Operational Tips for Sweeping Professionals

Maximizing Your Sweeping Time by Eliminating Time Wasters

by Ranger Kidwell-Ross, with a nod to Brad Humphrey

posted January 2022

This article was inspired by Brad Humphrey's post in ForConstructionPros entitled 'Overcoming Time Wasters at the Job Site.'

The author, Editor at WorldSweeper and Director of the World Sweeping Association, adapted Humphrey's construction-oriented information to be specific to the power sweeping industry.

All of the time your sweeper operators and related personnel spend waiting each day is time that cuts into your operating budget and, as a result, into the profit margin of contractors and resource utilization of municipal operations. In this article I'll go through some of the causes for waiting as well tips on how to minimize these time-wasters.

Sweeper and/or Other Equipment Not Ready

One of the big ones is not having the sweeper ready to go when it's time to start the route. This might be due to repairs not having been made, fuel not topped off, keys not available, and I'm sure you can fill in the blank for more. That's why many managers detail either the operator or the team member to take care of all of that at the end of the previous shift. Plus, if you get all readied at the end of the shift or well prior to the start of the next one then any problems will show themselves while you still have time to get them solved.

One big reason why the above is a good idea is in case an emergency request comes in for a sweeper prior to the unit's next scheduled shift. You always want one or more of your sweepers – ideally, spanning all the classes of units you operate – ready to go in case you get an emergency work order.

Have the responsibility for vehicle and sweeper body clearly designated to whoever should be handling that activity. I suggest a checklist should be required, including date and signature field, with all of the tasks that need to be accomplished prior to the sweeper heading back out for the next job.

It's a good idea to have an inventory sheet in each vehicle that lists any and all items or materials that should be in the vehicle, such as backpack blower, fuel for it, PPE for it, shovel and/or rake, six pack of beer. (Well, maybe not the last item on the list, eh?!)

Be sure to keep a stock of spare parts on hand for all of the standard repairs that are likely to be needed. Especially in times like when this was posted in January of 2022, supply chain issues may pose a problem with getting the needed repair parts in the time you might normally expect.

Employees Late to Work, Call in Sick or Don't Show Up

Especially in seasons when colds, flu and similar are more likely to take members of your workforce out unexpectedly, it's critical that you have an 'alternative staffing chart' so you know who to call in those circumstances. Also, have a policy of when call-ins should take place; i.e., how long before a shift is scheduled to begin are workers expected to let you know they won't be there.

You might want to arrange for retired operators to be available when needed. Oftentimes, those folks don't want to work every day but would be willing to come in when needed. If you're on friendly terms with nearby competitors, you might consider having an arrangement where you could share that type of information or even 'loan' your operators to them. This is especially sensible for municipalities, who can make those types of arrangements with other towns near them.

Route Information Not Ready or Understandable

Make sure all needed route information is available well before the shift. Don't be the victim of toner running out in the printer, the employee's tablet not being charged, or anything else that might keep your route info from being available. Also, organize the info such that it will also be clear to a substitute driver, if needed.

Owner or Designated Manager Didn't Show Up

What is your process if something happens to the person who would normally unlock the premises, whether that's the owner or a designated manager? Do you have an alternate person to call and do all your drivers know who that is and how to get hold of them?

Often, a good way to handle that is to have contact information posted by the door of your facility. It can include the owner as the primary contact in the event of a break-in, vandalism occurring, etc. (This information should also be registered with your local police.) The posting can and should include alternates in case the primary contact can't be reached, with employee training included to make sure they know who to call in the event the primary contact isn't reachable.

As Brad Humphrey admonishes, "Contractors and their supervisors should not be the only employees with critical telephone numbers. A laminated card of all-important numbers can be provided to each employee or copies attached to each company vehicle. Not having the right telephone numbers at the exact time they are needed adds greatly to the time waste experienced by most work."

Another example offered by Humphrey is this one: If you have a crew of five that can't get started for an hour, and they have a 'fully burdened' rate of $30, that's a cost to the company of $150." In addition to the monetary cost, what if you have an early window of cleaning opportunity at one or more of your site locations? That might mean you can't even perform the sweep within the designated timeframe.

Make Sure Everyone is on the 'Same Page'

Many sweeping managers conduct a quick meeting at the start of each shift. That's not just a way to make sure everyone showed up for work that shift. It's also an opportunity for anyone to bring up concerns or reminders that might be beneficial to the entire crew. If anyone has questions about what they'll be doing on their route, that's the time to find them out.

If you don't have a meeting at the start of each and every shift, I strongly recommend having a brief safety meeting once-a-week – once per month at the very least. If you ever have a serious accident, you can count on the attorney for the 'other side' to require you to provide your safety meeting schedule, along with the Safety Meeting Attendance form that I know you will have all attendees sign.

BTW, you can also count on them requesting maintenance records, the cell phone log to confirm whether or not your operator was talking or texting during the accident and much more. I was an expert witness in a case where the sweeping company hadn't conducted safety meetings pretty much ever, prior to the accident. Perhaps even more damning to their legal case, they hadn't conducted any such meetings after that serious accident, either. And, their trainer had taught the operator to "go ahead and sign your pre- and post-trip reports at the start of the shift." As you might imagine, that didn't look good on the day of the accident...

In conclusion, some of the above may seem like common sense but if there's one thing I've learned in my 30+ years of covering the power sweeping industry (and elsewhere in life) it's that common sense isn't common to all by any means.

If you have questions or comments about this article, or know of other links or information we should add, please, let us know and we can add them in as an addendum to this article.

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