Trash pickers...

[starion]

Had another confrontation with a "trash picker" today. Asked them politely to please not pick through the trash. After some back and forth, they basically stated that I couldn't stop them, they would just come back when I'm not there.

Soooo....here's my thinking. First, a small sign on the pole above each trash can with something like this:

"All resources found on the car wash property are the property of the car wash, removal will be considered theft."

Then, go ahead and put the hasps on the trash lids and lock them down.

My reasoning is threefold:

1. They toss the trash and never put it back together correctly.
2. It looks bad to have people digging through the trash.
3. My beer money is at stake!

I'm thinking that gives enough "notice" that I can call the police when they are caught on camera doing it.

All of my employees are of the same mind as I am. The car wash business and the economy have been hard enough on our little 'ol wash, and any loose change or flying dollar bills go into the pot in the office. All aluminum, copper, and iron go into recycle bins.

We routinely take between $30 and $40 a week from these "resources", with aluminum cans being 2/3 of that.

And we DO buy beer with it! So what do you all think?

 

[I.B. Washincars]

I think you need more to do so you won't be so worried about something as trivial as dumpster diving. If you have enough manpower to sift through the trash for treasures get rid of an employee.

"And we DO buy beer with it!" Well, at least you aren't wasting it.

 

[starion]

Wow. That's pretty harsh. I don't see what's wrong with me spending my time to collect cans so I can have beer money. At a minimum, $30 bucks a week is $1680 a year. I'll sift trash for that kind of money.

 

[packerscw]

At the wash that I used to have, we would get this guy every day that would walk around our dumpster and vacuums looking for change laying on the ground. Most of the time he was always bending down to pick up something. For a while I didnt think that he even owned a car until I saw him using a bay one day. Looks like we were just in his walking route.

 

[MEP001]

In most areas you can have a criminal tresspass warrant issued against someone you don't want on your property. Once they have that warrant they can be arrested any time they're on your property. The cops here have told me that they'll go to someone's home and take them to jail if I can show them the person on video.

Put out separate bins for aluminum and throw a few cans in them. In most areas it's illegal to take items from marked recycling bins. He can be fined a lot more than he could ever hope to get from picking through your trash.

I don't let people pick through the trash for at least one reason you listed and for a few others. I've run off two people for parking in a bay on a very busy day just to sift through the trash. I don't collect aluminum so I don't care about that, but I will let no one block a bay and make customers wait.

I do have to agree with I.B. and I see nothing harsh about what he said. If you have all these employees, why is there trash in the cans to worry about? If they're kept emptied the pickers will just stop coming.

 

[starion]

If you have all these employees, why is there trash in the cans to worry about? If they're kept emptied the pickers will just stop coming.

Huh? You mean you think that every time someone drops a Mickey D's sack in the trash we should run right out and empty it? Now THAT'S not efficient use of time. No, we empty them when they are or are approaching full. That could be anywhere from a day to a week.

I seem to be sensing angst towards the fact that I have employees. Not that it's anyone's business, but those employees work for my other company and do rotation "tour" at the car wash when occasional things need to be done that I can't be there personally for.

In addition, several of them do it volunteer, as do some of my friends and family to help out with the car wash.

But, my employees were not the subject of this thread...

 

[Randy]

What you don’t empty the trash every day!! We empty ours at least once a day sometimes twice a day. We empty the garbage cans every morning whether they need it or not and again in the afternoon if they are over a third full. We clean out the vacuums 3 times a week ,by keeping the vacuums cleaned out this help keeps them from digging in the vacuum waste for coins. We also have signs that say “No loitering or Scavenging” If someone is on your property and you the land/business owner don’t want them there call the police and have them removed, been there and done that more than once. We have to lock our dumpster because we get so much household garbage. I’m not about to pay an employee or myself dig though the garbage and pick out cans and whatever else there is in there. $30 a week isn’t enough for me to dig though the garbage for cans, my time is worth more than that.

 

[starion]

What you don’t empty the trash every day!! We empty ours at least once a day sometimes twice a day. We empty the garbage cans every morning whether they need it or not and again in the afternoon if they are over a third full.

