From the time he was 18 years old, Dan Leiding worked in the waste disposal industry, learning the ins and outs of the business over the course of 30 years. He developed a reputation as a skilled driver who took productivity and efficiency to a whole other level, earning him the nickname Cowboy Dan. The name stuck, and so did his dedication to his craft. After almost 30 years working in the business, Cowboy Dan decided it was time to become his own boss.
That brought him to T&T Disposal Services, which was founded in 1996 in the MD of Foothills with one truck and a handful of steady residential and light construction customers. When Leiding bought the company in 2016, it had eight trucks supported by 10 employees, and through his vast experience and dogged determination, he grew the company one client at a time. A large municipal contract to collect recycling allowed him to add a few larger trucks, and then a permanent contract for multiple grocery store locations helped kick off the commercial branch of T&T.
“We were able to grow faster, putting more trucks on the road, all through word of mouth,” says Dan Leiding, president of T&T Disposal Services.
Mark Grunert had heard about Cowboy Dan long before they went into business together. Grunert was a flight instructor while he attended night classes to earn a business degree and one of his students was an executive vice president of a publicly traded garbage company who invited him to work at his company. After 9/11 grounded his flying dreams, Grunert took him up on his offer and learned the waste business over the course of several years before returning to work as a corporate pilot. He was always looking for new business opportunities, and he found a great one in late 2020.
“Garbage was always calling,” says Mark Grunert, chief operating officer of T&T Disposal Services. “I came back to a local hauler and through that time I met Dan and after a couple years, the timing worked out and I had the opportunity to become Dan’s partner.”
Leiding was expanding his company organically as well as through acquisition, and Grunert was eager to be part of T&T’s story. T&T bought a company called Contain-a-Way in late 2020 and then Diamond Valley Disposal the year after, and these acquisitions along with the energy infused by their partnership allowed the business to thrive and grow significantly both in the Foothills area, across Calgary and beyond.
Today, T&T has 36 trucks and a staff of around 35 people servicing a large number of commercial, industrial and residential clients from Fort Macleod to Airdrie to Strathmore to Banff, with a special focus on the local Foothills and Calgary clients that have helped build the company over the past five years.
T&T is known for its exemplary service in all lines of waste and recycling collection whether that involves a permanent bin for five years, leaving a front load or roll-off bin for a construction site or home renovation or scheduling curbside pick-up by hand or in a toter. From small businesses and small jobs to large construction sites, T&T has a bin that fits the job: front load bins range from two to eight yards and roll-off bins from 10 to 40 yards. The company also has expertise in septic tank pumping as well as Port-a-Potty and handwash station rentals to ensure the gamut of a client’s waste needs are met at one place. If they can’t accommodate a client request, which is very rare, they will find someone who can to make sure they are taking good care of their clients.
After all, service is the key to T&T’s success, and it was the mission from the beginning to attract and retain clients by providing the best possible service both in the office and in the field. It’s not enough to just sign a contract and add a client to the schedule; both the owners and the drivers, who are the faces of the company on the streets, develop strong relationships with clients. Many clients choose to pay their bills directly to their drivers so they can chat a bit or pop into the office to sit with the accounting team to catch up. T&T has made clients part of the family, and they would never let down family.
“At T&T, we’re in the service business, we just use garbage trucks to provide the service,” says Grunert.
That service focus means that everyone at T&T is accountable and accessible, from the drivers on the streets going above and beyond for clients to the owners who always answer their phones. If an issue should arise, the team makes it right and learns from the experience to ensure that something similar never happens again. The result is a list of long-time clients who see T&T as partners in their business rather than mere vendors. The team takes that distinction seriously and makes sure that they put out their best every day to be worthy of it.
That means hiring quality individuals to represent T&T Disposal, and the company has some of the best in the business. The office staff ensures the business and schedules run smoothly and will move mountains to accommodate last-minute requests for special services. The drivers are also incredible as they hit the streets every day, proudly representing T&T as they skillfully navigate busy traffic and tight spots to pick up hundreds of bins a day.
“We can’t do this without the people – our customers and our staff. The garbage business isn’t that glamourous but I think of it like from garbage to greatness,” says Grunert.
And since it started in 1996, and especially over the last few years with Cowboy Dan Leiding and Mark Grunert at the helm, T&T Disposal Services has definitely reached greatness levels in the residential, industrial, commercial waste and recycling world.
“We would like to personally thank all our staff, operators, maintenance, customers and many vendors that have helped us make this successful milestone and we look forward to many more years of service with and for you.”
64194 393 Loop E, Foothills 31,
Alberta T1S 0L1, Canada
403-938-7930
www.tandtdisposals.ca
