Because employee satisfaction is a top priority for Waste Connections, the company provided them with the proper training and equipment by using JPRO庐 Professional to help with the important aspect of training their technicians, while being used for many of their day-to-day repair needs.
By Ben Osborne
Waste Connections is one of the largest full-service environmental solutions companies in North America. The company provides non-hazardous waste collection, recycling and landfill disposal services to commercial, industrial, municipal and residential customers throughout the U.S. and Canada.
In addition to being a leader in waste services, Waste Connections is also profoundly committed to environmental sustainability and reducing their carbon footprint. Waste Connections routinely searches out and implements new options to increase their sustainability, including owning the largest renewable natural gas facility in North America.
To offer their extensive services, the company operates more than 10,000 class 8 vehicles across North America, comprised of nearly every major make or model. A fleet of that size requires an advanced maintenance program, which Waste Connections chose to keep in-house to help control costs and improve the speed and accuracy of maintenance and repairs.
Implementing the Right Tools
Servicing a wide range of industry segments requires keeping their 10,000 vehicles ready for transit, highlighting the importance of vehicle uptime. Robert Birkla, Central Region Maintenance Manager for Waste Connections, explained, 鈥淚t is imperative to our operations that we keep our vehicles functioning correctly. Misdiagnosis quickly results in unnecessary, avoidable downtime. Not having the correct diagnostic and repair tools in place to perform accurate repairs would be a major burden to the process. Without the right tool, it is very difficult to keep up with the ongoing changes to issues like emissions standards or ongoing technological changes in the industry.鈥�
Waste Connections employs 1,640 technicians across the U.S. and Canada. Ensuring the technicians have the right tools and training is critical to the company鈥檚 notable efficiency. Birkla explained that one of the reasons Waste Connections remains the premier waste company in North America is because of the trust and investment they put in their employees. By providing employees with the tools, self-paced training and positive work environment needed for success, the company is able to maintain a low turnover rate and the rest simply falls into place because of the quality work by their employees.
Expediting Repair Services
Birkla explained that, as a decentralized company, they encourage their employees to try various methods and tools across the country to find the best fit. When asked about diagnostic and repair tools, Birkla said, 鈥淲e have used them all, and I mean all of them.鈥� Waste Connections decided on JPRO庐 Professional when they quickly recognized it would help with the important aspect of training their technicians, while being used for most of their day-to-day repair needs. JPRO庐 Professional is a leading in-shop diagnostic and repair solution created by Noregon Systems. JPRO pairs a holistic view of the vehicle with detailed diagnostic information to help users diagnose the entire vehicle and detect the root cause of issues. Coupled with advanced features such as industry-leading bi-directional tests, the software helps users expedite the repair process, empowering fleets to maximize vehicle uptime. Technicians at Waste Connections take advantage of JPRO鈥檚 library of training videos and online Webinars to allow each technician to train at their preferred pace.
Waste Connections relies on JPRO to help expedite repair services so they can keep their diverse fleet of vehicles in transit. 鈥淛PRO allows us to accurately diagnose and repair our trucks right the first time,鈥� said Birkla. 鈥淭ime is money and having to do work twice costs double and results in costly downtime, so we have to ensure it鈥檚 done right the first time. An integral aspect of JPRO is the overall speed connecting to trucks. Typically, in less than 60 seconds we are up and running.鈥�
鈥淲e were very excited to build this relationship with Waste Connections,鈥� said Shane Gilliam, Noregon鈥檚 VP of Sales. 鈥淔rom day one we could see how strongly they felt about empowering their employees to succeed, so we felt privileged to put the right tool in their technicians鈥� hands to help meet their goals.鈥�
While explaining how the software helps emerging technicians, Birkla mentioned the Aftertreatment Diagnostics screen in JPRO plays an important role to help entry-level technicians understand the 鈥渂ig picture鈥� of what they are working on in relation to temperatures and system layout.
He also noted that Next Step™, JPRO鈥檚 service information module, is 鈥渁 self-guided training class in itself.鈥� Birkla said Waste Connections鈥� technicians benefit from Next Step鈥檚 guided diagnostics and wiring diagrams, which help them understand the problems they are facing and builds confidence and qualifications going forward.
The Tools to Succeed
Employee satisfaction remains a top priority for Waste Connections, so the company pledges to continue providing employees with the proper training and equipment. Birkla explained that content, well-trained employees help Waste Connections fulfill all of their other goals and maintain the company鈥檚 well-established reputation for reliability. 鈥淥ur technicians come to work every day knowing we will provide them with the tools to succeed, and that we gladly listen to any suggestions they have to make the work place better. One of those tools is JPRO Professional, which is helping drive uptime in our fleet and helping us continue to be the premier solid waste company in North America,鈥� Birkla concluded.
Ben Osborne is Marketing Communications Manager for Noregon庐 (Greensboro, NC) an industry recognized vehicle data expert. Through advanced commercial vehicle diagnostic, repair, and monitoring applications, Noregon helps businesses maximize vehicle uptime. Since 1993, Noregon has been creating products that increase the efficiency of in-shop technicians and help companies make better decisions when it comes to the health and safety of their vehicles. Today鈥檚 top fleets, OE dealers, independent repair facilities, municipalities and the military all rely on Noregon to keep their vehicles rolling. For more information, visit .
One of 10,000 vehicles operated by Waste Connections. Photo courtesy of Waste Connections.