The Wastebroker Blog

Trust - Easy to Give, Harder to Maintain

Reading from my “Great Quotes from Great Leaders” book today and had cause to pause when I read this quote attributed to Booker T. Washington http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Booker_T._Washington, “Few things can help an individual more than to place responsibility on him, and to let him know that you trust him.”  It made me think, do I always give responsibility and trust to my team?  I’d like to swear that I do, but I’m not sure I can, unfortunately. 

It’s not as though I don’t want to trust, I do, eh, trust me.  Most of the time, my trust is rewarded.  But trust hasn’t always worked out for me.  Over the years, people I’ve trusted have lied to me, stolen from me and taken advantage of my trust in various other ways.  It was never my fault…….I’m quite sure?  

When my trust is abused, I try to bounce back, reaffirm my belief that all human beings are essentially good and trustworthy, and give it another go.  Trust is necessary.  After all, the option – to trust no one - isn’t very appealing….and it makes for a long, miserable day as well.

Truth is that I love placing responsibility and trust with others, but I’m quicker to lose trust than I am take away the responsibility – which makes no sense.  I need to work on that.  I’m glad I had the chance to read Booker’s quote today.  It made me to take a close look at myself and my leadership.  I still have room to improve.  Do you?

We Energies Coal Pile Slides Into Lake Michigan

I'm used to seeing pictures and videos of tornados, mud slides, tsunamis and other unforeseen tragedies that make me marvel at Mother Nature's power.  Normally, they don't seem as real because they happen far from home.  Not yesterday.  Around 11AM Monday, a large portion of Lake Michigan bluff on the We Energies www.we-energies.com Oak Creek, WI Power Plant site slid into the lake.  Miraculously, no one was injured.  That's the good news.  The bad news is that coal and coal ash, and who knows what else, made their way into the water, creating a potential environmental mess.  I have no doubt this will be cleaned up properly and that the cause will be studied, blame will be assessed and endless debate will ensue.  To read more, click the link to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel for the rest of the story and some cool photo's of the devastation.

 http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/authorities-investigate-bluff-collapse-at-we-energies-plant-132929538.html

 

 

Automating Truck Movement the Next Big Technology & Productivity Breakthrough

I remember when Lexus introduced a car a couple of years ago that would parallel park itself.  A high-end feature for a high-end car.  But like most technology, what starts at the high end almost always just begins the race to replicating that technology throughout the industry, and “parking assist,” as it is now referred, has been no exception. 

 

Tonight I saw an ad during the trailer for the movie Horrible Bosses (http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/wb/horriblebosses/) for, get this, a Ford Focus (http://money.cnn.com/video/luxury/2011/05/04/lux_ford_focus.cnnmoney/) that now parks itself.  Man that was fast.  In a period of just a couple of years, the automotive industry found a way to drive the price of that super cool technology down so far as to make it available on the plainest of the plainest vehicles, one that is affordable for almost anyone.  Now that’s what I call a success!

 

But wait a minute.  That may be only the beginning.  While Tata Motors (http://www.tatamotors.com/) works on getting the “parking assist” technology in their $2500 lawn mower engine-driven car, there is another race going on, one that intends to make fully automated vehicles the next revolutionary productivity breakthrough.  Turns out that Rio Tinto (http://www.riotinto.com/), the giant global mining company was having trouble finding drivers for its massive mining dump trucks, the ones that haul all the loot from the mine to the processing plant.  No drivers (for whatever reason – no qualified candidates, labor disruption, etc.) means no product movement, a big expensive problem.  Hmm….they thought, how can we solve that problem?  Technology to the rescue.  Rio Tinto decided to experiment with automating the operation of these giant trucks.  They equipped 10 of them with automation technology and intend to operate all 10 simultaneously, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, with only 1 operator per shift.   If it works, and my guess is it will work – if not at first, then soon - that’s a ten-to-one workforce reduction, salary, benefits, sick days, vacations and all.

