Special Messages
Special Messages To Our Neighbors and Customers
July 9, 2021
Metro Service Group Committed to Using All Available Resources to Address Staffing Shortages in Orleans Parish Waste and Recycling Removal
New Orleans, LA, July 9, 2021- Metro Service Group is working hard to address worker shortages and improve employee recruitment and job training for the company’s Orleans Parish operations.
Metro, like numerous other sanitation contractors around the United States, has suffered from staffing shortages throughout the Covid-19 pandemic.
As a part of the “Back to Work Louisiana” campaign the Louisiana Workforce Commission, LWC, is partnering with businesses across the state who are working hard to get people back into the workforce. Metro reached out to LWC to use the proven resources they have available, including job fairs and training opportunities, to assist in this effort.
Like so many other businesses, LWC will assist Metro in workforce development and recruitment through electronic outreach, help the company with tools to expand driver training, and use existing programs to make cross training current Metro employees easier. These steps will go a long way toward being able to fill numerous staffing roles within the company.
“These programs the Louisiana Workforce Commission offers show they recognize the need for an innovative approach to help businesses in need, including ours, during these difficult times,” said Metro President Jimmy Woods, “We recognize that many residents of our service district have been inconvenienced by periodic delays as we have struggled to recruit and retain employees to conduct the difficult work of keeping the city’s streets clean with ever increasing volumes during the pandemic.”
This is one of several steps the company has taken to meet its contractual obligations to the City of New Orleans to provide timely and high quality sanitation services for the residents of Orleans Parish.
Other steps taken by the company include salary adjustments to ensure the company’s ability to compete in the current employment environment and meet the company’s obligation to the people of New Orleans, bringing in Metro employees from other communities in the region, and sub-contracting with other sanitation companies to increase the pool of available personnel on Metro’s routes.
Metro collects at approximately 70,000 homes in the city three times per week over the largest geographic area of any of New Orleans’ three sanitation contractors. The company also has operations in several other south Louisiana parishes and Mississippi counties.
“Metro has explored numerous options to recruit new workers and to retain current workers in a highly competitive employment environment,” said Woods, “These tools LWC offers give us a new avenue for recruitment and job training that we believe can reap short-term benefits as we seek to fulfill our obligations to the city and its residents as our company has faithfully done for the last nearly 40 years.”
Persons interested in applying for positions with Metro can click here.
About Metro Services Group
Metro Service Group, located in New Orleans, is a multi-faceted corporation with specific expertise and certifications in the areas of commercial and residential sanitation environmental services, construction and demolition, disaster response and recovery. Founded in 1982 by brothers Glenn and Jimmie Woods, Metro has grown from a single axle rear loading truck into a major industrial services firm. Metro Services Group is one of two minority owned sanitation providers contracted with the City of New Orleans for residential waste removal and recycling. Metro Services Group has business operations throughout southeast Louisiana and southern Mississippi.
June 28, 2021
A Special Message From Metro Service Group Regarding Trash Collection
Dear Friends and Neighbors:
Thank you for your continued patience as we at Metro and other local sanitation companies seek to improve our collections performance and recruit new drivers to help us collect at the more than 70,000 homes we service three times per week. While no delays are good and all delays are inconvenient for our customers, we have in fact made significant progress in addressing delayed routes and are frequently on or close to on schedule on some days. The company has also made progress in recruiting additional drivers in a very competitive employment environment. As you know from the significant number of restaurants and other businesses around town that remain closed or are operating on reduced hours, employee recruitment is a challenge for all in the various service industries. Many of our peers in the waste collection business are feeling this pinch too. Still, we are continuing to engage local staffing services, and are working hard to incent former Metro drivers to return to work so we can meet our longstanding commitment to the people of New Orleans.
We apologize to those customers whose collections have been delayed more than the city’s established 24-hour window for pick-ups, and are grateful for the patience many people have shown as we have worked through these challenges.
As appropriate, this website will continue to provide new information as it is made available.
Jimmie Woods for Metro Service Group, Inc
June 16, 2021
A Special Message From Metro Service Group Regarding Trash Collection
Dear Neighbors:
Metro Service Group continues to make progress in recruiting additional drivers and catching up on various routes. We sympathize fully with those residents who have experienced a delay in garbage pickup service. There is light at the end of the tunnel, and we are working 24/7 to expedite a return to regularized and on-time collections. In the meantime, we are grateful for the patience many people have shown as we work through these challenges.
