All language subtitles for Undercover.Boss.US.S10E04.Clean.Harbors.1080p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DDP2.0.H.264-TEPES_Subtitles01.ENG

male announcer: More than 100
of America's biggest bosses...

- I just hope
I can keep up with the guys.

announcer:
Have gone undercover

in their own companies.

- That wasn't as easy
as it looks.

- Here we go!
- Lift me up!

- I'm about
to just flip out here.

- I would almost swear
you look like somebody else.

- Right here, right now,

we're gonna shut
the restaurant down.

announcer:
More than $20 million

have been awarded
to employees.

- I'll write up a check
for $250,000.

- Oh, my God.

announcer:
And millions of lives...

- I'm gonna pay off
the mortgage.

announcer:
Changed forever.

- For real?
- This is real.

The greatest reward is to see
people live their dream.

- That's a life changer.

[dramatic music]

announcer:
This season...

- Oh, that's pretty cold.

announcer:
The most incredible...

- We just got
an emergency response.

- Let's rumble!

[employees cheering
and pounding]

announcer: Surprising...
- [gasps]

- Oh, my God.

- I'm Drew Brees.
- My God.

announcer:
And challenging journeys...

- [screams]
announcer: So far.

- Report of a building
on fire.

- Blech.
- Uh-uh, no, no, no, no,

no, no, no, no, no, no.

- Coming up!

- Let's talk about getting you
out of this system.

♪

announcer:
Tonight...

- Going down!

announcer:
On "Undercover Boss"...

announcer: The founder
of America's largest

hazardous waste
disposal company...

- Holy mackerel.

announcer: Will be getting
down and dirty...

- Stinks over here.

announcer:
As he battles to hold on

to his
highly trained workforce

in the face
of rapid expansion...

- I feel like
an industrial janitor.

announcer:
As he goes undercover.

- I've never done
anything like this.

announcer: The boss will
trade in his luxury lifestyle

to put his life on the line...

- He started shaking.

He looked terrified.

announcer:
Dealing with disaster zones...

- We're heading out
for an emergency response.

- Safety valve in hand!
Eyes on him.

announcer: And a workforce
tasked with responding 24-7.

- I miss Thanksgiving.

And I don't get compensated
for that.

- Seems like
the people at corporate,

we're wearing the same shirt,

but they're kind of
on the other team.

announcer: But how will
his coworkers react...

- [gasps]

announcer: When they find out
he's really the boss?

- Oh, my God.

You really just changed
my life today.

announcer: All this next
on "Undercover Boss."

[upbeat music]

♪

- I'm Alan McKim.

I'm the chairman and founder
of Clean Harbors.

It's been my life's work

to build Clean Harbors
from scratch,

and it's my baby.

I love this company.

I love working
with the people here.

I love the customers.

announcer:
With its headquarters

in Norwell, Massachusetts,

this $3.3-billion-a-year
company

has been cleaning up America
for 40 years.

- We've done
so many major events,

from 9/11
to cleaning up anthrax

to hurricane damage

to the big Gulf oil spill.

♪

We are the Ghostbusters
of America.

I mean,
we do all the dirty jobs

that nobody else
would want to clean up.

♪

[soft music]

Growing up,
we were pretty poor.

There were times it was
really difficult financially.

My mom and dad,
you know, struggled.

I had always
been entrepreneurial.

You know,
I would be the kid

running two or three
paper routes

or fixing cars.

I helped pay the bills.

And so I was somewhat driven
to prove that I could

be successful because
of that upbringing, I think.

♪

I started Clean Harbors
in 1980.

There was a lot of oil spills

in the '70s and '80s,
particularly here in Boston.

So me and three other guys,
we started cleaning up spills

and doing everything
you could, really, to survive.

I had three children
at the time,

and people thought
I was a little crazy

to go and start a company
from scratch.

There were many a week
where I never took a paycheck.

Just didn't have the money.

My family were very supportive

because they knew we were
making something

that, quite frankly,
ended up being

beyond my wildest dreams
successful.

[upbeat music]

The company grew
for the first ten years

so significantly that we got
to about $100 million by 1990.

Today Clean Harbors
is a public company

on the New York
Stock Exchange.

This year, we'll do about
$3.5 billion in revenue.

And we've been able
to acquire many companies.

We've done
about 50 acquisitions.

We started off
in an office trailer

in the back
of a friend's shop.

And we've grown from
that one location

to now 750 locations.

I never imagined Clean Harbors

would ever be the size
that it is today.

♪

- How are you feeling
about going undercover?

- Looking forward to it,
actually.

My undercover name
is Bill Anderson.

I'm a mechanic.

I really need
to go back to work

and keep earning
a living now.

- That's believable.

- Yeah.
- Yeah, I like that.