 

For the full story, check out this link http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB10001424052702304259304576372892652648426,00.html

 

What are the ramifications if Rio Tinto is successful with their automated Dump Trucks?  Huge!  Think about all the trucking, earth moving, garbage compacting, road building and excavating that goes on around the world every day relying on high-paid skilled employees, and everything that comes along with that.  Now think about all of that happening in a controlled, air-conditioned command center, staffed by 1/10^th (or less) of the people, and it doesn’t take long to see how powerful, and profitable, the possibilities could be. 

 

Having a car park itself, the height of WOW just a couple of years ago, suddenly somehow seems so, well, yesterday. 

 

Superfund Liability is NOT a Thing of The Past

As I've written before, the risks related to your waste management activities and supply chain are NOT any smaller.  Too many companies continue to make waste vendor and disposal site selections based solely, or nearly solely, on what appears on the surface to be the cost (cheapest is bestest)  without considering what could be the actual long term costs and ramifications.  Case in point:  A client of ours recently received a nasty gram from the US EPA www.epa.gov called a "Demand Letter" advising them that they have been identified as a Potentially Responsible Party or PRP in a disposal site clean up action taken by EPA.  The letter matter of factly advised the client that 1.) "EPA believes that you may be liable for the payment of all costs incurred by EPA in connection with this site"  2.) "PRPs are jointly and severally liable for the whole amount" and 3.) "We hereby demand (I think that explains the letter's title) that you make payment...by cashier's or certified check made payable to "U.S. EPA Hazardous Substance Superfund" within 30 days.

This is one of those letters that can really ruin a person's, and a company's day.  It has a way of grabbing your attention and not easily letting go.  In this client's case, the EPA's demand is in excess of $2MM.  And as I've previously noted, these kinds of exposures are NOT typically covered by a companies General Liability Policy meaning, for most, whatever ends up being due is coming out of the corporate coffers directly.  Ouch...!

You don't ever want to get a Demand Letter and, since no one can predict the future, there is no sure fire to guarantee you'll never get one.  But there are ways to dramatically reduce the likelihood.  Here are 5 of those ways:

1.) Visit EVERY facility to which you are sending or considering sending any waste outside of your regular garbage (as long as that's going to a lanfill operated by a recognized industry leader like www.wm.com, http://www.republicservices.com/ or others).  This includes any recycling facilities you're using for fiber, tires, scrap metal (this client's demand letter related to a scrap metal yard clean up).

2.) Look for obvious housekeeping issues.  If the place looks sloppy on a tour, just think what it might look like when no ones visiting.  Poor housekeeping is a major cause of environmental contamination and a major potential liability for you.

3.) Make sure the facility is processing material when you are there.  If everything is shut down for you, or everyones on break during your visit, that's a sign...and not a good one.

4.) Make sure the disposal or recycling company is financially stable.  Ask for financial information, check for UCC filings, http://www.wdfi.org/ucc/ (this is WI's UCC site, court judgements and lawsuits pending.  Do this regardless of the size (or apparent size) of the company - large companies as well as small ones can be over leveraged and capital poor - neither of those scenario's should make you feel warm and fuzzy. 

5.) Make sure - Make sure - Make sure that the companies you deal with have an insurance policy that provides Sudden & Accidental Pollution insurance and that you are named as an additional insured on that policy.  Do this whether you are shipping Hazardous OR Non Hazardous (many Superfund sites were licensed only for non hazardous waste activities).  And be careful if someone tries to hand you An MCS 90 Endorsement which is NOT a pollution insurance policy!

Don't make short term decisions that may come with long term risks.  Don't have your day or your comapny upended by a PRP letter.  A little work up front is necessary, easy worth it and way less costly than responding to a Demand Letter will ever be! 

When It’s Time to Move On, Be sure to Finish Strong

Moving on is part of life.  At work, there comes a time in most every employee’s life when a new opportunity seems like the right thing to pursue.  Whether it’s the challenge of the work, the boredom of the work, the people with whom you work, the money, the benefits, the drive, your manager, the boss; one day it just seems like the right day to give something new a try.  And that’s totally fine.  But when that time comes, and you decide to deliver your two-week notice, keep this in mind.  Your last two weeks with a company will be the ones that most people at the company will remember the most…especially your boss. 

