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Buncombe County waste contractor reports near‑100% pickup rate, cites billing IT problems that raised call volume
Summary
A contractor update to the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners said weekly route completion rates are close to 100% and recycling collection is up versus the previous hauler, but a billing/IT problem has increased customer calls; staff said they are hiring and pursuing fixes.
Dane Peterson, representing the county's solid‑waste contractor, told Buncombe County commissioners that weekly route completion and recycling tonnage have improved significantly since the new service began, but that a billing information‑technology problem has increased call volume and customer complaints.
Peterson said the contractor logs missed‑service calls and monitors performance by week. "Right now we're at 99.89% for the year. The last week we for this slide was done was 99.92% completion percentage," he said. He described a camera‑and‑GPS system on each truck used to validate collections and investigate missed stops or property damage.
The presenter gave operational details: the service covers roughly 57,900 customer accounts per week, of which about 40,000 are trash customers; recycling is collected on a two‑week cycle. He said current subscribers for trash and recycling total 39,062, above the previous hauler's 36,483, representing weekly net growth of about 45–52 new customers since January. Recycling tonnage from January through July was 3,877 tons compared with 3,073 tons for the same period under the prior contractor (an increase of 804 tons), Peterson said. He also summarized cart inventory figures and deliveries: 1,212 carts delivered through September and a new shipment expected to add roughly 275 carts.
Peterson described the contractor's "third eye" camera system on trucks and route‑tablet tools that allow dispatch to confirm route completion. He explained route adjustments and staffing changes intended to reduce repeat missed stops, including assigning "swing" drivers and pre‑route morning corral briefings for drivers.
Commissioners raised customer service concerns. Commissioner Wells thanked staff for responsiveness but noted recurring billing issues. Peterson acknowledged the problem and attributed it to an IT/database mismatch: payments for earlier quarters were not showing when customers made third‑quarter payments, producing returned‑check notices and generating additional calls. He said the contractor has an on‑site call center of about 10 people, recently added one person dedicated to returning voicemails, and scheduled an IT call to address the error.
No formal action was requested or taken; staff said they would continue to monitor service metrics and pursue fixes to the billing system.