- What do you guys
think I should look like?

- Like, maybe one of those
huge mustaches

that go all the way
out to here.

- Oh, handlebars?
[laughter]

- Hi. Welcome.

- Hi, how are you?
- Good, good.

How are you?
- Good.

I've never done
anything like this,

and I'm extremely nervous
and apprehensive.

Being at corporate,

everything
gets filtered to me.

I want it unfiltered.

I want to find out
what we need to do

to stay ahead
of our competitors.

Oh, my God.

Holy mackerel.

I need a ponytail.

[laughs]

Unbelievable.

[dramatic music]

♪

- Oh, my God.
- Stop it right now.

- I'm Bill.
[laughter]

- Oh, man.

- Look at you.

- Posing as a former
car mechanic,

my employees are gonna be
tricked into thinking

that they're taking part
in a documentary

about second careers.

They have no idea this
is really "Undercover Boss."

- Bye. Bye.
- Bye.

- We love you.
- Love you too.

- Stay safe!

♪

[upbeat music]

- So today we're going
to the East Chicago, Indiana,

re-refinery.

It's the largest of its kind
in the world.

This is where we take
waste oil,

clean it, recycle it.

It's a sustainable solution
for hazardous waste,

and this is what a lot of our
customers are looking for.

This is a really important
revenue stream

of our company
here at this plant.

We want it to be operating
at the highest safety

as well as efficiency level.

Hey, I'm looking for Brianna.

[laughs]
Brianna, I'm Bill.

- Hi, Bill.
- Nice to meet you.

- So you're shadowing me today?

- I'm gonna be your right-hand
man today, I guess.

- Okay, so we're gonna go
in this tank

full of asphalt and sludge
and oil

and we're gonna clean it out.

- Asphalt and sludge.

- [laughs]
- Okay.

- It's real dirty.

Have you done anything
like this before?

- No, I haven't.

I was a mechanic before.

- So you're used to getting
a little dirty.

- Oh, yeah, I can get dirty.

- Oh, there's a lot of dirt.
[laughs]

- Think a guy my age
would be able to handle that?

- Depends on how healthy
you are, Bill.

- I'm pretty healthy.

- [laughs]
You'll be all right, then.

- It's important that we clean
these railcars

because we use
those same railcars

after they're clean

to send our re-refined product
back out again,

and that's a real efficient
use of the rail.

- So you don't have
any problems with, like,

tight spaces or anything,
right?

- A little
claustrophobic sometimes.

I'm a little worried
about getting into a vessel.

This is the first time
I'm doing this job,

and that makes me
a little nervous.

♪

- There's a hole over here.

So there's a hole
where everything--

it's like a drain,
almost.

- Okay.
- There's no shame.

If you want to get out,
you get out.

So we're gonna wear
our fire-resistant clothing.

- Is there potential
with a fire?

- Well, with the materials
that we sometimes clean, yes,

sometimes they have
explosive levels.

- What would happen if we
actually had a fire in there?

- If there was a fire in there,

there's a chance we...

we can't come out,
you know what I mean?

- This is not necessarily
what I expected.

I didn't really know that it
was gonna be so dangerous.

♪

How long are we gonna be
in the suit?

- Well, depends on how long
you can handle it.

You look a little nervous,
Bill.

This is an efficient job.

I don't think he can keep up.

You're only as strong
as your weakest link.

♪

- If you're not
getting any air,

you grab like this.

- All right.
- Just do that.

- You all right?

- Can't believe
that it takes you so long

just to get yourself set,
you know?

- Oh, he's kind of nervous.

Okay.

He's kind of nervous.
He's drinking water.

- When we got ready to go,

it seemed like Bill
maybe panicked a little bit.

He looked terrified.

- It's just too [...] hot

to be [...] around up here.

My heart was racing.
I was sweating.

Wow, it really was hot
in there.

- All right.
You guys be safe.

- Yes, sir.

- Going down!

- Going down.

So watch your step going in.

♪

Second person going down.

♪

- Oh, yeah.

- All right.

Pull.

- We had our hand tools
in there,

and we were moving
the sludge away

from the bottom of that tank.

And, you know,
it was heavy labor,

heavy labor
moving that stuff around.

♪

- Bill, you all right?

Hey, Bill.

- Don't panic.
Don't panic.

♪

- I was feeling really hot.
My heart was racing.

It was almost like
a claustrophobic feeling.

- All right.

- Coming up!

[dramatic music]

- You gotta adjust
that bottle, Bill.

You gotta move that bottle
to the front.

- As I got near the top,

my emergency bottle
was starting to be wedged in.

I was starting to really
breathe pretty heavy.

- Hold on.

Here, hold on.
Hold on, Bill. Hold on.

- Yeah, hold on.
Hold on.

