An Arrow Disposal Service Inc. garbage truck is parked at the company’s location on Highway 45.

Lauderdale County supervisors are looking to see garbage service improve after sharing residents’ complaints with the county’s garbage contractor.

In a work session Thursday, Arrow Disposal Service Inc. Founder and CEO Richard Urrutia said he too is unhappy with his company’s recent performance and is working hard to address the issues.

“The way to stop the phones from ringing is to pick up the garbage,” he said, “And that’s what we’re focused on.”

Urrutia said ASDI is dealing with issues on two fronts. The first, he said, is personnel.

Finding reliable employees who show up to work on time and on a consistent basis has become extremely difficult, he told the Board of Supervisors, and his company’s local office is seeing 30% to 40% of its workforce call out each week.

“I’ve never seen it this bad,” he said.

The staffing issues also impact the quality of ASDI’s service because the frequent turnover and substitute workers don’t allow for crews to fully learn the routes. As a result, Urrutia said, drivers may not know about the little house tucked away at the end or the road or the hidden cul-de-sac like a regular route driver will.

“It’s the quality of the people that we’re getting that’s really the problem,” he said.

Supply chain issues are also an ongoing problem, Urrutia said. Garbage trucks and parts for garbage trucks continue to be bogged down in supply chain disruptions left over from the COVID-19 pandemic. The end result, he said, is broken trucks take longer to fix, and new trucks take longer to arrive.

Supervisor Kyle Rutledge said the county is all too familiar with supply chain issues as it too has struggled to find needed equipment and parts that don’t need to be ordered months in advance.

Supervisor Josh Todd said he has a great personal friendship with Urrutia, but business is business. Lauderdale County residents aren’t getting the service they expect, and it is the Board of Supervisors and other county employees that have to feel their wrath.

A big issue, Todd said, is that it is difficult to get in touch with someone who can actually address residents’ problems. Customer service staff either make empty promises or refer residents back to the county, he said.

Lauderdale County supervisors were forced to increase the annual garbage fee from $100 to $168 beginning this year due to rising costs, Todd said, and now they are dealing with frequent calls about problems with the service.

Tax Collector Doris Spidle said one resident has already been in contact with her office requesting his garbage fee be prorated and a refund issued for the times garbage collectors missed his house.

County Administrator Chris Lafferty said recent changes to the county’s automated call routing menu and website have reduced the number of calls county offices receive about garbage issues.

Staffing and supply chain problems are issues, Urrutia said, but they are not county issues. County residents pay to have their garbage picked up, and that is the service they should be receiving. He said corporate managers are already on their way to Lauderdale County to help resolve the local problems and, while it may take some time, both county supervisors and residents can rest assured their garbage service will improve.