241–250 of 283 posts
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They don't already have an arrangement? I've never noticed this problem at a grocery outlet.
It's called a dumpster, and it sits behind the building so customers don't see it.
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> they increase the price every year without making the service better Inflation? EDIT: Not sure I understand the downvotes. The cost of milk goes up every year too, and it doesn't get any better. Between inflation and unsustainable municipal expenditures (e.g. pension plans), it's not surprising that trash service follows the same MO.
Maybe the person meant: "increase the price more than the inflation rate". At least, that's how I'd read such a comment.
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Marxism is entirely orthogonal to the idea of "government-provided services."
Marxism and socialism are often clumped together in these sorts of discussions. They both happen to be examples of pretty-bad and un-free systems of government.
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lots of small deliveries
Even so, they have to pay their own fuel costs...
Delivering to a bunch of vehicles on one street or hitting a bunch of vehicles in one lot/garage is better than one fill per location.
It seems like they shouldn't be targeting consumers except as a means to target small businesses and municipal fleets.
Modern fuel pumps are slow compared to the old ones. (Seriously, if you stop at a gas station with the old style pumps it'll blow your mind how fast they are.) Sending someone to put 20gal in a van takes at least 20min assuming a few minutes driving. @ $9/hr that's the same labor cost as a $3 fee. Paying these people to come to you and fill your fleet of vans costs the same but is more convenient and ensures you get the lowest local price.
This is great but what if, hold on, we paid taxes.
I think government will not seize the opportunity to organize itself using internet technologies, for the simple reason that people will complain about surveillance (government slowness and red carpets would also be an issue).
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Everywhere I've lived in the U.S. has a periodic oversized/miscellaneous waste pickup day where they will pick up almost anything that doesn't go in the normal trash, for free. Well, by free I mean for no existing charge above whatever you might already pay as a waste fee or tax. I'm not sure where you live so it's possible this doesn't exist everywhere though (it might only be a U.S. thing?). The everything-else was…
Small data point, but I've lived all over California and never heard of such a thing.
For example, here are the pages for Los Angeles, San Francisco, Santa Cruz, and San Jose, which all offer the service free of charge: https://www.lacity.org/for-residents/popular-services/bulky-..., https://www.recology.com/recology-san-francisco/bulky-items/, http://www.cityofsantacruz.com/government/city-departments/p..., https://www.sanjoseca.gov/index.aspx?nid=3649
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Where in (presumably) the US was this?
The parent's story is essentially universal in the US and has been for decades. Almost no convenience stores make money on gasoline, unless they're operating a special setup (the convenience store chain Sheetz for example has tried to build out their own gasoline business to cure this problem). There are a few routine exceptions, usually involving either some kind of rare location (eg right outside an airport exit, u…
Profit on gas was measured in cents per liter, with premium giving the best margins. And by best I mean $0.023/L or $0.087/gal.
Renting a dumpster will go unused for most of the time I've rented it for; it'll also cost $400-$500 it seems.
I don't have an HOA, but I'd bet I'd only be able to choose from the nicest (read: pricy-est) waste management companies and have little time with it in my driveway.
Getting those "Bagster" things is pretty cool, but kinda steep considering I have to buy the bag(s) and each one will cost $100-$150 to remove.
This is a much better solution than using my 2-car garage as a holding tank until I get a "dumpster's worth" of crap to throw away.
While people are put off by "Uber for X", sometimes it just makes sense, and makes people's lives better.
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>There's lots of reasons that you have beyond the normal amount of garbage or difficult to deal with garbage. It's really hard to get it removed if you need it on a short notice. Why not use 1-800-GOT-JUNK or a similar service?
Apps are the "1-800-cheesy-mnemonic" for the new generation. it is 100% the same formula. Start by hiding your real cost in weird price schemes. Advertise like crazy. ???. Profit. It is a proven method. And it revamped for every generation. 1-800, app, "as seen on tv", catalogs, etc. And now you have subscription services of tangible goods for the millennials.
Although I laugh at the name, there's no one else doing anything like 1-800-Got-Junk for overrun garages, overcrowded basement storage, etc.
The only thing I notice is that each region has a 1-800-Got-Junk operating under a different name.
It's also not a subscription service (?)
This is great but what if, hold on, we paid taxes.
I pay roughly a 50% income tax, and in spite of that municipal garbage collection is, well, garbage. Regular waste is easy enough: weekly collection is OK. Larger items which can be incinerated are OK-ish: need to make an appointment two weeks in advance, and pay by weight. Anything else and I'm screwed. I'd like to get rid of a metal ladder, but it can't be incinerated. I'm supposed to take it to a municipal recycli…