Stay right there.
Don't panic.

Don't panic, whatever you do.

- It's the only way out,

and the manhole
was just not wide enough,

so I had to go back down,

back into the tank again

and try to shift
my bottle around,

and then try
to come back up again

to get through that hole.

- Come on.

- Take your time.

- Take your time.
You're good.

- Take your time.
- Take a step up.

There you go.
- There you go.

- Now sit on the edge
right there.

- Yeah, there you go.
- See?

♪

- Bill looked like he just
ran a marathon or something.

It's a hard job.

- I didn't like
getting stuck in the hole.

- No, nobody likes that.

♪

- I have so much respect
for Bri

'cause this is hard work
in very difficult conditions,

but what I did find is that
she's got a great crew here.

These guys really made sure

that I was calm
and I didn't panic.

♪

- All right, Bill, so...

this is where
you can get changed.

- Okay.
Nice hot shower.

That would feel really good.

What's that?

- That's your shower.

[quirky music]

- Oh, wow.
No shower here for you?

- No. We don't have showers.

We don't even have
a bathroom in here.

- Wow.

You do that kind of work,

and you have
to go home at night,

all sweaty like that?

Am I gonna have to do that?

- Yes, sir.

- How do you change here?

I mean,
you don't have, like, shades,

and it's not private,

and anybody
could kind of walk in.

- I really don't
get to do a full change

because there's nowhere
to change.

- Bri, are there other females
working here on the site?

- I am the only female.
- Wow.

I have three daughters,
and, you know,

I would want them
to be treated with respect,

have their own change room,

have a working bathroom,

and a clean space
to eat their lunch.

I was hungry.
- I know.

- It takes a lot out of you,
doesn't it?

- Truly.

No offense,
but your first time

going in this tank today was,
what, like, 15, 20 minutes?

- Yeah.

- My first time
going in that tank,

I was in there
about two hours and a half.

- Wow.

- My mom doesn't even know
how dangerous

the stuff
that I work with is.

- Wow. You're living
with your mom still?

- Yeah, my mom's the best.

When I was young,
like, my mom,

she ended up
with stage four chondrosarcoma,

which is a--it's a
connective tissue cancer.

I had to be a provider

because my mom
couldn't do that anymore.

- Wow.

- I work 12-hour days,
sometimes 16s,

just so that I can help
support my family.

- Right.

She really touched my heart,
quite frankly.

She's dedicating her paycheck
to helping her mother,

who can't work,
raise their family.

She is quite an impressive
young woman.

- I have two brothers
and two sisters.

My sister's a single mom.
I have a two-year-old niece.

Here name's Italy.

She's my favorite person
in the whole world.

- Wow, she's so beautiful.

- [laughs]
- Look at her.

But you gotta support
your mom, your niece,

and you really have
four other siblings home?

- See, the way I look at it,

I don't have the luxury
of being able to give up.

So many people rely
on the things that I do.

I have to keep going.

- At 27 years old,
she's basically

the primary caregiver
for seven people,

including
a two-year-old niece.

You know,
she really needs this job,

and I'm quite disappointed

in seeing that she didn't have
any facilities to work from.

I'm really hoping that we can

make some real improvements
here.

[upbeat music]

♪

So today
I'm going undercover

at our field services office
in New Jersey.

This particular office
has handled

some really unique projects,

whether it's anthrax
or part of 9/11

or a fire or an explosion
at a refinery.

Our emergency response
teams here

really do put their lives
on the line when they go out.

So today
I'm really looking forward

to working with this team
to see firsthand

if there's anything that we
could be doing differently

to support them
because they really are

the heroes of our business.

How you doing?
I'm looking for Gregg.

- How you doing, Bill?
My name is Gregg Maier.

- Oh, very nice to meet you.

- South Plainfield office.
- Bill Anderson.

How do you do?
- Good.

So you're gonna be
shadowing me today.

- Great.

- So we have a hard hat here
and road vest for you.

We're gonna make sure
you're safe

and you come home in the same
condition you're here now.

All right?
- All right, good.

- Go ahead, Kevin.

- All right, copy that.

Hey, Bill, we just got
an emergency response

to go down to Lower Manhattan.

I got a crew dispatched there,

so we're gonna go out there
and assist them.

- I'll follow you.
- When I met Bill,

I was really surprised
how old he was.

I don't think Bill
would make it as a laborer--

potentially as a driver
but not as a laborer.

[dramatic music]

[upbeat music]

- What kind of spill is this,
a chemical spill?

- Yeah, seems like
a chemical spill

that got released
into an alleyway.

- How long you been
with Clean Harbors?

- 25 years.
25 years in September, yeah.

It's a good wage,

but you're away
from your family a lot.

We're on call every other week

for emergency response
after your normal shift

of 10, 12, 14 hours.

