3 Ways Waste Haulers Can Optimize Their Transportation Logistics

One of the top priorities for waste haulers is a more efficient management of resources to help reduce operating costs and increase productivity. Factors like high fuel prices, continued labor shortages, and increased calls for more sustainable business models serve to emphasize the importance of a leaner approach to the transportation of hazardous waste materials. 

A recent report found that the total revenue of the waste collection and transportation industry surpassed $140 billion in 2022, and the waste hauling space is expected to grow during the next five years. This means the time is now for waste haulers to overhaul their transportation processes in order to secure their piece of the pie for the mid and long-term future. 

With this in mind, let’s look at three ways waste haulers can optimize their transportation logistics to reduce costs, save time, and increase productivity — and how a 55-gallon steel drum alternative like Gorilla Drum™ can help you make these recommendations a reality. 

Minimize the number of full truck loads (ftls) required to meet your waste hauling demand

Waste haulers know one of their greatest expenditures — and potential areas for waste in terms of cost and resources — is facilitating a large number of FTLs to meet customer demand. The conventional storage container for hauling hazardous waste is a 55-gallon steel drum, which has a maximum capacity of just 208 units per 53-foot truck. For high-volume waste haulers, the lack of flexibility with steel drums means using multiple FTLs to fulfill orders, and this can result in a number of cost increases stemming from:  

• Increased fuel consumption — the standard 53-foot truck has an average fuel consumption of just 6 to 8 miles per gallon  
• More highway toll or weigh station charges
• Inflated driver and operator costs   

Minimizing the number of FTLs reduces your fuel and other freight-related costs by making the most of the space available on a 53-foot truck. With Gorilla Drum™, waste haulers reduce their reliance on FTLs by fitting 80 (unfilled) units per pallet for a total of 4,160 per standard semi. This represents a 20x increase compared to traditional steel drums, and this increased capacity means a more cost-effective way of hauling waste from A to B. 

As a bonus, the ability of our 55-gallon steel drum alternative to reduce your number of FTLs can also help reduce your carbon emissions to meet your sustainability goals.   

Choose a more versatile waste packaging solution

The packaging and transportation of waste — and, in particular, hazardous waste — comes with a series of regulations based on the nature of the material, and the kind of packaging solution required for safe transport. However, the challenge for waste haulers is sourcing and deploying a packaging solution that is rated for use with the three major packing groups of hazardous material: 

• Packing Group I, which consists of materials presenting a high degree of danger
• Packing Group II, which contains materials presenting medium danger
• Packing Group III, which consists of materials presenting low danger

Whereas traditional steel drums may be adequate for packaging and shipping one group, they may be overqualified to transport another, and thus increase your equipment costs by shipping a less hazardous material in a vessel that is rated for more hazardous waste. Plus, sourcing multiple packaging solutions to meet packing group regulations can mean working with more than one supplier, which can create its own set of logistical headaches. 

Choosing a more versatile waste packaging and transportation solution like Gorilla Drum™ simplifies the task of hauling a wide variety of waste with a single solution. Rated X for use with Packing Groups I, II, and III, Gorilla Drum™ is UN and DOT certified for a wide variety of waste hauling applications. Plus, a corrugated plastic frame with a weight capacity of 453 pounds makes Gorilla Drum™ a durable hazmat packaging and transportation solution for any job. 

Streamline the loading and unloading process

The ability to streamline the time-consuming task of loading and unloading waste packaging units can be a real difference-maker for waste haulers in unlocking new levels of efficiency and productivity. What’s more, conventional waste hauling units like the traditional 55-gallon steel drum are not only cumbersome to load and unload, but the heft of these steel drums makes them a safety hazard, even if they’re unfilled.

With a lightweight, flexible 55-gallon steel drum alternative like Gorilla Drum™, waste haulers can accelerate the loading and unloading process regardless of whether the unit is filled. What’s more, our steel drum alternative is equipped with a variety of features that make the loading and unloading process fast, easy, and safe. At just 7.5 pounds unfilled, our solution accelerates the loading and unloading process via: 

• Dolly band, belly band, and lifting loops to make loading and unloading a breeze via warehouse personnel, two-wheel dolly, or forklift.
• A plastic, foldable frame that allows Gorilla Drum to fully collapse once the unit is unloaded and emptied to optimize storage space.
• A durable zipper top lid to not only provide a tight seal and superior protection for the hazardous materials inside the unit, but to reduce the likelihood of workplace accidents or spillage in the event the unit is dropped.  

For more about how Gorilla Drum™ can transform your warehouse and loading and unloading processes, read our handling instructions guide. 

Waste haulers who optimize their transportation logistics not only stand to increase how competitive they can be in a growing market, but they will also create a more future-proof business model by adopting innovative solutions and processes. Gorilla Drum™ is the revolutionary steel drum alternative waste haulers need to get to where they want — and need — to go. 

Want to learn how Gorilla Drum™ helped a global package handler save time and money by conserving warehouse space and streamlining waste hauling processes? Download our new case study to read the full story.