Franklin, Tennessee Reduces Annual Operating Costs by 37%

The City of Franklin, Tennessee, implemented RouteSmart and RouteSmart Navigator and saw an increase in waste route optimization and a 37% reduction in annual operating costs directly attributed to the decrease in miles driven, truck usage, and labor costs. 

Relying on a multitude of manual tools such as paper maps, GPS, spreadsheets, pens, and driver knowledge to service approximately 38,000 households’ trash collection wasn’t proficient or cost-effective for the City of Franklin, Tennessee. However, once they implemented RouteSmart and RouteSmart Navigator, they saw an increase in garbage collection efficiency and a 37% reduction in annual operating costs of $1,083,812 directly attributed to the decrease in miles driven, truck usage, and labor costs. 

RAPID GROWTH SPURRED NEED FOR EFFICIENT ROUTE PLANNING AND RESULTED IN MASSIVE SAVINGS

Franklin is Tennessee’s seventh-largest city with a population of 83,454. The city’s steady growth each year has impacted all departments, particularly public works, as they struggled to keep up with demand and rising expenses. This emphasized the imminent need for the city to create an efficient waste collection route plan with RouteSmart. 

Once the City of Franklin implemented RouteSmart software for their waste collection route planning, they were able to swiftly optimize route plans that balanced the workload for residential collection. After consolidating residential routes from a five-day to a four-day work week, RouteSmart also optimized the commercial front-load and streets department routes. The city was able to quickly reduce the street sweep cycle from seven to three weeks, reduce complaints, and ensure more consistent service. 

“One of the most significant ongoing benefits from our partnership with RouteSmart is being able to optimize our routes,” said Bryan Brown, Routing and Operations Analyst at the City of Franklin. “In addition, RouteSmart Navigator has helped tremendously with communications between drivers and our customer service team.” 

By moving from manual tools to RouteSmart, the City of Franklin quickly improved its waste collection and street sweeping efficiency and reduced operating costs by over a million dollars annually while improving customer service—all as the city continued to grow. This shift to waste management route optimization has been crucial for their success. 

RouteSmart focuses on delivering powerful and scalable solutions to help reduce distribution costs and optimize efficiency across the public works industry. To share or save this case study, select one of the options below. To learn more about better route planning and optimization with RouteSmart, connect with Jessica Cearfoss, Business Development Manager, or Danielle Baci, Client Success Manager.