- Like, 2:00 in the morning?

- Sure, 8:00 in the morning,
9:00--

- Wow. Saturdays
and Sundays too?

- Absolutely.

- You must be missing
a lot of personal stuff.

- I miss Thanksgiving where I
can't get, you know, coverage.

And I don't get compensated
for that.

- First impression
of Gregg is,

he's a real dedicated employee,

works a lot of hours.

Think he's a dedicated
family man as well.

♪

- Bill, I hope
you're ready to work.

Come on, Bill.
Some backstreet kitchen,

they spilled some chemicals
in the alleyway here.

- All right.
- It's a corrosive

that we're gonna be handling.
- Okay.

- You're gonna be
pressure-washing

around that area.

We're gonna get you suited up.

♪

- This looks like
a lot of gear to put on.

Is this necessary?
- This absolutely is.

We want to make sure
that you're protected,

that you don't get exposed
to chemicals.

All right, Bill,
keep that away from your foot

at about an angle like this.

- Okay.
- All right?

♪

- Running that wand,
it's a little different

than running a pen
in the office.

Operating all this
high-pressure water, you know,

you really gotta have stamina.

You gotta be strong.

Stinks over here.

- All right, we're gonna start
sucking the water.

- Okay.
- Very high-powered truck.

Whatever gets
in that end of that

is gonna go
into the truck, all right?

So we want to make sure
everything stays clear.

You ready to do this?
- I'm ready to do it.

- Let's go.
Safety valve in hand.

Eyes on him.

If anything gets close
to his feet,

you pull that immediately.

Let's go.

♪

- Looking at how Gregg
runs the job

and his attention to safety,

he really is a leader,
and I'm really proud of him.

♪

- I see your shirt's
a little wet.

You didn't get hit with
the pressure washer, did you?

- No. No, it's a little sweat.

- A little bit, huh?
- [laughs]

This little fat guy
really sweated a lot in there,

and I was only in there
for a while.

So that was a hard day.

- It sure was.

I'm glad we got some water
to cool down.

You got a chance
to get some fresh air.

- Yeah.

[somber music]

- This is really
bringing back some memories.

I actually worked at the
cleanup operations of 9/11.

- Is that right?

- We just worked
a few blocks from here

couple days
after it happened.

I haven't been back since.

- Is that right?
- Yeah.

- That really is amazing.

It's peaceful.
- Yeah.

- May they rest in peace.
- That's right.

♪

So...

you must've seen some really
difficult scenes, I'm sure.

- Absolutely.
Something I could never forget.

The destruction, it was just
burning and burning

for months.

- What kind of work
did you actually do here?

- So if you look over here,

you can see our stations
that we had.

They were setting up
the vacuum truck,

similar to what
you were doing today.

And here you can see
some of our guys

washing the firemen's boots.
- Wow.

How long did the project last
overall for you?

- I guess it was
probably two years.

18-hour days.
- Yeah.

- We'd go home, turn around,
shower, and come back.

- That must've been
really difficult

to be here every day, wow.

- I hope we never have to do
something like that again.

- For sure, huh?

- I think this just
shows the resilience

of New Yorkers here,

that we're not gonna
let this stop us.

- Yes.

- I'm glad I was part of that.

♪

- To know that all
of my employees were here

working 12,
18 hours a day,

seven days a week
for months on end

is just something
that I'll never forget.

So I guess with all the time
that you had to invest,

did that have a big impact
on your family?

- Oh, it does.

That workload that we do,

I'm still trying
to find some vacation time.

- [laughs]

- And I would love
to go to Italy.

I have two daughters.

My oldest is taking Italian,

so it's our dream vacation,

but obviously
it's a very expensive trip

to go for a family of four.
- Yeah.

- So maybe I can spend
some time with my kids

before they go off to college,

and I gotta try to figure out
how to pay for that,

'cause that's gonna be
super challenging.

- That's a big amount
of money too.

- Yeah, I don't know
how I'm gonna afford college.

- Listening to Gregg today
about how many hours

he puts in and how much
he's away from his family,

we gotta take
a hard look at that.

Rewarding our employees
is really important to me,

and it's something that I'm
gonna talk to my team about.

Thank you very much
for telling me about

what you experienced here,

was something
that I'll never forget.

He played
a really important role.

I really felt
he and many of our employees

are unsung heroes.

♪

announcer: Coming up...

- We have the rattlesnakes
we have to watch out for.

- Oh, man.

announcer: Alan faces
his biggest fear...

- I [...] hate snakes.

announcer:
And is bitten by the truth.

- People at corporate
are kind of on the other team.

- Wow.

[dramatic music]

[upbeat music]

♪

- Clean Harbors
responds to incidents

that are the result
of natural disasters.

