A second 30-day progress report was released by the Priority Waste CEO on Thursday, detailing his recovery plan.
Aaron Johnson, the CEO of Priority Waste, is sending monthly updates to customers regarding the company’s progress in the recovery plan. He sent a letter to customers on Thursday, July 30.
Previous coverage --> Priority Waste CEO shares progress on plan to fix disruptions, delays across Metro Detroit
“I am thankful to the hardworking folks on our team who did their jobs and remained focused on serving our communities—even while working through extraordinary challenges, including extreme heat and the impacts from the Canadian wildfires. Their dedication and resilience produced meaningful results: the week immediately following the wildfire disruptions, we achieved our first 100% collection completion rate across every community we serve, since I became CEO. We will never turn a blind eye to any customer who is still experiencing service delays. We hear your concerns, we understand your frustration, and we are working every day to earn back your trust.”
Aaron Johnson, CEO of Priority Waste
According to Johnson, the company reached its first 100% collection completion rate across Metro Detroit since he became CEO.
Johnson also said 32 new collection trucks have been rented through an ongoing six-figure investment. He noted that the rental trucks will serve as a bridge until all 91 purchased collection trucks are delivered by the end of August.
You can view the full letter below:
Dear Residents :
One month ago, I spoke directly to all of you to take full accountability for the service failures you’ve experienced and to offer my sincere apology. I also outlined a five-point recovery plan focused on earning back your trust through measurable improvements, strengthened operations, and consistently reliable service. The month of July marked another important step forward in our recovery. It gave us the opportunity to continue making the operational changes necessary to deliver the first-class service you deserve. I am thankful to the hardworking folks on our team who did their jobs and remained focused on serving our communities—even while working through extraordinary challenges, including extreme heat and the impacts from the Canadian wildfires. Their dedication and resilience produced meaningful results: the week immediately following the wildfire disruptions, we achieved our first 100% collection completion rate across every community we serve, since I became CEO.
In addition, I am also proud to announce an ongoing six-figure investment in our operations through the rental of 32 new collection trucks. These rental trucks will serve as a bridge until all 91 new automated side-load collection vehicles we purchased are delivered by the end of August. These trucks will improve route reliability, increase operational efficiency, and provide more consistent collection service for households across Metro Detroit.
We will never turn a blind eye to any customer who is still experiencing service delays. We hear your concerns, we understand your frustration, and we are working every day to earn back your trust.
Below, please find updates on the progress we’ve made across each component of our Recovery Plan:
1. Fleet Expansion
To strengthen our operations, Priority Waste has purchased 198 trucks previously operating under rental agreements, as well as 91 new automated side-load collection vehicles equipped with upgraded technology to improve efficiency and reliability. To date, we have received and put into operation 37 of the 91 new vehicles plus the 32 rental units gives us a total of 69 new trucks on the road since June 1st.
2. Staffing Enhancements
Since I joined the company as CEO in June, we have hired more than 100 qualified drivers, and our recruitment efforts continue every day. As I shared previously, our goal is to maintain approximately 20% excess driver capacity, ensuring we have the workforce needed to respond to employee absences, seasonal demand, and unexpected operational challenges.
3. Container Reinvestment
When I joined Priority Waste on June 1, we inherited more than 10,000 outstanding container requests, some dating back to January. Since then, our team has reduced that backlog by more than 90%, with approximately 800 of those original requests still remaining. During that same period, we also received roughly 2,500 new container requests. Our immediate focus is completing the remaining original backlog, after which we will move as quickly as possible to fulfill these newer requests. While we recognize the frustration these delays have caused, we have dedicated significant resources to resolving every outstanding request and are making meaningful progress each week.
4. Customer Service Improvements
As I shared last month, we rapidly expanded our customer support capacity through a partnership with a Michigan-based contact center, significantly improving our responsiveness. Just as importantly, as service performance has improved, customer call volume has continued to steadily decline by 50%. Our average speed of answer has gone from around 10 minutes to 1 hour during the month of May to now under 4 minutes, in addition to our abandonment rate decreasing from 37% to 9% last week.
5. Recovery Operations
This month, our service recovery efforts improved significantly. In the rare event of a missed collection, service was restored the very next day in nearly every case, with only a few exceptions.
Sincerely,
Aaron Johnson
Chief Executive Officer