 

Being on the receiving side of your two week’s notice puts your boss in a tough spot, even if he or she is not at all sad to see you leave.  There’s always a question in the boss’ mind, “will I get any work out of this person in the next two weeks and, if not, what do I do about it?” I call it the “Quit Before You Leave” dilemma.  When you’re on your way out the door, your boss and your co-workers are left with very little leverage to ensure that you continue to do your job and, unfortunately, some departers seem to take advantage of that, relishing in the fact that you are powerless against them.  That’s short-sighted and stupid!

 

When you decide to quit your job, do it in the classiest way possible.  Don’t just continue to show up or carry a “you’re lucky I’m sticking around for two weeks” air about you.  Don’t hand a co-worker a pile of stuff that was your responsibility to accomplish but you never did.  Don’t come late, leave early or create excuses to skip work.  Don’t make a PR story out of it, sending out emails to folks outside the company telling them you’re leaving.  Don’t give everyone the opportunity to be disappointed in you after you’re gone, when they go through your stuff and find all the things you neglected, but never told anyone about. 

 

Instead, make your last two weeks the most productive of your career with the company.  Come early and leave late.  Get things done.  Leave your boss with a detailed list and summary of any outstanding items, the progress that you’ve made on them and what needs to be done to get them completed.  Look at it as your last hurrah, your two-week opportunity to show your boss and your co-workers who you really are.  Leave on your last day exhausted, but immensely satisfied that you gave it everything you could because that’s who you are and that’s what you want everyone to remember about you, even after you're gone.

 

And one final thing; whether you loved, liked, were neutral to or hated your job, send your boss a thank you after you leave.  And be sincere.  You never know what the world has in store for you and you never know who will be the person who makes that key difference for you at some point down the road.  Invest in your future by acknowledging the people who gave you opportunities or were kind to you along the way at the job you just quit -- they just might choose not to forget you.

 

I Am a Robot of Society

A little different direction with this post, as I thought I’d share a poem written by my 14 year-old daughter, Morgan. I thought it was pretty good.

                        Mike

 I Am a Robot of Society

                                              by Morgan Malatesta

 I am a robot of society.

I conform to the ideas of popular culture.
A simple opinion can change me
Morph me
Into a creation of the Masses.
I see no image of myself,
only of what I am created to be,
Clay in a Trendsetter’s hands,
Mainstream as my muse.

 I want to be accepted.
Praised for my conformity,
Not for my individuality.
I want to be part of a whole,
a We
I do not want to be solitary.
I want to follow, rather than lead.

I will
Starve
Die
Pierce
Burn
In order to be seen as an equal.
I will do whatever it takes to shine
In a sea of sameness.
I will be the best
Of monotonous nobodies.
Whatever is good for them is good for me.

I will change to fit the mold.

I am a robot of society.

 

Captive Insurance Option a Wise & Profitable Choice for Many Businesses

If you’ve read some of my earlier posts (http://wastebroker.typepad.com/thewastebrokerblog/2010/02/waste-and-pollution-are-good-partners.html), you already know that I don’t enjoy forking premiums over to the insurance companies to manage our potential risks, especially when we work so hard to minimize and mitigate those risks throughout our company. It just makes no sense to pay huge, non-refundable premiums that the insurance company gets to keep no matter how little they need to pay out for claims on our behalf.  It’s frustrating, wasteful and a disincentive to running a safe, well-managed business.

 

Fortunately, there is a way out. In 2007, I was introduced to an insurance option that, while new to me, has been popular and profitable to businesses for many years. This option is called an Insurance Captive.  While there is a lot of technicality to an Insurance Captive, the basic premise is very simple. Rather than paying insurance premiums to a traditional insurance company, you pay your premiums to the insurance captive. The captive pools your premiums with a large group of other safe, well-managed companies, the captive members, then negotiates with insurance and reinsurance companies to provide the necessary loss protections we all need. And here’s the best part – over time, the premium you pay the captive that doesn’t get spent on claims gets returned to you.  .  . with interest! Now that’s an insurance program anyone could rally around.