We're getting calls
more and more

for emergency response work,

whether it's the wildfires
out in California

or it's the hurricanes
or it's flooding.

And you never know
when they're gonna hit.

Our field techs
would be called upon

anywhere to go
in the United States.

Sometimes we could have 1,000
mobilized to a major disaster.

Field techs
are really important,

but it's really hard
to retain good workers,

so it's important
for me to be undercover

to really understand

some of the needs that they
might have firsthand.

Morning.
I'm looking for Vance.

- Yeah.
- I'm Bill. Nice to meet you.

- Welcome to Texas.
- Thanks so much.

A little warm here.
- Yeah, sweaty.

I got you an outfit.
- Okay, great.

Gonna be going out
in the boats?

- Yeah.

♪

- So, Vance,
what's going on today?

Where are we going?

- We're head over
to the Aransas National Refuge.

It's one of the most
important refuges in America.

It's 115,000 acres.

It's still contaminated
from Hurricane Harvey

when it hit two years ago.

- I saw on the news
when this hurricane hit.

It was quite a disaster.
- Yeah.

- So it's really important,
I guess, to get it back

to the way it was
before the hurricane.

- Yeah, and we've been working
on getting this ever since.

- I think it's a testament
to just how much damage

was done
from this past hurricane,

the fact that almost
two years later,

we're still doing
cleanup effort here.

What are we expecting to see
when we get to the site?

- Um, a lot of debris,
possibly oil containers,

washers, dryers, you know.

- Really? Wow.

♪

- I'm gonna brief you
a little bit about the animals

because we have
the rattlesnakes

we have to watch out for,
especially near, like,

the water lines,
as well as alligators.

- I really don't like snakes.

Help me understand
about the snake part.

- Scan the ground area
around us before you step out

into the tall grass, obviously.

- Oh, man.

I [...] hate snakes.

I don't know what it is,

but I really
don't like snakes.

- I don't know if Bill's gonna
be cut out for the job today.

- I would be paralyzed
if a snake came across me.

♪

- Whew, that looks like
an entire house.

- Wow.
- Let's suit up.

We're in a rattlesnake area,

so we're gonna use these
to protect our feet

and our boot area.
- Okay.

- Be careful. Don't slip.
- Okay.

- Any kind of household waste,
we'll start picking up.

- These both
have liquids in them.

Is that okay?
- Yeah, let's throw it in.

- Looks like peroxide.
- Peroxide?

- [sighs]
- Grease?

- Yeah, you got a grease can?

I got another
grease can over here.

- There's a lot of stuff here.
- Lot of stuff.

Keep it like this,
just like this.

That should be good.
[sighs]

Heavy?

- Yeah, it's kind of heavy,
huh?

And the heat, you know, and
the sun beating down on you,

it's a young man's game.

- I don't think he'd be
too good

on the field tech team.

He just doesn't have
the energy, I don't think,

to be able to keep up
with us younger guys.

♪

You know,
as you're operating it,

if I need to stop you,

I'm gonna raise my arms
in a big X,

tell you to stop.
- All right.

♪

- And you can turn on
your hydraulics.

Go ahead and close it.

Perfect.

Let's tilt it up.

- I was very impressed
with Vance.

- All right, you got it.
Let's get it out of here.

- I really felt that,
you know,

he had safety
at the top of his mind.

Doing all right?
- Yeah, you're doing good.

Let's make sure
we don't hit the ATV

when we back up, though.

[vehicle beeping]

♪

I'm pretty thirsty.
You want to take a break?

- That sounds great.

Work in this environment,
work in this heat,

worry about snakes,
it's not a fun job.

- My job, I feel like an
industrial janitor sometimes.

- Oh, really?
- You know?

Just day in and day out,
doing the dirty work.

- Yeah, yeah.

What things would you improve?

- I don't feel
we get paid enough

for the type of work we do.

New guys come in
with no experience

and start
at a higher rate than us

because we don't get
those yearly raises

like we should be getting.

- Wow.
That's not fair, huh?

That's gotta be demoralizing,
really, huh?

'Cause you're now
so experienced,

and some greenhorn's
making more money.

- Yeah, it hurts.

The last six months,
I've actually

been trying to find,
like, a new job

or figure out a plan,

'cause I've been looking
to buy a house, right,

and I couldn't do it
as a field tech.

- I was taken back
by that because

we want to hold on
to our people,

and if we're not giving them
pay increases,

then that's gonna force
those people to look elsewhere.

You're probably away
from home quite a bit.

- Me and my girl live together.

I maybe only get one weekend
a month free time.

- Your girl doesn't
mind that too much?

- She gets
really upset about it.

She don't like me going away.

We got engaged last year,

and I want to have a real nice
wedding with her

'cause she deserves it.

