DumpsterBossPro Blog — Dumpster Rental Software

On-the-Way and Arrival Texts for Dumpster Rental Customers

The most common call a dumpster rental office gets is not a new order. It is "when is the truck coming?" The second most common is from a driver: "there is a car in the driveway, can you call them?" Both calls disappear when the customer gets a text at the right moment.

Photos at Drop and Pull: Protecting Your Dumpster Rental Company covered protecting your company with photos. This guide covers the simple texts that keep the customer in the loop.

Why Customers Need to Know

A roll-off delivery is not a package on the porch. The customer often needs to move a car, open a gate, unlock a fence or be home to point at the spot. When they do not know the truck is coming, the driver arrives to a blocked driveway and either waits, calls or leaves. Every one of those wastes truck time.

Pickups are similar. The customer might still be loading the can, or might have a car parked in front of it. A heads-up gives them a chance to clear the way.

There is a cost on the customer side too. A homeowner who took a morning off work to meet the truck and then waited three hours without a word will not rent from you again, even if the drop itself went perfectly. A text that says the truck is coming is often the whole difference between a good review and a bad one.

The On-the-Way Text

In the DumpsterBossPro driver app, the driver taps on-the-way and the customer gets a text from the company. No typing, no personal phone number. The text tells the customer the truck is headed their way so they can get ready.

The best time to send it is when the driver leaves the previous stop. That gives the customer enough time to move a car or open a gate, without being so early that they forget. Train drivers to make it part of the routine: finish the last job, tap on-the-way, start driving.

If a driver is running late, the on-the-way text still helps. A customer who gets the text at 11 instead of 9 is less annoyed than one who hears nothing at all. Pair it with a quick note from the office through two-way texting when a delay is long.

The Arrival Text

The arrival text goes out when the driver gets to the site. It lets the customer know the truck is there, which matters when they are inside, at the back of the property or at work. For contractors, it tells the site superintendent the can is being set or swapped.

The arrival text also gives you a time stamp. If there is ever a question about whether the driver showed up, the text and the job record answer it.

Automated Texts and Emails

On-the-way and arrival texts are one tap each. Other updates can go out automatically by text and email. DumpsterBossPro sends automated texts and emails for the routine notices, so the office is not writing the same message over and over.

Customers can also choose which alerts they want through the customer app. Some want every update; some want only the essentials. Letting them choose keeps the texts welcome instead of annoying.

Pickup reminders are a good example. A customer whose can is coming tomorrow can be told to stop loading above the rails and to clear any car parked in front of it. That one message prevents a lot of wasted pulls.

When the Customer Replies

Customers reply to texts. "Can you put it on the other side?" "I'm not home, gate is open." "Can you come back tomorrow?" Those replies land in two-way texting with the office, in one thread per customer, not on a driver's phone while he is backing a truck.

The office can relay what matters to the driver by updating the job notes, and the change shows up in the driver app. That keeps the driver focused on driving and keeps every message on the record.

Writing Texts That Work

Keep texts short, clear and branded with your company name. Say what is happening and what the customer should do. "Your dumpster delivery is on the way. Please make sure the driveway is clear." Avoid jargon. Customers do not know what a swap is until you explain it once.

Also keep an eye on what you send. Fancy punctuation can make a text cost more than it should with some providers, so plain wording is cheaper and easier to read. The next guide covers the customer app, where customers can watch the driver coming on a live map. To see how texting fits into the whole system, visit the DumpsterBossPro dumpster rental software page.