 

In our case, we joined the Raffles (www.rafflesinsurance.com) Captive in 2008. The captive is laser focused on making sure all member companies are safe and on top of all the best safety and audit practices. We’ve benefited tremendously from this focus and support, earning a Gold Safety Award in 2010 and reducing our insurance premiums by an average of about 33% over traditional insurance options. These savings have continued, even as our business has grown by 45%. That’s impossible to have happen in the traditional insurance world.

 

In a nutshell, here’s my advice:  If your company is safe and well-managed and you’d like to stop throwing your premium dollars away and instead become an owner of our own insurance destiny, you should learn more about insurance captives. A great place to start your research would be to contact Captive Resources, LLC (http://www.captiveresources.com/).  CRI is the expert in the captive insurance world and represents something like 25 captive insurers. Whether you choose to take the captive insurance route or not, you will find education alone to be extremely valuable.

 

One last note, I just returned from a shareholder meeting for our captive. A lot of facts, metrics, figures and statistics were shared with the members. There was figure that stood out from all the rest, the dividend, which for 2010 is expected to be approximately $35 million and will be returned to the roughly 300 captive members. It doesn’t take long to do that math, nor to question why you’d ever want to pay another dollar of premium to a traditional insurance company.  Check it out!

 

Stuxnet – A Lesson in How to Compete

As business owners and managers, all of us know that, as the competition changes, we need to change with it or risk becoming irrelevant or, worse, broke.  Today, there is a serious and deadly nuclear arms “game” being played in the Middle East http://www.mideastweb.org/maps.htm between Israel and Iran.  It is, I believe, an instructive lesson in learning how to effectively compete in a rapidly and, in this case, life-threatening way.

 

When Israel bombed Syria’s Nuclear Reactor Project in September 2007, it was a powerful demonstration of their military, intelligence and survival skills.  Thousands of hours of planning produced a surge that, in a mere matter of minutes, destroyed a program that not only threatened Israel, but quite possibly the entire Middle East and Europe as well.  Bombers, bunker busters, rubble, done. 

 

Fast forward three years and Israel once again finds itself facing a significant nuclear threat.  This time, the threat is from Iran and their “elected” President Mahmoud Amadinijad.  The similarities are both scary and different. 

 

On the scary side, it goes something like this - Crazy fundamentalist regime pretending to be a pseudo democracy, lies repeatedly about the existence of their nuclear program until that is no longer plausible to anyone, then shift gears, explaining that their program is only for power generation or other “peaceful” domestic projects.   Iran, like Syria before it, professes a desire to wipe Israel off the map but promise (wink, wink) not to do so with any of their nuclear capabilities. 

 

On the different side, Iran is a lot further from Israel than Syria.  The increased distance, while no challenge for a nuclear weapon, is impossible for Israeli planes to fly to and back without refueling.  And since no other country in the region will permit Israeli planes to refuel (or even enter their air space), it is functionally impossible.  In addition, the Iranians have perhaps prepared a bit better than their Syrian neighbors, building their nuclear plants deep underground in heavily fortified bunkers that, even if hit square on by a bunker buster, would likely withstand the attack.

 

Looking at the options, it was clear that Israel had no shot at using their traditional and powerful military hardware to eliminate this Iranian threat.  In addition, no Israeli “ally” was willing to help in a traditional way either.  Time for plan B….fast.

 

Enter Stuxnet.   Stuxnet http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2010/12/09/despite-iranian-claims-stuxnet-worm-causing-nuclear-havoc/ is the name give the computer worm that has apparently overwhelmed and, quite possibly, taken control of the computers running the Iranian centrifuges employed in the service of enriching their uranium, the nuclear fuel they need to bring the bang, so to speak, to the program.   Credit for the Stuxnet worm has been largely -- okay, exclusively -- attributed to Israel, though the Israeli’s aren’t talking. 