- You want to have a family
and get married and...

- Yeah, get married,
have a kid, be happy.

Yup.
- There you go.

[heartfelt music]

It's been a long time since
I've been in the field,

and it really
brought back my respect

and appreciation
for what our people do.

I'd hate to see us lose
an employee like Vance,

so we gotta find ways
to make our employees

feel more satisfied
and appreciated

so they'll stay here longer.

♪

[upbeat music]

♪

This whole experience
has highlighted to me

how crucial it is to hang on
to our experienced employees.

So I've traveled here
to Braintree.

This is one
of our distribution centers.

The red trucks
that you see here

are the lifeblood
of this company.

The drivers here,
they're able to transport

all sorts of different
types of chemicals.

They're handling acids
and corrosives.

There is serious risk,
obviously,

but they're highly trained
to deal with those risks.

I'm looking for Brian.
- Bill, what's up, bud? Brian.

- How are you?
- How's it going?

All right, you'll be
riding with me today.

Gonna do some local drop-offs,
pickups, and whatnot.

We'll go in here
and get you changed up.

- A lot of our drivers are
coming up on retirement age,

and it's really hard
to recruit new drivers.

I want to go undercover
because recruiting

is a very important issue
for me to solve.

I want to hear firsthand
from our drivers

what we could do
to make their jobs better.

♪

- Should be a nice ride.

- Yeah. Beautiful truck.
You like what you do?

- I like the truck.
I like the schedule.

I like the customers.

They can throw anything at me,
and I can figure it out,

but generally,
the company's known

for not taking care
of their drivers.

- Wow.

- You should at least give
some kind of incentive

to the drivers
that are out there in society

hauling 80,000 pounds of...

a bomb.
- Right.

- If they just upped
the benefits

and, like, maybe kicked, like,
some of the senior guys,

like, a profit sharing
or something,

like, something to invest
in the company, like...

- Yeah.

- Drivers can stay here
a long time.

- I was wincing
in my seat a little bit.

I was trying not
to show my emotions.

It was very frustrating.

Do you think
the people in corporate

know what's going on
in the field?

- The higher-ups, I know
they know what's going on.

But they're higher up.

They don't gotta do
a whole lot.

They make really good money,

so they're just--
it's not gonna get fixed.

- Some of the points
that Brian made,

it was hard to hear.

Do you think that's the way
that everybody thinks of them?

- For the most part.
Not everyone.

I don't think everyone.

They're in the glass palace.
They can't do anything wrong.

So it seems like
the people at corporate

are kind of on the other team.

We're wearing the same shirt,
but they're on the other team.

[dramatic music]

♪

- Do you think
the people in corporate

know what's going on
in the field?

- It seems like
the people at corporate

are kind of on the other team.

We're wearing the same shirt,
but they're on the other team.

- I was wincing
in my seat a little bit.

It was hard to hear.

When I think
of a driver like Brian

who doesn't feel
that people at corporate

care about him,
it really troubles me.

I have to take responsibility
as being the CEO

to ensure that all employees
feel part of one company.

We can't have people
that are working for us

in such an important role

not feel like
they're appreciated.

[upbeat music]

- I'm ready for you.

- You're gonna load
the drums right to here?

- Yeah.
- I see.

A typical driver will operate
well over 100,000 miles a year,

as well as doing the manual
work of loading drums.

It's a tough job.

Is this flammable
and dangerous material?

- Yeah, any material
that says--has a class three

flame liquid on it,
it's all flammable liquid.

- You're comfortable carrying
this kind of material, right?

- Not a problem.
I do it every day.

- My first impressions
of Brian

is that he's a real
true professional.

He was well informed
about the material.

He understood the hazards.

I was pretty impressed.

- Give it a go.
- All righty.

- Get right over there.
- All right.

- Get up to it.
Grab this.

Step here.
Pull it to you.

All the way.
All the way.

Right in.
Go for it.

♪

- These are heavy.

- Sometimes corrosives
and acids

can weigh
up to 14 pounds a gallon.

♪

- How many of these
every day do you do?

- The trailer can hold 104,
and I've filled it.

- So you do it all by yourself?

- Uh, for the most part, yeah.

You do, after a couple years,
get used to it.

- They were a lot heavier
than I remember

when I was handling drums.

Maybe I'm just a little weaker,

but, you know,
it was a little bit

of effort there to load up
30 or so containers.

♪

That's a lot of work
moving those drums

on and off the trailer.

- Yeah.

A lot of guys don't want
to drive the trailer.

Pretty much there's a lot
of guys that don't want to get

into truck driving in general.

I'm 35.
I'm the youngest guy we have.

Nationwide, there's a problem
finding drivers.

The higher-ups, they know
there's a driver problem,

but how they go about
recruiting,

it's not the best
way to do it.

