North Charleston, S.C.-based Carolina Waste & Recycling got its start “from scratch,” says company cofounder Scott Fennell, who launched the outfit with his father, George, in 2002. The company followed, however, a previous business, Fennell Container Company, founded in 1973 and sold to Republic Services in 1995. Carolina Waste built on lessons learned there — the Fennells exceeded Fennell Container’s revenue in half the time, and today their $25 million book of business along coastal S.C. routes employs 125 people, including around 70 drivers.
Between waste transport, processing and recycling, and landfill services, the company handles more than 800 tons of material daily with 500 construction customers and trash pickup for 15,000 residential and 4,000 commercial properties and the city of Charleston.
Fennell says his maintenance workers have adjusted to the higher-level technology with the newer Macks and anticipates they will continue performing most of their own maintenance in-house. Carolina Waste’s sales rep at the Hughes Motors Inc. dealer lauds the company’s maintenance prowess. “They truly are a top-notch operation,” Peek says. “I challenge you to find another refuse company that does such a good job on maintenance. From the oldest to the newest truck, you can hardly tell them apart.”