Hmm. Obviously your volume dictates you empty your trash daily or multiple times daily. Ours does not.

Your time must be WAY more valuable than mine or you are making WAY more money than we are. Picking cans only takes about 10 minutes a day out of 6 bags of trash, tops. So, that comes out to about $30 an hour for super easy work, and I would have had to dump the bags in the dumpster anyway.

 

[ToFarGone20]

If I see cans I snag'em. I don't make a huge attempt to get them all...some are nasty (spitters).

I don't let people dive for them for two reasons:

1. They take the cap off bottles...pour them out on the lot (clean cars then drive through the pop).

2. They throw the damn bottle caps on the ground!!!! This one burns my butt.

Hard enough to keep litter picked up...I don't need their help.

I had a lady that would park her car perpendicular to the bays blocking 2 at a time to look in the trash. Had to run her off a half dozen times...finally told her I called the cops.

Another guy told me to "_____ off" and that "it is public property". He would come anytime he wanted. "I'd like to see you stop me" were his exact words. I told the cops they said get him on camera and they would take him. So one night about ten thirty my buddy (big guy) caught him on the lot. He ran over his bike and asked him what he was going to do about it. Call the cops on him and get arrested or learn a lesson. Never saw him again.

 

[Waxman]

Starion

If you are going to object so strongly to others opinions, why even post a question?

Lock your dumpster with chains and padlocks. This is 'standard operating procedure' for carwash businesses.

Call the cops on people doing anything you prohibit at YOUR carwash, especially when they look you in the eye and say you can't stop them, they'll be back later, etc.

Trash picking is SUPER gross. It's also dangerous, as there have been cases of meth labs dumping their waste in carwash trash receptacles and innocent workers/owners being seriously harmed by contacting this type of waste. So trash picking is also reckless and quite dumb. Sorry if this sounds harsh, but why don't you find a better way to make an extra $30 a week? Wax a car or something, but don't risk your own well being by rooting through garbage for change. I don't know you but feel you must be better than that. Have some pride, for pete's sake!

 

[Kevin James]

Geezz how hard is it to dump the garbage every day? If there is one Mickey D bag in the garbage we dump the garbage can. It is absolutely one of the grossest things you can do is to dig in the garbage or the vacuum trash for what have you, cans, coins or that special treasure. Just think of the health hazards. If any of our employees dig though the garbage or the vacuum trash there fired on the spot. No questions asked there gone. I believe it’s an image thing and the car wash industry doesn't have the greatest image. Think about it, you’re a customer and you drive into the car wash and your employees or yourself are digging in the garbage, what are they going to think. They’re going to think……..

 

[I.B. Washincars]

My post seems kinda sweet now, doesn't it?

 

[keniniowa]

One of my dumpster divers dumps the cans for me of his own volition. I probably don't empty them half a dozen times a month. He picks up stuff on the ground, If he sees a big mess he comes to my real job(block away) and tells me.

One of my other dumpster divers has came to my house on two seperate occasions to make me aware of a mess in a bay.

Yea, another one of my dumpster divers found a meth lab. Called the cops, got it handled. I didn't even know about it for almost a month. Then it just came up in a conversation with the business owner accross the street.

Best non-employees I got

 

[JMMUSTANG]

What I did was tell the dumpster diver that if he would empty my trash cans and vacuums in the dumpster I would give him the key to my vacuum doors.
But before I made the offer I vacuumed up about $20.00 in quarters in the vacs.
I opened the vac doors and showed him how to clean them and the amount of money he could "find".
Never had a problem again with the trash or emptying the vacs.
After awhile I even ask him if I gave him quarters would he wash down a bay or two if they needed it.
He told me no problem since I was the only guy that didn't try to run him off.
I painted about $30.00 bucks in quarters red and gave them to him.
He did this for about ten years before he passed away, worked good for both if us.

 

[starion]

Waxman:

If you are going to object so strongly to others opinions, why even post a question?

Because I didn't ask everybody to comment about WHY I collect cans, or only empty trash every so often. I asked about what everyone thought about posting signs and locking the trash cans. Not the dumpster, which I HAVE ALWAYS DONE.