- Oh, is that right?

- The hiring process

does recruit a lot
of college grads.

You don't need
a college degree to work here.

We got guys
that have a college degree

in environmental science.

That has nothing to do
with how we do our jobs.

I don't have a degree
in anything.

- And so I was
a little bit surprised

we're trying to recruit

more college-degreed people
as a priority,

and we really shouldn't.

We're a blue-collar company.

We don't require
a college education

for many of the jobs
that we have,

particularly in the field.

- I had a friend who
I think was solid candidate

for the entry-level position
at Braintree.

He's 27, and I think
he'd be a good fit.

But because of degree,
they missed their opportunity,

and it just doesn't make sense.

He applied when there was
snow on the ground.

The job is still vacant.

- Wow.

It seems like we don't trust

the people that work for us

who are recommending employees
to come to work for us.

And why do we want
to make that so difficult?

- It was good seeing you.
- Hey, thanks, Brian.

I hope I didn't
get in your way.

- No, you're fine.
You're good.

You're better than guys
half your age.

- Thank you, thank you.
- All right, I'll see you, bud.

[soft music]

- Being undercover has been
harder than I ever imagined.

I discovered a lot
about the company.

It was difficult
to hear some of the criticisms

about management,

about the way
that the company is run,

but for Clean Harbors
to grow in the future,

I need to fix the problems
that I've uncovered.

♪

[dramatic music]

♪

I'm about to reveal
my true identity

to the people
I worked with this week,

and I've asked for everyone
to meet me one last time.

- What about you?
Where you coming from?

- New Jersey.
- Oh, wow.

- They think they're coming
to be interviewed

about their time
spent with Bill.

They have no idea this
is really "Undercover Boss."

♪

[tense music]

♪

Good morning.
- What's going on?

- How are you today?

- Good. How are you?
- Good.

How are you?
- You look familiar.

- You know me?

- Not...not really.

- No?
- No, sir.

- You were working
with a guy named Bill.

- Yes, yeah.

- Any resemblance to me,
you think?

- Uh, a little bit, yeah.

[both laughing]

The voice sounds familiar.

- Well, that was me,

and I'm also the CEO
and founder of Clean Harbors.

- [laughs]

Hi. Hi.

- This is "Undercover Boss."

- Wow.
- [laughs]

- What? [laughs]

- I'm shocked.

- [laughs]

announcer: Coming up...
- [gasps]

announcer: The boss delivers
life-changing news.

- Thank you so much.

- You okay?

- Oh, my God.

[dramatic music]

- Brian, you said a lot of
things when we drove together.

- I know.

- And Bill's ears

are still hurting
a little bit.

You called corporate
the glass palace,

and you think
you're just a number.

- Everything I said
that day was true.

- I did take a lot
of what you had to say

really to heart,

and if this company's
gonna move forward,

we need to be one company.

I think another thing
that I remember you telling me

was about the fact that you're
trying to get a friend in,

and it was really
kind of frustrating

- Yeah.

- Well, for the last
six months,

I've had a committee

trying to figure out,
how do we get more

qualified drivers
into the company...

- Yeah.
- But, more importantly,

how do we hold on
to the ones we have?

- That's what I want to do too.

- And I would really
like to get you

to participate
on that task force with me.

- Okay.
Then I'll do it.

You got a guy in front of you
that's 35 years old.

I would like this to be
my last job.

But I'm maxed out
at 35 years old.

Where can I go?

- Maybe letting
more employees

become owners of the company.
- Yeah.

- You'll treat it more
as not just a job

but also as a career.

- Yeah.

- What I'd like to do for you

is give you 1,000 shares
of stock worth $70,000.

[upbeat music]

- Wow.

♪

- It's entirely yours
to do what you want to,

whether you want to hold it
and grow with it

or whether you want
to sell some of it

and use it to pay off bills
or whatever.

Do you think this
at least is gonna help

your family a little?

- It'll help out a lot.

I appreciate it.
Thank you.

Oh, it feels great to finally
be respected and rewarded.

Cool, thank you.
- It was awesome.

- This will go a long way.
I got three kids.

I'm the only income.

So it...

it means a lot.

- Vance, you're one of these
guys that really does

run out the door
when the bells rings

and respond to an emergency,

so I hope you know how much
the company appreciates you.

- Oh, actually, this is...

the first time
I really do feel appreciated.

You know, you don't get a lot
of thanks out in the field.

- That's kind of disappointing.
- Yeah.

- One of things that was
really concerning is, you had,

you know,
talked about the fact

that you're thinking
about leaving.

- Yes. Yeah.

- You're the kind of guy
that the company

really wants to have stay
with the company

and really invest in,

and so I was wondering
if you could come to corporate,

spend a little time
helping me hire better people

and understand more about
what our pay practices are

in the field.

