The red carts are provided to customers of American Sanitation LLC and according to owner Brad Schmidt, Kamrar, the response to the new business has been tremendous.

Schmidt said he had tossed around the idea of starting the business for a few years and he had a friend who started a similar business a few years ago.

“I talked to him and told him what I had in mind. He said, ‘you’ll do fine.'”

Schmidt launched the business just before Thanksgiving, putting the word out on social media and through the business’ website. He said he wasn’t looking to create competition with other garage services, but rather, he wanted to offer local residents another option.

“In the first 24 hours, there were more than 100 customers signed up,” he said. “It was surprising to see that much of a response so quickly.”

Customers who sign up for service from American Sanitation are provided with a 96-gallon cart at a cost of $20 per month for weekly pickup. There are other options for customers who might need an additional cart or a dumpster, or a different frequency of trash collection. Those options and prices are spelled out on the company website, www.americansanitationllc.com. The website also has a form where customers can sign up for the service.

Currently the service is only available in Webster City, but Schmidt says he wants to expand the service to other Hamilton County communities and the surrounding areas.

“We’re working on other communities now. It’s just going to take some time to get licensing and approvals in place,” he said.

The business has two trucks right now, one with a traditional rear load mechanism for dumpsters, and a second truck has an automated side arm for the 96 gallon carts.

The first collection day took place Dec. 8 and Schmidt said the whole process went smoothly.

“The first week was a success. We’ll see how the next week goes,” he said.

Currently, its just Schmidt and his wife operating the business. He drives the trucks, handles the cart delivery and pickup duties, while wife Shawna has created the website and is handling the marketing for the business.

He said the business is evolving each week as more customers come on board.

“We’re taking it one day at a time and every day is different,” he said.

Schmidt said he gets new questions each day from customers and the business is adding information to the frequently asked questions section of the website.

He said he’s not sure what the business will look like in five years, but he hopes to see continued growth.

“I guess time will tell,” Schmidt said. “It’s been exciting so far. I look forward to seeing what the future brings.”