TrashCanBossPro Blog — Routes by Trash Day

Start, Skip, Complete: Closing Out Every Stop on a Bin Cleaning Route

A route is only as good as the information that comes back from it. If the office does not know which stops were done, which were skipped and why, the next route is built on guesses. In TrashCanBossPro, every stop closes out with one of three buttons. Each one tells the office, the customer and the billing something different.

Every Stop Ends the Same Way

Whether the stop is a single home, an HOA street or an apartment corral, as in HOA, Apartment and Dumpster Pad Stops on a Residential Bin Cleaning Route, the tech's card works the same way. Start, then Complete or Skip. That consistency is what makes the route data trustworthy.

Start

The tech taps Start when they begin the stop. It tells the office the stop is underway and keeps the route's progress honest. For customers watching the live route map in the customer app, the crew is now at their stop.

Start is also a good moment for the before photo. The cans as found, at the curb, full of last week's grime. That photo matters if a customer later questions the work.

Complete

Complete is the payoff. When the tech taps it after the after photo:

• The office sees the stop done, with photos attached
• The invoice is created, and a card on file can be charged
• For a recurring plan, the clock restarts, and the next cleaning comes due on the Waiting List after 7, 14 or 28 days

That one tap replaces a pen mark on a route sheet, a line typed into a spreadsheet and an invoice built by hand at the end of the week.

Skip

Skip is for stops that cannot be done. The tech taps Skip and writes down why. The office sees the skip and the reason right away. A skipped cleaning is not completed, so it stays on the books and, if not rescheduled, turns overdue on the Waiting List map after the grace period.

Good skip reasons are short and specific:

• "Cans still full, truck not through yet"
• "Cans put away, gate locked"
• "Gate code didn't work"
• "Customer asked to skip this week"
• "Dog loose in yard"
• "Weather, stopping route"

"Skipped" on its own is not a reason. The office cannot fix a problem it cannot see. A photo of the full can or the empty curb backs the reason up. For more on the two most common skips, see Missed Cans on a Bin Cleaning Route: Still Full or Already Put Away.

What the Office Does With It

At any point in the day, the Scheduled List shows each trailer's stops: done, skipped or still to go. The dispatcher can act on skips as they come in, moving a full-can stop later in today's route, rescheduling a locked gate, or texting a customer about a code.

At the end of the day, every stop should be either complete or skipped with a reason. Anything left open is a question to ask the tech before tomorrow's route is built.

Patterns in the Skips

One skip is an event. The same skip at the same address three weeks in a row is a pattern. Look at skip reasons across a month:

• Lots of "cans full" on one street means the trailer is beating the truck. Move that street later.
• Lots of "cans put away" means customers need the reminders or better location notes.
• Repeated gate code problems at one address means the note needs updating, now.

Fixing the pattern is worth more than handling the skip.

Photos Make the Buttons Count

The buttons say what happened. The before and after photos prove it. A customer who texts "the recycling can still smells" can be answered with the after photo of a clean, dry can. A customer who says nobody came can be shown the empty curb from the skip. Photos taken in the app stay with the job, so the office can find them without asking the tech to dig through a camera roll.

Keep it quick: one before shot of the cans together, one after shot. That is enough for nearly every question that comes up later.

Training the Crew

Teach new techs one rule: every card gets Complete or Skip before you leave the stop. No exceptions, no "I'll mark it later." It takes five seconds at the curb and saves a phone call at night. Show them how to write a skip reason and take the photo, and explain that the reason protects them as much as the company.

The Short Version

Start shows the stop is underway. Complete closes it with photos, creates the invoice and restarts the plan. Skip records why the stop could not be done so the office can fix it. Every card gets one before the tech leaves. For the rest of the routing tools, return to the TrashCanBossPro bin cleaning route software page.