As a team, A to B Hauling focuses on communication with customers as much as possible. The goal is to make them feel like they are an important part of the company’s success and that they are a priority. As a result, this philosophy has led to fast growth for A to B Hauling over the last several years.
Created in October of 2014 as a junk removal company, A to B Hauling (Tulsa, OK) owner Alex Gavrilov and his wife had decided to buy a little 14′ x 50′ shed and wanted to build it into a house. So, they bought a truck in order to haul materials over to their new “home”. Living with no electric or plumbing for almost nine months while learning how to do all the work themselves, Gavrilov was trying to think of a way to use his truck to start a business. After deciding he wanted to go into solid waste, he began looking at what was the number one thing that clients wanted in the solid waste industry and, ultimately, decided that A to B Hauling’s main focus would be on providing excellent customer service. Starting with just five dumpsters, A to B Hauling quickly started establishing themselves and started to get a high call volume and a customer need for dumpsters. In late 2018, the company began offering 15-yard dumpster rentals and expanded into 20 to 30 yard dumpsters within the next few months. By 2019, the company owned 37 dumpsters. It was then that Gavrilov made the decision to discontinue buying more dumpsters so that the company could transition into larger equipment since they were building momentum. Currently focusing on C&D and non-hazardous waste, A to B Hauling has four employees and three vehicles in their fleet serving Tulsa County and a few other counties in the surrounding areas. After the material is collected, it is taken to Tulsa Recycle and Transfer for processing.
Middle: A to B Hauling’s first set of dumpster equipment.
Bottom: A to B Hauling setting dumpsters for Life Church.
Growing the Company
“I started A to B Hauling when I was 24, and one of the biggest challenges I have gone through is keeping up with demand of our services. As a young business owner, with little resources, I had to be smart in the way A to B Hauling would grow. I’ve tried to stay lean with our finances and find creative ways to expand,” says Gavrilov.
From day one, A to B Hauling’s biggest strategy for growth has been to provide exceptional customer service. “There is a way to give our clients a ‘customer service experience’, such as timeliness, cleanliness, etc. when dropping off and picking up dumpsters. To me, the biggest way that we can provide customer service is by having constant communication with our customers. If we are late, they know. If we are early, they know. If we didn’t complete the route for the day and had to move them to the next day, they will know. Customers have their own timelines, and respecting their time is one of the most important things. Every aspect of the customer experience is evaluated to provide a service that they want to tell others about,” says Gavrilov.
In addition, A to B uses their dumpsters as canvasses, hiring a local artist to either give the dumpsters a great look with the artist’s own style or to create art that can connect with the community. “It gives the neighbors something to talk about when they see our dumpsters around. People enjoy spotting the new dumpsters with art they haven’t seen. In fact, in 2021, we will be starting a new program that will allow us to truly give back to the community. We will be partnering up with local charities in order to put their logo or the artwork that they desire on our dumpsters. Every time we rent out ‘their’ dumpster, we will donate to their cause. I am really excited to be able to give back, especially in times like these,” comments Gavrilov.
A to B Hauling’s main challenge is keeping up with demand for their services in the market. “We have done the hard work to make a name in Tulsa, and now it’s time to follow through with the right expansion strategy,” says Gavrilov. He believes the industry’s #1 challenge is changing the way we look at our consumers expectations. “Consumer habits are changing and so are their expectations. We always need to look at evolving our marketing strategy to connect with our consumers. Consumers are looking for faster, better and on-demand services. The more we adapt to their needs, the better we can be as an industry.”
On Track
While A to B Hauling has followed state guidelines on current COVID safety requirements, they are not typically in close proximity to others outside their working environment, but take
pre-cautions as needed, such as social distancing, taking more payments over the phone and making sure employees get tested if they have any symptoms. “COVID-19, surprisingly, has not really affected our business,” says Gavrilov. “It has actually done the opposite. We are on track to grow 60 percent this year and are seeing strong trends showing that 2021 will also be a high growth year. I believe that with so many people working from home, they want to create a clean space in their home and are doing a lot of decluttering. Our clients that remodel homes have also seen a spike in business due to people wanting to create a good environment for them to work in.”
Rising to the Top
With A to B Hauling getting 50 new cans within the next few months and purchasing two New Kenworth hook lift trucks, they are planning to transition their equipment to service larger dumpsters and commercial clients. In addition, the plan is to continue their high growth in 2021, while still offering the same service they did that got them to the top in the first place. “I believe one of the things we are best at is communication. As a team, we focus on communication with our customers as much as possible. We want our customers to feel like they are an important part of our success and to make them feel like they are a priority,” says Gavrilov. “I think our most outstanding achievement is becoming the highest rated dumpster rental business in a short time. We have more than 300 reviews across platforms with almost all reviews being 5 stars. I feel like that has led to fast growth and shows that we care about our customers.” | WA
For more information, call (918) 900-4285, e-mail [email protected] or visit www.AtoBHauling.com.