Kevin James:

Think about it, you’re a customer and you drive into the car wash and your employees or yourself are digging in the garbage, what are they going to think. They’re going to think……..

We NEVER dig through it at the trash cans, and don't even really dig at the dumpster, which is OUT OF SIGHT, BTW.

Waxman:

I don't know you but feel you must be better than that. Have some pride, for pete's sake!

I have MUCH more pride than most of the people on our end of town, and it shows by how we keep the property.

I also know that I haven't taken one single paycheck from the carwash business in 2 and a half years. I will take $1600 a year from collecting cans any day.

There is NOTHING that grosses me out anymore at a car wash, least of all picking through the trash with a grabber for cans. I do not physically touch the trash otherwise. I have cleaned up vomit, sh!t, rotten food, hair, and everything in between.

I am really disappointed that many on the forum that has usually been supportive are so narrow minded about one person's quest to actually PROFIT in some way from the less attractive parts of the business. People watch when we have the pits cleaned. What kind of impression is that giving?

Seems like a lot of people have made assumptions about how I do things without knowing anything about my particular situation.

Considering I have taken a 1.5 year closed car wash from a $6000 a month in the hole to a break even point in just 2.5 years, I am deciding not to let some of you make me feel bad.

Have a nice day. Sorry I asked.

 

[madscientist]

Starion,

I'm not sure why everybody decided to kick you in the nuts today, but I'll try to answer your original question. I doubt signs will deter any of those guys, so don't guess what will help to get them busted. Ask the police what will help get them busted.

My kids' savings accounts have higher balances than mine thanks to all the stacks of quarters I find, and I get last pick after the trash pickers and my employees! There's no loss of pride in picking up recyclables and putting them to good use. There's certainly no shame in making money. I may be biased because I like beer, but I certainly don't go head first into my dumpster or fish through my trash cans to get stuff. I think everybody misunderstood your post.

I told these guys they must come in overnight and leave the place no worse than how they found it. I figured overnight activity may even deter a criminal once or twice.

Your trash pickers are making a decent living off your trash. I have one who looks homeless and crazy....errr...psychologically imbalanced. I know a few customers who are there really early who have given him money. On Saturday's he goes home after fishing through my trash, showers, and brings his late model car in through the wash! One of my employees talked to him once and found out he has 4 rental houses in another state that he collects income from as well.

That actually hurts my pride.

 

[starion]

I doubt signs will deter any of those guys, so don't guess what will help to get them busted. Ask the police what will help get them busted.

The police here once told me that if I didn't have it posted, they (the bad guys) could claim they "didn't know the rules" and would be let off as a result.

So, I guess it wasn't intended to be a deterrent, more like a "legal notification" in the event I actually caught someone breaking the rules, it wouldn't be summarily thrown out.

I told these guys they must come in overnight and leave the place no worse than how they found it.

I tried that approach. But more often than not the place was worse than how they found it. So I'm cranky now.

 

[wendy's wash]

When I catch someone going thru my trash I tell them that they must leave and if they ever come back I will call the police and press charges for tresspassing as they were warned. As far as I can tell they do not come back. The only reason I do this is because I have young women coming in the morning and wearing their p-jays. The trash pickers are homeless or they look realy bad. I tell them I do not want to lose customers. I go to the wash every day ( 365 Days A Year ) and empty all trash cans. if I did not their would be trash out the backside. My dumpeter is full every week at dump time. Ever so often I will have to jump in and pack it down for extra trash. The dumpster is 3 cubic yards.

 

[Waxman]

No one should work for nothing at any business for any extended period of time, IMO.

When I said you're better than that I meant it. Recycling is great as is what we out here call 'scrappin'.

However, I do feeling strongly that the time used to earn the $30 'your way' could be better utulized by any of the following:

1. use that time for going after more fleet business.
2. develop promotional ideas for the wash.
3. read Pat Crowes Carwash Technical bulletins and implement his creative as well as practical ideas.
4. learn about detailing cars as a profit center/separate business.
5. fix up a used car to sell.
6. research the pet wash business.
7. resercah the laundry business.

Just some well-intentioned thoughts on the subject.

 

[MEP001]

Just some well-intentioned thoughts on the subject.

But said with sarcasm?