Alan McKim

"This book is the story of an amazing company called Clean Harbors. I started this company more than 40 years ago along with three employees, $15,000 and a truck, nothing more, nothing less. At age 24, I would never have imagined in my wildest dreams that our company would have grown to the size it is today, and focused on the important mission of keeping the environment clean. I’m proud to say that over the past four decades, we may have done more to clean up the environment in America than any other company or organization. Also, in 2022, Clean Harbors generated $5 billion in revenue and employed more than 20,000 employees."

"The big one – the fight of all fights – took place between us when I was 17 years old. It started with the usual screaming at my mom and ended up with us tangled together, me fiercely clenching his collar and telling him never to touch her again. It was the first time I grabbed my father, and having had more than enough, things would never be the same again. After that night, I essentially had no use for my father, and for the longest time, held tremendous anger against him. Even today, I deal with the traumatic side effects of what he did. My father was probably proud of my later successes in life, but I would never know because, as father and son, our relationship was forever damaged."

"“You are never too old to set another goal or to dream another dream.”   -C.S. Lewis"

"expenses. I observed that big companies and investors were buying companies willy-nilly and then selling off the seemingly unprofitable parts of their acquisitions. But, where they saw failing parts or pieces of businesses they did not want, I saw assets that could be rehabilitated with relatively little investment and attention; I saw businesses that could be transformed into profitable assets.  There were some hostile takeovers, and there were some subsidiary businesses that were all too often destroyed, leaving behind broken plants, broken careers, and unserved customers. So, I asked myself what if we could acquire some of these subsidiary companies, apply our greater expertise and know-how, and then turn them around? Before too long, that’s exactly what we were doing. I loved to find companies that were lodged inside the bubble of big corporations. These corporations often had no clue what was going on in these smaller subsidiaries that somehow ended up on and appeared to weigh down their balance sheets."

"With no financial degree and having never done anything like it before, I didn’t even know that I could get a line of credit against my accounts receivables; A/R financing was not something I had done or experienced before. But I learned fast, and as it turned out, A/R financing saved us on many occasions because we were expanding literally on the strength of our accounts receivables. In 1981, we doubled our revenues to $1.2 million."

"The Eldia shipwreck also catapulted our growth in terms of revenue. It was like getting a full shot of adrenaline in the arm for the whole company. I’ll admit that the emergency events business is a choppy one from a revenue standpoint – it’s very unpredictable – so it takes great perseverance. But with our company tackling large-scale events, notwithstanding this choppiness, history will show that the sustained brand awareness created a broader reputation that drove our revenue across all our lines of business."

"Even though we were always tight for cash, we gave out fresh turkeys for the holiday that first year. My father-in-law owned a supermarket called Rico’s Market, and we were able to get turkeys for cost, so the tradition of giving out turkeys was born. That tradition has lasted every year we have been in business. I smile to think our cost to buy turkeys in 2022 will be close to our total revenues in 1980!"

"when I refer to our good fortune or good luck, I’m referring to starting an oil spill and waste clean-up company the same year that these new laws and regulations came into effect. It’s not like we planned it that way or did some clever market study. Heck, we didn’t even understand the full ramifications of RCRA."

"Emergency Response is really the marketing arm of our company, and the revenue and profits from the events are just the frosting on the cake."

"This is when I experienced a transforming light bulb moment. If we were going to clean up the waste, why not transport the product to its endpoint as well. It soon became apparent to me that there was a real niche opportunity to haul hazardous waste in a fleet specifically designed for the tricky business of transporting government-regulated waste that only approved companies could do. Spurred on by the exciting potential of this idea, we went about creating such a specialized fleet. In the beginning, we leased dozens of 45-foot van trailers, adapting and configuring them to the peculiar needs of moving hazardous waste. We then hired drivers with their own cabs (owner-operators) to pull our trailers. We began looking at our company as not just an emergency response company but as a part of this new environmental hazardous waste industry. It wasn’t long before we transformed into a specialized trucking company."