DumpsterBossPro Blog — Dumpster Rental Software

What a Driver App Should Do for Roll-Off Drivers

Roll-off drivers do not want an app. They want to know where they are going, what they are carrying, where to put it and where to dump it. Any app that gets in the way of that will be ignored in a week, and you will be back to a printed list on the dash.

Delivery, Pickup, Swap, Dump & Return and Relocate: Setting Up Dumpster Rental Job Types covered the five kinds of work a driver does. This guide covers the tool he does it with.

Jobs in Order, Nothing Else

The first screen a driver sees in the morning should be his day: the jobs assigned to him, in route order, for today. Not a dashboard, not a menu, not a list of every job in the company. In the DumpsterBossPro driver app, that is exactly what he gets, and it is the same order the office set on the dispatch board.

If the office changes the order or adds a job during the day, the driver's list changes with it. He finishes a job and the next one is right there. No phone call to ask what is next.

Both Addresses and One-Tap Navigation

Every roll-off job has a site address and, for pulls, swaps and dump and returns, a haul-to address for the landfill or transfer station. Both are on the job in the driver app, and both are one tap from navigation. A new driver can run a full route on his first day without knowing the area.

That matters more than it sounds. The most common call to dispatch from a roll-off truck is "what was that address again?" and the second most common is "which dump does this go to?" When both are on the job, both calls go away.

Dumpster Details and Placement Notes

Before he leaves the yard, the driver needs to know what size can to load and, for the job, the unit number and debris type. The driver app shows those dumpster details on each job. He can confirm he has the right can on the truck instead of finding out at the site.

The placement and access notes are what make the drop go right: set it on the left side of the driveway, boards under the rails, watch the low wire over the gate, gate code is in the note, call before backing in. When those notes come from the office straight to the driver, the can goes where the customer wanted it on the first try.

Start, Complete and Photos

The driver taps start when he begins a job and complete when it is done. That is not busywork. A completed delivery is the start of the rental. A completed pickup is the end of it, and that is what the billing is figured from. The office sees each job move on the dispatch board without calling anyone.

Photos are the other half. A photo of the can in place at delivery shows exactly where it was set and the condition of the driveway. A photo of the load at pull shows what was in it. Those photos are saved to the job, not to the driver's camera roll, so the office can pull them up the day a customer calls with a question.

Texts to the Customer

From the app, the driver can send an on-the-way text and an arrival text to the customer with one tap. The customer knows the truck is coming, can move the car out of the driveway and does not need to call the office. It is the single biggest reduction in inbound calls most companies see.

The driver does not have to type anything or use his personal number. The text goes from the company, and replies land with the office in two-way texting.

Getting Drivers to Use It

Roll the app out to all drivers on the same day and stop printing route sheets. Show them the three things that matter: the list, the navigation buttons and the complete button. Let them discover the rest. Most drivers are on board within a week, because the app answers questions they used to have to call about.

Ask your drivers after the first week what is missing from the notes they get. Their answers will tell you more about your intake process than any report will.

The next guide goes deeper on placement and access notes, the details that decide whether a drop goes right. To see how the driver app fits with dispatch and billing, visit the DumpsterBossPro dumpster rental software page.