The T.S.F. Company hasn’t changed its customer-centric approach to business all that much since the company was founded in 1959. But it has invested in new technology that increases efficiency, productivity and profitability.
A good example is RouteOptix, a Routeware Global company, fleet-management and automation platform the company started using three years ago, says Mat Schenk, who co-owns the company with his mother and father, Patty and Bob Schenk.
Before adopting the RouteOptix technology, employees used a typewriter to fill in key customer information on a service form, then gave the forms to drivers with delivery or pick-up tickets. Then the driver would figure out the route.
Later, the driver would write down the time he delivered or picked up restrooms, he explains.
“Then it all went in a binder,” he says.
More often than not, drivers didn’t fill out all of the necessary paperwork. That left dispatchers guessing the number of restrooms rented and where they were located.
“We needed a program to tell us where our inventory was, as well as determine the most efficient and economical service routes,” he explains. “RouteOptix took a lot of guesswork out of the process.”
Using the cloud-based system has boosted efficiency, according to Schenk. For example, when a driver calls in sick, the replacement driver uses a tablet to call up the route for that day’s pickups and deliveries.
“We found out about RouteOptix at a Water & Wastewater Equipment, Treatment & Transport (WWETT) Show,” Schenk says. “We also heard about it from vendors and sales customers.”
The software platform also offers billing, accounting and payroll functions, he says.
Read more about T.S.F. Company in the January issue of Portable Restroom Operator.
