Priority Waste Municipal Relations Manager Paul Ruthenberg (left) and Dearborn Heights Mayor Bill Bazzi visit with a driver during one of its stops in Dearborn Heights on the company’s first day serving the city.
By ROBERT ANKRAPP
For the Times-Herald
HEIGHTS — One week into Priority Waste’s service contract, and the company is making a good impression with both city officials and residents.
The Clinton Township-based company, with its garage located in Romulus, kicked off its service for the city last Monday.
“Over the course of the week, I have been contacted by the company president several times to make sure we are completely happy with their service,” Mayor Bill Bazzi said. “In addition, other officials from the company have paid visits to both our Public Works and Ordinance departments to make sure all our expectations are being met. The level of customer service has been excellent.”
Priority Waste Municipal Relations Manager Paul Ruthenberg said work is going according to plan.
“We actually did some homework and canvassed the city well before we actually started working here,” he said, “which gave us a great chance to become more familiar with the routes. This familiarity is a real benefit for our drivers.”
Ruthenberg said there have been only a handful of missed stops, mostly due to the drivers still not being totally familiar with the “ins and outs” of their assigned routes.
“With brand new routes, a few of these are bound to happen,” he said. “However, as the familiarity grows, these incidents will certainly drop off.”
Ruthenberg also is pleased with his drivers’ consistent attention to the high level of efficiency in the new territories.
“We are pleased to report that our drivers are covering their routes in the prescribed times allotted – and even the few calls we did receive for missed stops were either corrected later the same day, or well within a 24-hour timeframe,” he said. “There has been no need for anyone to contact us a second time once they have reached us. This is the type of performance we assured the city officials they would receive, and we fully expect to maintain that level of service.”
Also important, Ruthenberg said, is the assurance that large piles of waste – often created by home evictions or move-outs – are handled on a same-day basis.
“Nobody wants to see a large pile of trash stacked up on their street,” he said. “We are keeping in close touch with the city’s Ordinance and Public Works departments to ensure these are handled quickly.”
Priority is scheduled to begin picking up lawn and yard composting on April 4.
“We are looking forward to a long and successful relationship with Priority” Bazzi said. “Their customer service orientation is impressive. I’m confident our residents will become accustomed to – and enjoy – the improved service Priority is providing.”