Regardless of the level of frustration you may have, we would ask that you show the hard-working men and women of Metro and the other companies that collect trash and recycling in the city the highest level of respect during this difficult time.
Our Progress
Over last weekend, we temporarily reassigned drivers from our operations in Mississippi who worked tirelessly to ensure pick-ups at thousands of houses in several neighborhoods. Additionally, new fulltime drivers have also been recruited and we are doubling down on our efforts to enlist staffing agencies and other resources to provide additional labor.
We are grateful for the support of some of our peers in the sanitation industry, Richards, Ramelli and Waste Pro, who recognize that this is an acute national problem that has hit home here in New Orleans over the last several weeks. For more on why this situation is happening here and the national context of a shortage of sanitation workers please consider the following:
THE PANDEMIC EFFECT: WORKERS MATTER
Several residents have asked why we cannot simply hire anyone who might be looking for a job. Here’s why: Our shortage is in qualified drivers, not hoppers. By law, and based on the demands of our insurance carrier, all drivers must have a clean driving record, a Commercial Driver’s License and two years of experience driving a commercial truck. They must also pass all required drug and alcohol tests. With many people still not returning to work following the pandemic, the pool of qualified drivers is limited, and competition is very steep. This article further demonstrates the acute national challenges many cities and companies are facing:
We are continuing to update our website (metroservicegroup.com) and invite the public to monitor the site for new information as it is made available.
Again, from the women and men of Metro Service Group, Inc., thank you for your patience as we seek to recruit additional drivers and get back to business as usual, on time collections and clean streets.
Jimmie Woods for Metro Service Group, Inc
A Special Message From Metro Service Group Regarding Trash Collection
Dear Neighbors –
Some of you may be experiencing periodic delays in trash pickup in your neighborhood. Please know that we are acutely aware of these delays, that we share your concerns and that we are doing everything possible to correct the situation and stay on schedule in keeping your neighborhood clean. Please know also that what is happening in parts of New Orleans is happening all over the country in different cities.
While this is not intended as an excuse, it is important to understand the context of the staffing shortages we are currently having. Note too that the local sanitation community is not the only industry facing these challenges. City government itself is short staffed as the recent announcement of reduced hours for NORD swimming pools (due to a lack of lifeguards) demonstrates. And as I’m sure you’ve seen, many local restaurants are still closed or are operating on reduced hours coming out of the pandemic. Unfortunately, as a sanitation company with a public contract to serve our neighbors, we have no such flexibility, and must do our best to meet our contractual obligation to you as a resident, and to the city.
Our contract requires us to pick up from residences within 24-hours of the scheduled pick-up day. In the vast majority of instances we are still on schedule to do so, despite the challenging staffing shortages.
Why Is Pickup Delayed In Some Areas?
Delays are limited and are not citywide. Delays are often less than 24-hours and are based largely on an absence of qualified drivers as we emerge from the pandemic. By law, all drivers have to qualify and meet certain rigid standards. That limits the “pool” of candidates for driver positions.
The huge increase in the volume of trash to be picked up during the pandemic means that crews are spending more time at individual households. And importantly, while many other cities around the US have suspended recycling programs, New Orleans has not, which forces Metro and other city waste to continue picking up at all residences three days a week instead of two. These are all contributing factors toward periodic delays.
What Is Metro Doing About It?
Since the very first day of delays, we have been in on-going conversations with other sanitation companies in the entire SE Louisiana area to explore ways to subcontract or share workers. Because they, too, have staffing challenges or other obligations they need to meet, collaborating and sharing workers has been difficult. Still, we have had some success. In fact, just on Wednesday June 9th we were able to add four new trucks and crews to help catch up. We have also brought in teams from our company operations in Mississippi and elsewhere to help increase our staffing pool and will continue to work to add new crews wherever possible. We are also in daily contact with local and regional staffing companies to recruit new workers to help fill these voids.
How Long Might This Last?
We are being as aggressive and creative as possible to solve these delays and meet your expectations but cannot project a specific timeline, especially as we know other local companies are beginning to experience challenges too.
At Metro, we have served the city and its residents well for over 16-years, bringing immense value and quality service to the community. We are grateful for the confidence the city and its people have shown us for so long and are striving to maintain your trust and confidence as we work through these challenging times. Please be as patient as possible, and please continue to show the highest levels of respect for the hard working men and women working our routes and all the sanitation routes in the city.
Again, please accept our apologies for any concern or inconvenience these delays may be causing you and your family, and thank you for your patience as we work through these staffing and service delay challenges.
Jimmie Woods
For the Woods Family and Metro Service Group