Second Chance Employer Profile
Waste Pro
Waste Pro, headquartered in Longwood, Fla., is one of the fastest growing privately held solid waste and recycling collection companies in the Southeastern U.S. Since its founding in 2001, it has grown from five employees and two trucks to more than 4,700 employees and 3,200 collection vehicles.
In 2024, the company’s overall annual revenues exceeded $1.3 billion. With operations in more than 90 locations, Waste Pro serves over two million residential and 100,000 commercial customers in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Tennessee, and North and South Carolina, with the heaviest concentration in Florida.
Waste Pro describes itself as a people company focused on safety and service. As a service-based provider, the largest population base of its employees is drivers and helpers. There are different types of collection trucks used to perform services. When rear load collection trucks are used, there is a driver and helper assigned to the route. The helper is the person on the back of the garbage truck that helps the driver. Drivers must have a CDL (commercial driver’s license) class A or B. The helper does not need to have a driver’s license, and neither position requires formal education.
Other positions include technicians, who must either have experience working on heavy-duty diesel trucks and have ASE (National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence) certification or be a graduate of a mechanic training program or school. Waste Pro also hires entry level technician positions designed to provide an opportunity for individuals to learn the industry while gaining experience. Dispatchers, customer service reps, administrative positions and managers are additional positions that help comprise Waste Pro divisions.
Second chance hiring practices
“Second chance employment is who we are as a company. We’ve always done it. We believe that there’s some great people who make mistakes, and we want to provide them opportunities to get a good job and to care for their family. It’s important to us,” says Erika Boyles, the company’s employment manager.
She shared that their second chance employees come through a variety of channels. Waste Pro participates in second chance hiring by forming meaningful partnerships with outreach organizations and community partners. Some examples of these are state department of corrections agencies, the National Reentry Network, Teen Challenge, work release programs and career service centers. “Our HR and hiring managers work closely with these partners to identify opportunities and qualified candidates. Because our second chance program has such a broad reach, we do not track the number of hires,” Boyles says. “Our focus is placed on the qualifications of the job and identifying the best candidates.”
Waste Pro is a sponsor of the National Association of Reentry Professionals and actively recruits employees who are in reentry wherever it can.
Community is at Waste Pro’s core. “It is more than just our company slogan. We want to give opportunities to our local communities to help reduce recidivism and provide a career path to those qualified candidates,” Boyles says.
Those wanting to work at Waste Pro go through an online application process. A background check is required but not until the applicant receives and accepts a job offer.
Once an application is received and reviewed, the next step is a phone interview that could progress to an in-person interview. Depending on the position, there may be post-offer testing required.
All employees go through a one-day onboarding process, which focuses on introducing the Waste Pro Way and safety, and ensuring that people understand their job so they can be successful in their new career. Each position has a specific training and onboarding plan.
Waste Pro operates a training program called Co-Heart Program for helpers or other employees who want to obtain their CDL. More than 500 employees have gone through the program since its inception in 2015. It’s not limited to second chance hires but open to all employees.
Participants learn advanced backing and driving skills, and rollover prevention among other things. They can then take the CDL certification test at Waste Pro’s Regional Operations Center in Sanford, Fla., a state-approved CDL testing site.
After completing the program, graduates undergo further training at one of the company’s two Driver Training Centers in Sanford, Fla., or Atlanta. Waste Pro shared that a third location will be announced in the future.
Graduates not only become drivers but move up the company career chain, becoming lead drivers, supervisors and managers.
Because Waste Pro has been a second chance employer from the beginning and has incorporated the practice into the company’s culture, Boyles sees only one challenge in hiring from this population.
“If someone has been away for a while a challenge can be not having an active CDL license. However, we can offer positions that do not require a CDL License and provide the individual the opportunity to get the training needed to obtain one through our Co-Heart program,” Boyles says.
“It’s rewarding having the ability to work for a company that wants to do things to help people. To be personally be involved in it makes me feel good. And what I’m doing every day makes a difference.”
“It’s nice to see people who have had challenges or barriers in their lives have an opportunity to create a successful and meaningful career with good pay and benefits. Our employees are everyday heroes. If the garbage doesn’t get picked up every day, it’s a problem.”