The City of Franklin, Tennessee, streamlined operations in their solid waste department as well as the streets department by optimizing route plans for both waste collection and street sweeping. Once optimized, they were able to realize additional efficiency gains by implementing a telematics system designed specifically for these types of complex routes.
Rapid growth spurred need for efficient route planning
Franklin, located 20 miles south of Nashville and named after Benjamin Franklin, is one of the wealthiest cities in the United States. Its population, according to the 2020 U.S. Census, is 83,454, making it the seventh largest city in Tennessee and one of the fastest growing.
The steady growth has impacted all the city’s departments, but particularly public works. More and more residents moving into the city each year dictated the need for the city to use a route planning solution to create efficient, optimized route plans. Prior to deploying RouteSmart solutions, city operators in the public works department relied on paper maps, GPS, Excel spreadsheets, pen and paper, and driver knowledge to service trash collection for about 38,000 households.
An optimized route plan created massive savings
After implementing RouteSmart for solid waste collection route planning, the city was able to swiftly optimize route plans that balanced the workload and provided specific daily routes for residential collection. In time, the effort was repeated for the commercial front-load routes. In addition to the overall route optimization, the city was also able to consolidate its residential routes to a four-day work week from five.
“One of the most significant ongoing benefits from our partnership with RouteSmart is being able to optimize our routes,” said Bryan Brown, Routing and Operations Analyst at the City of Franklin. “In addition, RouteSmart Navigator has helped tremendously with communications between drivers and our customer service team.”
After witnessing the solid waste department’s budget savings, efficiency gains and improved customer service, the city’s streets department started using RouteSmart to improve street sweeping operations as well. The streets department was able to reduce the street sweep cycle from seven weeks to three weeks, cut down on complaints and ensure more consistent service—all made more challenging given the city’s rapid growth rate.
The city then deployed RouteSmart Navigator, an onboard navigation created by RouteSmart partner, Integrated Skills Limited, to track and report activity and provide turn-by-turn instructions to drivers in the field. The city’s adoption of RouteSmart and onboard RouteSmart Navigator device has made it easier for drivers in both departments to complete their routes, improve customer experience, and increase staff oversight and accountability to maintain an efficient collection operation and sweeping program.
Leveraging this powerful suite of tools, the city realized a savings of $1,083,812, which equated to a 37 percent reduction in operating costs annually, resulting in more efficient routes, fewer miles driven, reduced labor costs, and reduced truck usage.
Customer service suffered with inefficient route plans
The city spent unnecessary money on fuel and labor costs by not having more efficient collection routes nor a system of accountability to ensure a high-level of customer service. It was common for drivers to miss pickups, which frustrated residents. Route operations staff could not keep track of driver activity, start and stop times, or vehicle travel path. The city’s lack of accountability in daily route planning activities compounded the problem and made it a challenge to ensure new route plans were executed.
As the city continued its tremendous growth patterns, the streets department experienced inconsistency in service and struggled to provide sweeping services within a timely recurring frequency. Some neighborhoods weren’t even being serviced.
