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Junk Hauler Sends Trucks Here: Franchise Sets Up Metro-East Service

Posted on: Wednesday, 4 January 2006, 12:00 CST

By Will Buss, Belleville News-Democrat, Ill.

Got junk?

The St. Louis franchise of 1-800-Got-Junk, which claims to be the world's largest junk hauler, plans to bring a couple of trucks to the metro-east by the end of the month.

The business goes to people's homes and carries that old couch, refrigerator or any other nontoxic unwanted item from the basement or attic Monday through Saturday.

Franchiser and 28-year-old St. Louisan Noah Lander already has eight trucks, which drive through neighborhoods throughout St. Louis and in areas around St. Louis County. Before the end of the month, he plans to provide two of his trucks to serve residents in Belleville, Fairview Heights, O'Fallon and Collinsville.

"We thought Belleville, Fairview Heights, O'Fallon and Collinsville would be the places to start," Lander said. "We eventually wanted to get into metro-east."

Lander launched his franchise in April 2001, not long after graduating from the University of Arizona. He started hauling junk out of his own truck, and now employs a manager and 20 drivers who drive a fleet of eight trucks. He charges according to volume and by the cubic yard -- loads can range from $88 to $438 to haul.

The company's chief executive officer, Brian Scudamore, founded the company in 1989 in Vancouver. After dropping out of college, he invested his savings --all $700 of it -- on a beat-up truck and started hauling junk.

After 16 years, he also has franchises in Australia and plans to open others in England by next year. In the last five years, the number of North American franchises has increased from 14 to 200.

Lander said the company will haul junk to the dump, but will try to divert dumping in landfills, preferring to recycle and donate to local charities or sell refuge to scrap yards. The company boasts that up to 60 percent of junk it removes is reused.

As the company's name implies, customers can call (800) Got-Junk, or (800) 468-5865, to call for bulk trash removal.

Lander is waiting to receive two new trucks to accommodate his expanded service into metro-east. After that, he said he still plans to operate his business from St. Louis.

"But if things went right, we could get a satellite office over there," he said. "That's my goal, but I don't know if that will happen in metro-east."

Contact reporter Will Buss at wbuss@bnd.com or 345-7822 ext. 24.

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Copyright (c) 2006, Belleville News-Democrat, Ill.

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Source: Belleville News-Democrat (Belleville, Ill.)

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