- I'd love to actually
come up to corporate

and work with you guys.

- Oh, that'd be awesome.

When I talked to you,
you had some tears

coming out of those eyes

when you started
talking about your girl,

and so sounds like you got
somebody special there.

- You know,
I got engaged last year,

but we're gonna work
on figuring out a date.

Save up
and start the planning.

- I was hoping maybe we could

push that along for you
a little bit.

I'd like to give you $50,000
for your wedding.

- [laughs]

- I'd like to get you
to a point

where you don't have to worry
about saving up for that.

- You don't know
how much that means to me.

You really don't.
Can't wait to tell her.

I get emotional
when I talk about her

'cause, you know...

she's always there for me.
She does so much.

So...

that 50 grand,
she deserves it.

Thank you, Alan--Mr. McKim.

You know, I really appreciate.

- Thanks.
Thanks so much, okay, pal?

- Thank you, sir.
- Thank you.

- I was expecting, you know,

to save up just a couple grand,

have something small
at the house.

I'm gonna take her out
and treat her

how she deserves to be treated.

She's gonna have
the nicest wedding

she ever could've asked for.

And ring.
I want to buy her a nicer ring.

- Gregg, you really were
terrific to work with.

When you and I worked
on the Manhattan job,

we went over to where
the World Trade Center was.

- Yeah.
- Was it tough going back?

- It really was.

- I was so proud of the work

that our team performed there.

There's actually
a new memorial,

just opened up,

really to honor
the people that actually

helped with the cleanup,

and I would like
to contribute $30,000...

- Oh, wow.

- To that in honor of you

and all the other
Clean Harbors employees who

really did
such a great job on that.

- I'm glad that my work
got noticed.

It's amazing.

- So you've been doing this
for 25 years.

- Yeah, 25 years
in September.

- I want to recognize
and thank you

for the sacrifices that
you've made for Clean Harbors.

You spend a lot of time
away from your family.

So I'm gonna pay

for an all-expenses-paid trip
to Italy.

- Oh, my...

I've never been
out of the United States.

- No kidding?

- My kids are gonna freak out.

Oh, my God.
That's amazing.

- And that's not all.

I'm gonna give you $40,000

to help put your girls
through college.

- [gasps]

Thank you so much.

Oh, my God.
I'm so amazed.

It's such shock.

Thank you so much.

- You're welcome.
Thank you so much.

Take care.
- I will.

This is gonna be
a once-in-a-lifetime trip

that my kids will never forget.

- Bri, I remember you
handing me a wet wipe--

do you remember--
and saying that's the shower?

- [laughs]
Yeah.

- I was really
quite surprised at that.

- It's pretty gross.
- Right.

What I would like to do
is invest $200,000

and build out
a new facility there

that will give you,
you know,

a shower,
a lunch area,

a clean room,
and a dirty room.

- It would be so cool.
That would be so cool.

- You shared with me...

a picture of your niece
on your phone, right?

And I can tell you've got
a real soft spot for her.

She's so young, right?

So we can put some money aside
for her in a college fund.

So if we put $10,000 in that,

by the time she's 18 years old,

that's gonna be
a great opportunity

for her to go to college.

- Oh, man.

[laughs]

That's crazy.

That's crazy.

You just changed my life, sir.

You just changed
my niece's life.

- You know, you're really
taking care of a lot of people.

- I try to do the best I can.

- That's a big part
of your life, really,

is to care for your family
and your mom.

I was hoping you wouldn't mind
if we help you

financially a little bit.

We'd like to give you $50,000

to help make
the financial burden

of the things
that you're doing...

♪

You okay?

♪

We'd like to help.
You know what I mean?

♪

- Oh, my God.
This is the best comedy ever.

- Hopefully it was worth
your trip coming down here.

- Yes.

Thank you so much.

Thank you so much.

- Thank you.

Thank you for everything
you do.

- Thank you so much.

You really
just changed my life today.

You don't even know.
I have to, like, call my mom.

- Absolutely.
You call her.

- Thank you so much.
- Okay.

- They're giving me $50,000,

and Italy's getting
a college fund.

- My God!

- I swear to God!
We can buy a house.

We can buy a house.

Wait, here's my CEO.
Hold on. Wait, wait, wait.

Look, look, look.

- Is this...

is this your mom?
- Ma, Ma.

- She's a terrific girl.

- I love you too.

[uplifting music]

- I think going undercover
has allowed me to learn

about things that really
can make company-wide changes.

And we're gonna work hard
at making those changes.

♪

You know,
I've been here for 40 years.

I certainly know
I'm not getting any younger,

but I'm more confident
now than ever

that the future is really
bright for Clean Harbors.

♪

[heartfelt music]

♪