 

For now, the game is on.  Iran is trying desperately to defeat the Stuxnet worm and regain control of their equipment and their quest for nuclear “power” (as they, of course, choose to define it).  Israel, on the other hand, is trying to ensure their continued existence as a nation, a powerful motivation indeed.  What’s clear is that the stakes are incredibly high on both sides.   What’s also clear is that the game has changed and the competition is intense.  Iran, and its power hungry President, is going with the typical game plan.  Use the funds that their natural resource rich, but otherwise economically anemic, nation generates from oil sales to throw money at this Stuxnet problem, defeat it and, well…..watch out Israel.  Israel, a natural resource-poor nation, has chosen a new game plan, depending on its innovation, creativity and productivity, the combination of which has successfully fueled its vibrant economy since its founding, to defeat their better funded and ideologically challenged, but slower and less creative opponent.

 

Who will win?  Nobody knows.  But the Stuxnet worm is a symbol of a new way to try to compete in a modern warfare environment.  It’s also a lesson in adapting to compete that’s germane not just to war, but to all of our businesses as well.  

 

AWS Named to Inc. 5000 List of Fastest-Growing Companies for 2010

We are pleased and proud to report that Advanced Waste Services has again been included in in  Inc. Magazine’s List of the 5,000 Fastest Growing Companies in the U.S. for 2010.  This is the fourth year in a row AWS has been included in this list.  AWS ranked No. 3,318 on the list, with a three-year growth rate of 57%.  You can view the entire list at http://www.inc.com/inc5000/list.

We all know it’s difficult to grow in a recession, and every company faced many obstacles in their day-to-day operations.  Fortunately, AWS was able to overcome those obstacles and, despite the significant downturn in the economy, we've remained on track to still accomplish many of our goals.  We know we were only able to do this because of the trust and the continued opportunities our clients have afforded us, and we remain grateful for each and every opportunity to deliver positive and memorable experiences to our clients. We also know we couldn't have weathered 2009 as well as we did without the many contributions of the team of professionals we have assembled throughout Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana and Pennsylvania.

  Thank You!!!

 

 

 

Grain Silos Are Death Traps

Here’s a regrettable fact. Across the United States, a person is killed in a grain or other storage silo every 10 days. In 2009, 38 deaths! Many of these deaths involve children, teenage farm kids just trying to “get ‘r done” but whose lives are suddenly gone in an instant. All of these deaths were preventable. Each of these 38 deaths would likely have been avoided with the use of proper confined space entry equipment combined with appropriate training.

In a letter issued August, 4, 2010, OSHA warned grain storage facility operators to comply with OSHA’s Grain Handling Facilities Standard found at 29CFR 1910.272. The warning came in the wake of a tragic accident involving a grain elevator in Illinois, where two teenagers were killed and a third was injured. The young workers suffocated after being engulfed in a grain bin they had entered to help clear. The third teen was trapped for 12 hours.

When workers enter storage bins, employers must (among other things):

• Turn off and lock out all powered equipment associated with the bin, including augers used to help move the grain, so that the grain is not emptied or moving out or into the bin. Standing on moving grain is deadly; the grain acts like “quicksand” and can bury a worker in seconds. Moving grain out of a bin while a worker is in the bin creates a suction that can pull the workers into the grain in seconds.
  
• Prohibit walking down grain and similar practices where an employee walks on grain to make it flow.
  
• Provide all employees a body harness with a lifeline, or a boatswains chair, and ensure that it is secured prior to the employee entering the bin.
  
• Provide an observer stationed outside the bin or silo being entered by an employee. Ensure the observer is equipped to provide assistance and that their only task is to continuously track the employee in the bin.
  
• Prohibit workers from entering into bins or silos underneath a bridging condition, or where a build-up of grain products on the sides could fall and bury them.
  
• Test the air within a bin or silo prior to entry for the presence of combustible and toxic gases, and to determine if there is sufficient oxygen.
  
• Ensure a permit is issued for each instance a worker enters a bin or silo, certifying that the precautions listed above have been implemented.

Like any industry, the farm industry has a responsibility to ensure the safety of the family members and the employees who do the hard work of farming. Clearly, this responsibility has not been taken as seriously as it needs to be. And the results, a person killed every 10 days in a grain silo, is tragic in its preventability and criminal in its negligence. The dangers are known, as is the appropriate precaution. Let’s fix this now by making the proper training and equipment available and mandatory. And while we’re at it, let’s make an example out of those who thumb their noses and negligently send people to their early graves.