tires.
Data tracking
In addition to tracking the physical condition of the tires, fleet managers should also regularly track several pieces of data for more efficient, cost-effective operations.
Tracking the cost per hour to removal can give fleet managers a clear picture of the issues affecting tire wear and performance. Davis says managers should ideally maintain records on as many tires as possible, but even tracking a subset in the fleet can give insight into which tires are operating at the lowest cost.
Keeping track of scrap and non-retreadable tires can also be beneficial, as tire dealers can review this inventory to determine if the tires are coming out of service early and, if they are, what the potential underlying cause may be.
Aggregating data from previous preventative maintenance checks can also be useful to determine how well the tires are being maintained. “If these routine checks uncover a number of incidences of irregular wear, underinflation or other tire conditions, additional maintenance is needed to optimize the tires’ performance,” Davis says.
Davis says it’s also useful to track downtime frequency and causes. “Tracking the issues that remove trucks from service, whether they include frequent punctures or driver error, can help fleets find solutions to stay up and running and reduce cost,” Davis says.
No matter how well managers conduct maintenance checks, tires are subject to wear sooner or later.
Retreading tires is an option for fleet managers to extend the life of their tires significantly, Davis says. Doing so requires the tire casings to be in workable condition, which is typical when proper fleet management programs are in place.
“Retreading is an integral part of a good tire maintenance program and can be a great, safe way to drive down the cost of a fleet’s tire program. It is not uncommon for waste haul fleets to retread the same casing three to four times or more, though the suitability for retreading may vary based on each fleet’s unique operating conditions,” Davis says. “Retreading provides fleets with significant savings—as much as 40-60 percent of the cost of new tires.”
Davis says retreading tires is the only tire maintenance service that cannot be performed in-house.
Typically, worn tires are sent to a retread facility, where technicians inspect casings to determine whether the tire should be retreaded or scrapped.
Davis says the usual turnaround time for a retread is about one week. However, turnaround times may vary by retread plant and according to the fleet’s needs.
Retreading can only be done so many times until the tire needs to be replaced entirely.
“DOT [department of transportation] regulations state that a tire must be removed when it has worn down to 4/32-inch tread depth on the steer [position] and 2/32-inch tread depth on drive or trailer positions,” Davis says. “In addition to measuring tread depth, fleet managers should regularly review tire conditions to look for damage such as cuts, snags or other types of irreparable damage that may warrant replacement.”
Davis also says fleet managers should keep dual tires top of mind when replacing primary tires, as the duals should be matched so there is no more than a 4/32-inch variation in tread depth side by side or across the axle.
The life of a tire can be affected by factors ranging from truck configuration and driving style to road hazards and tire position. But with a proper maintenance program in check, managers can maximize service life and keep their haulers on the go.
The author is the assistant editor of Waste Today and can be reached at tcottom@gie.net.
BYD, the leader in commercial electric truck deployments, provides a full line of heavy-duty electric trucks including the BYD 8R, Class 8 Electric Refuse Chassis. BYD is a global truck manufacturer, and is also one of the largest battery manufacturers in the world. BYD’s North American headquarters and manufacturing plants are located in California, USA. BYD designs and builds all core components including batteries, controls, motors and drive axles. All core technology is designed and built by BYD as an integrated system, allowing BYD to deliver superior reliability with its electric trucks.
The BYD 8R Electric Chassis is designed to accommodate all major body configurations including side-load, rear-load, front-load and roll-off. By providing a clean electric platform to work with, the BYD 8R gives haulers an electric chassis that has the flexibility to support many different types of collection operations. The BYD 8R chassis can accept body designs from all major builders, allowing haulers to combine their preferred refuse body with the most reliable electric chassis in the world, the BYD 8R.
The BYD 8R provides haulers with a true zero-emission refuse collection solution. With fewer moving parts and less vibration than carbon-burning trucks, the BYD 8R delivers the smoothest driving characteristics and quietest operation in the industry. Smooth and quiet operation provides haulers with state-of-the-art collection capability for sensitive residential neighborhoods, while giving your drivers a clean and safe work environment. Today, the BYD 8R Electric Chassis sets a new standard for refuse collection.
Hauler trucks and the professionals who operate them are the lifeblood of municipal waste collection. Although these trucks require a substantial investment, a variety of new software-enabled tools are coming online to help provide a higher ROI for waste management companies who know how to leverage these solutions.
Waste Today spoke with Harland Chadbourne, purchasing director for Longwood, Florida-based Waste Pro; Jason Leck, vice president and owner of Ivyland, Pennsylvania-based Leck Waste Services; and John Morris, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Houston-based Waste Management, about new fleet solutions they’re adopting and how they’re utilizing these offerings to improve their companies’ waste collection.
A pro’s approach
The array of fleet management solutions that have hit the market over the last decade have had an ever-growing impact on haulers’ operations, improving everything from navigation to maintenance. While Chadbourne says Waste Pro has seen a number of benefits from implementing onboard technologies, improved safety is the most important.
