At Quincy Recycle, we strive to be a one-stop-shop solution to our customers and vendors. Our Collections and Logistics services help us achieve that goal and ensures we are providing the best service levels to our partners throughout each step of the recycling process.

What is Collections and Logistics?

In the recycling industry and particularly here at Quincy Recycle, we often “spot trailers” at our vendor’s facilities. That simply means we park an empty trailer at our partner’s loading dock for them to fill with their scrap material, such as plastics and metals. Once the trailer is full, a driver comes and hooks up to the trailer and hauls it away to one of our locations to be sorted and processed. Pretty simple, right? It may seem that way, but managing collections and logistics can present certain challenges.

In the past, we’ve primarily outsourced the collections process to local carriers. But, back in 2015, we started to ask ourselves if there was a better way to handle this part of our business. While we have many great relationships with local carrier partners, we would often find ourselves lacking control over certain aspects of the process. Things like scheduling, vehicle maintenance, and customer service standards were out of our hands. Those are all factors that can make or break the customer service experience for our partners.

Ultimately, we decided that to deliver consistent and reliable service that we’d need to take control of collections and logistics. So, five years ago in our St. Louis, MO location, QRP Logistics was born.

Why is controlling the collections process so important?

It’s easy to forget that the most frequent interactions our partners have with Quincy Recycle are with the drivers who pick up the trailers from their facilities. Those drivers are an extension of our business. They represent Quincy Recycle and who better to represent us than our own employees.

Our drivers are full-time employees at Quincy Recycle. They are part of our team and understand our business and are aligned with our vision and core values. When they show up to a vendor facility, they are in a branded Quincy Recycle truck cab, wearing a Quincy Recycle uniform, and provide a service experience consistent with the rest of our organization.

By taking back control of the process, we’ve been able to make the collections process more efficient and more reliable for our partners. Some key benefits include:

• Flexible pickup scheduling with the ability to offer 24-hour turnaround vendor pickup requests.
• Our drivers are part of the team and they know our business. They can often help solve problems on the spot, should they arise.
• Keeping the process in-house allows us to maintain competitive freight and material pricing.
• Consistent and reliable service experiences every time our driver is at your facility.

QRP Logistics – Past, Present, and Future

We already touched on how our in-house collections and logistics service began in St. Louis, MO back in 2015. Since then it has expanded into additional locations including West Bend, WI and Alsip, IL. Most recently we launched QRP Logistics at our Cedar Rapids, IA location. The results have been extremely positive so far and they’re already looking to add additional trucks and drivers to the mix to help keep up with the workload demands.

“It’s allowed us to provide great customer service. Our drivers interact with contacts at vendor facilities regularly and having them be Quincy Recycle employees is invaluable.” – Chad Crawford (General Manager – Cedar Rapids, IA)

QRP Logistics has allowed us to achieve greater alignment across our organization and our services offerings. In the end, it’s simple. We want to provide the absolute highest level of customer service possible. QRP Logistics helps us to achieve that goal and is something we’ll continue to invest in and grow. It’s an important component of our service offering and one that allows us to be the one-stop-shop solution our partners are looking for.

Are you interested in learning more about Quincy Recycle?

Quincy Recycle solves complex waste stream problems for manufacturers and other industrial supplies. We have an expansive service network spanning from coast-to-coast. Contact us today if you’re ready to take the first step towards achieving your sustainability goals.

Don’t forget to subscribe to our blog for the latest in industry news, recycling trends, and more!

And, check out our About Us page for company background and our Careers page for information on how to join our team.