Since the number of complaints began to surge earlier this year, DPWES and ADS have discussed the service reliability and quality issues, and ADS' plans to recover and restore service to the minimum requirements of County Code, a minimum of once-weekly collection of refuse, recyclables, and yard waste.
Effective Oct. 4, DPWES and ADS entered into a Consent Agreement that, among other things, set forth a legally-enforceable recovery plan that includes:
Posting job advertisements at a minimum of 50 relevant outlets, including social media, and staging quarterly local job fairs.
Offering pre-paid tuition for CDL training (driver shortages are a significant factor in ADS' hiring struggles).
Hiring additional drivers every week until the service problems are resolved, providing monthly written reports to DPWES on progress.
Increasing the starting wage of drivers by at least 20 percent and collection crews by at least 10 percent.
Retaining seven additional customer service personnel.
Establishing a service quality goal and lead measures/metrics to demonstrate and maintain progress.
Establishing a defined credit process for residential customers to cover all missed collections, effective January 1, 2023.
ADS must also provide DPWES with written daily, weekly, and monthly status reports on missed and rescheduled collections, and the firm’s management is required to attend weekly meetings with DPWES enforcement personnel to review progress on the Recovery Plan.
Residents wishing to know more about the ADS Recovery Plan change (or about any other aspect of the County’s solid waste management system) should contact DPWES’ Solid Waste Management Program at (703) 324-5230 or via email to trashmail@fairfaxcounty.gov