“The onboard safety equipment with the cameras and recording devices [has been the most impactful development I’ve seen]—it’s about behavior-based safety,” Chadbourne says. “Those have been some of the best devices to identify ways to improve coaching drivers and reduce risky behavior. That’s the predominant reason that we purchase that equipment, but there are also some side benefits, too, including GPS tracking and route support and optimization for the driver.”
While these solutions aren’t necessarily new to market, Chadbourne says the ways these tools can be integrated together is becoming more seamless, which allows for easier driver adoption.
“What I see happening is the blending of the onboard safety technology, the blending of the GPS, the routing technology—all that’s starting to come together and converge to potentially be more simplistic and easier to use over time. … We want to have as minimal driver interaction as possible. We really don’t even want our drivers to think that there are systems on board. Whenever we look at new technology, we try to eliminate any driver participation so that they don’t have to be bothered with it so they can just focus on their routes and the work at hand,” he says.
Chadbourne says the ability to monitor what’s going on with the company’s fleet of roughly 3,000 trucks at any time has been pivotal for lessening the burden on the driver. Features such as service verification through automatic data retrieval, image capture and route tracking allow managers to take inventory of collection operations without the driver having to do extra work.
This not only makes the job of the driver easier, Chadbourne says, but also results in better service for the customer.
“We really want to be more in tune with service certification and automating that for our customers,” he says. “And with these solutions that allow for service verification, we can sit there in the office and help a customer that may have a question or concern related to if their container was picked up. We can now know with certainty who is getting serviced and when, and we can even provide a photograph.”
Beyond video and fleet monitoring software, Chadbourne says that front-load scales have become instrumental in the company’s operations.
“Another thing that is of great importance is being able to utilize scales to right-size containers and make sure that you’re sizing containers so you’re not over-billing or under-billing a customer,” Chadbourne says. “I think for all companies in the waste industry, we want to be able to measure containers in a more accurate way. At Waste Pro, that’s definitely got some senior leadership attention in the last few years, and we’ve made quite an effort to embrace it more.”
With myriad onboard systems available, Chadbourne believes consolidation amongst vendors could be inevitable. As competitors merge and evolve their service offerings, he says the result could be a more integrated range of software and hardware options for waste companies.
He also sees hauler truck manufacturers becoming more involved with installing these types of systems at the factory, which could lead to better system integration rather than relying on installation at an aftermarket shop.
Chadbourne says Waste Pro is eager to identify and embrace new fleet solutions for its trucks, and a measured approach to adoption is critical.
“In this industry, we’ve all taken and drank the Kool-Aid and thought that all these devices were going to provide miracles for us. And the answer is they sometimes do and sometimes don’t,” Chadbourne says. “The problem with any new technology is that you have to test it out, right? So, you put it on your truck and you see how it goes. It’s just like anything—if you’ve got a fleet of a hundred trucks, you just might test something new out on one or two and you see how it goes. But it also doesn’t hurt to check references. I’ve been in procurement for many years, and if somebody says a device works wonders, I’ll ask for three or four references, call them, and they’re usually glad to tell you whether the piece of hardware or equipment is doing what was promised or not.
“It’s an exciting time, I think,” he continues. “And I’m not being a skeptic about it. I’m open-minded. If someone has a better mouse trap, if it helps my company, that’s really the trick, right? If it’s going to save money, it’s going to reduce your costs, and it’s going to help the environment, or whatever benefit there might be, you have to be willing to look at it.”
Data-driven decision-making
Leck Waste Services, which employs a staff of 65, operates 52 trucks daily. Like Waste Pro, Leck says that passive data collection has been one of the biggest benefits of embracing some of the new fleet offerings.
Leck says the company utilizes an array of technology, including front-load scale systems that automatically analyze and track loads, video, routing and telematics systems to make the job of the driver easier.
“If I was going to point to one thing and say what’s the most important in terms of vehicle technology, I think it would basically be any kind of passive data collection that doesn’t require driver interaction and allows management input without the driver having to do anything,” Leck says. “That’s the key, because usually when you start adding more technology into the truck, you’re also requiring additional training for the employees and the drivers.”
Leck says these systems not only make it easier on the driver, but also allow for improvements in safety, operational efficiency and vehicle maintenance. He says the data generated from the company’s trucks is routed to different management personnel so that they can take the appropriate actions when deemed necessary.
“When something happens out on the road, the safety manager can be notified that a coachable action has occurred,” Leck says. “He’s getting that information in live time and can either live feed into the vehicle and look at what the driver’s doing, or, if it’s a situation where at the end of the day you need to sit down with the driver, the manager can coach up the driver and show them the video of what happened and use that as a learning experience.
"For a long time, I think the industry’s motto kind of was centered around, ‘Is a route profitable?’” –Jason Leck, VP and owner, Leck Waste Services
“But that’s just one aspect. When you start talking operationally, your fleet or operation superior can use collection data to right-size containers, and your customer service team can contact customers to make sure they’re being serviced on the right amount or volume per pickup. Then, on the telematics side, when that comes in, it goes right to our fleet manager to be more proactive with preventative maintenance so that we have better vehicle uptime.”
While the sheer volume of data the company’s trucks generate can be overwhelming, Leck says that it allows for better and quicker decision-making.
“The information coming in definitely adds to the workload, but I think what it does on the back end is it releases [our personnel] to be able to do what they need to do because they’re not responding in a reactive way,” he says.
Leck’s reliance on new technologies isn’t just reserved for onboard systems. The company gives all of its drivers smartphones to improve interaction. Additionally, he notes that the entire company has embraced the use of the Slack app to share information seamlessly, which aids in communication. Leck says the company also uses the software platform GoCanvas to create customized apps to collect data on everything from pre-trip inspections to potential new customers that drivers may identify on their existing route.
At the end of the day, Leck says the suite of technology the company employs can be leveraged to meet the company’s goal of ensuring that “every customer is profitable.” They do this by tracking the time spent at each location, carefully measuring each container, and analyzing the results to determine how the company can become more efficient.
“For a long time, I think the industry’s motto kind of was centered around, ‘Is a route profitable?’” Leck says. “And we said, ‘We don’t want to know if a route is profitable. We want to know if every customer we pick up is profitable.’ So how do we [utilize our technology] to that finite level? That’s where integrating scales, integrating photos and every other data point available comes into play.”
Waste well-managed
Morris says that while Waste Management employs a range of new fleet technologies, improved automation is one of the central functions the company has advocated for.
“We evaluate and explore [a number of solutions], including utilizing automated side-load trucks, thereby protecting our employees within the collection vehicle,” Morris says. “Sadly, the majority of the industry’s employee fatalities occur outside of the truck. Given the national issue of distracted driving, we all have the responsibility to drive free of distractions. As an industry leader with safety at the forefront of our business operations, the nationwide epidemic of distracted driving is deeply disturbing. The steps we’re taking to move toward an automated fleet will continue to drive safety performance as well as gains in efficiency and employee retention.”
As the company has moved towards more onboard fleet management solutions, Morris says the data derived from Waste Management’s trucks has helped the company save money as well as improve efficiencies.
“We made investments about six years ago in onboard cameras to assist coaching for peak performance with our drivers,” Morris says. “Our collection trucks are equipped with technology, including onboard routing and digital recording devices, and we have onboard computers in all our routed vehicles. We’re running our routes about 85 percent efficiently today. If we could get to 95 percent, like a FedEx or UPS, that would mean about $150 million in savings. We expect we could get half of that savings—about $75 million—in the next two to three years.”
According to Morris, more efficient routing is not just important in terms of cost savings—it also helps the company protect the environment and better serve its customers.
“Efficient logistics are an effective way to reduce fleet emissions,” he says. “The logic is simple: A more efficient route means fewer miles traveled, and that translates into reduced fuel consumption and associated emissions. Since 2017, Waste Management’s fleet has reduced miles driven by 2 percent, which equates to approximately 8.9 million fewer miles a year traveled. Optimizing routes not only reduces our environmental impact, but also increases the quality of service. As we’ve driven fewer miles, we’ve improved the number of stops missed for both commercial and residential customers.”
In addition to routing improvements, he says telematics is playing a major role in improving the company’s predictive maintenance strategy.
Waste Management’s Service Delivery Optimization (SDO) initiative is the foundation of the company’s fleet maintenance program, according to Morris. SDO is an effort to help the company build a world-class logistics program by measuring things like safety, quality of service, driver efficiency, labor cost per unit and truck downtime. Part of this initiative is what the company calls its M100 program. According to Morris, the M100 program provides the company’s front-line supervisors a view of each of their routes throughout the day. As a result, they can work to remove elements of a driver’s day that are costing the company efficiency. This initiative is being rolled out to both the company’s industrial and residential lines of business. Morris notes that the M100 program generated a $3 million improvement in labor costs in Q1 2019 compared to Q1 2018 in the commercial line of the company’s business.
An offshoot of the SDO program, the Maintenance Service Delivery Optimization (MSDO) initiative, is centered on reducing downtime and improving costs. Morris says that certified sites have been able to improve maintenance cost per unit by 6 percent on a year-over-year basis through the implementation of the program.
As Waste Management looks to the future, Morris says the company hopes to continue to see improvements in active safety technologies, continued automation and better system integration to help keep drivers safe and entice the next generation of waste professionals to enter the industry.
“We would hope to see the streamlining or integration of technology that advances directly into the fleet, allowing drivers to focus on the job at hand versus also having to manage the technology equipment in the fleet. … We’d also like to see the integration of active safety features for collection vehicles like you find on passenger vehicles—for example, lane change detection, following distance, auto braking/collision avoidance, etc.,” Morris says. “Having those features on commercial collection vehicles would be game-changing and assist the entire industry with its safety mandate. The automation technology applied to the fleet helps keeps our drivers safer and also attracts a new talent workforce, which can help address potential driver shortages.”
The author is the editor for Waste Today magazine and can be contacted at aredling@gie.net.
North America’s largest waste haulers stretch from coast to coast, generating tens of billions of dollars in revenue and employing hundreds of thousands of employees. View More
_fmt.png)
Adam Redling
_fmt.png)
_fmt.png)
_fmt.png)
