US Ecology, Inc. (ECOL) 2021 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good morning, and welcome to the Third Quarter 2021 US Ecology, Inc. Earnings Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) Please note this event is being recorded.

早上好，歡迎來到 2021 年第三季度 US Ecology, Inc. 收益電話會議。 （操作員說明）請注意正在記錄此事件。

I would now like to turn the conference over to Eric Gerratt, Chief Financial Officer. Please go ahead.

我現在想將會議轉交給首席財務官 Eric Gerratt。請繼續。

Good morning, and thank you for joining us today. Joining me on the call this morning are Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, Jeff Feeler; Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Simon Bell; and Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Steve Welling.

早上好，感謝您今天加入我們。今天早上和我一起參加電話會議的還有董事長、總裁兼首席執行官 Jeff Feeler；執行副總裁兼首席運營官 Simon Bell；以及銷售和營銷執行副總裁 Steve Welling。

Before we begin, please note that certain statements contained in this conference call that do not describe the historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Since forward-looking statements include risks and uncertainties, actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements. Factors that could cause results to differ materially from those expressed include, but are not limited to, those discussed in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These risks and uncertainties also include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the impact of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the macroeconomic impact of specific end markets in which we operate and our expectations for the financial results for 2021.

在我們開始之前，請注意本次電話會議中包含的某些未描述歷史事實的陳述是 1995 年《私人證券訴訟改革法案》所定義的前瞻性陳述。由於前瞻性陳述包含風險和不確定性，實際結果可能與此類聲明明示或暗示的內容存在重大差異。可能導致結果與所表達的結果存在重大差異的因素包括但不限於公司向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件中討論的因素。這些風險和不確定性還包括但不限於關於持續的 COVID-19 大流行的影響、我們經營所在的特定終端市場的宏觀經濟影響以及我們對 2021 年財務業績的預期的聲明。

Management cannot control or predict many factors that determine future results. Listeners should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which reflect management's views only on the date such statements are made. We undertake no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statements or to make any other forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

管理層無法控製或預測許多決定未來結果的因素。聽眾不應過分依賴前瞻性陳述，這些陳述僅反映管理層在作出此類陳述之日的觀點。我們沒有義務修改或更新任何前瞻性陳述或作出任何其他前瞻性陳述，無論是由於新信息、未來事件或其他原因。

For those joining by webcast, you can follow along with today's presentation. For those listening by phone, you can access today's presentation on our website at www.usecology.com. Throughout this morning's earnings release and our call and presentation today, we refer to adjusted EBITDA, adjusted earnings per diluted share, cash earnings per diluted share and adjusted free cash flow. These metrics are not determined in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles and therefore susceptible to varying calculations. A definition, calculation and reconciliation to the financial statements of adjusted earnings per diluted share, cash earnings per diluted share, adjusted EBITDA and adjusted free cash flow can be found in Exhibit A of our earnings release. We believe these non-GAAP metrics are useful in evaluating our reported results.

對於那些通過網絡廣播加入的人，您可以跟隨今天的演示。對於那些通過電話收聽的人，您可以在我們的網站 www.usecology.com 上訪問今天的演示文稿。在今天上午的收益發布以及我們今天的電話會議和演示中，我們指的是調整後的 EBITDA、調整後的每股攤薄收益、每股攤薄後的現金收益和調整後的自由現金流。這些指標不是根據普遍接受的會計原則確定的，因此容易受到不同計算的影響。調整後每股攤薄收益、每股攤薄現金收益、調整後 EBITDA 和調整後自由現金流的定義、計算和對賬可在我們的收益發布的附件 A 中找到。我們相信這些非 GAAP 指標有助於評估我們報告的結果。

With that, I'd like to turn the call over to Jeff.

有了這個，我想把電話轉給傑夫。

Thank you, Eric, and good morning, everyone, joining the call today. I would like to begin by thanking all of our colleagues who are working hard, keeping people and the environment safe, including our emergency response teams that are actively involved in cleaning up the aftermath of Hurricane Ida and finishing up the oil spill in Southern California. Responding to these and other emergencies is part of our core mission to provide critical environmental solutions, to protect human health and the environment.

謝謝埃里克，大家早上好，今天加入電話會議。首先，我要感謝所有辛勤工作、維護人類和環境安全的同事，包括我們的應急響應團隊，他們積極參與清理颶風艾達的餘波並完成南加州的漏油事件。應對這些和其他緊急情況是我們提供關鍵環境解決方案、保護人類健康和環境的核心使命的一部分。

Turning to our third quarter results. For those that are following the webcast presentation, I'll direct your attention to Slide 5. As expected, we saw sequential improvement in revenue and profitability across our 3 operating segments in the third quarter, despite ongoing delays in our Event Business, along with continued supply chain, cost inflation and pandemic-related challenges.

轉向我們的第三季度業績。對於那些正在關注網絡廣播演示的人，我會將您的注意力引向幻燈片 5。正如預期的那樣，儘管我們的活動業務持續延遲，但我們在第三季度看到了我們 3 個運營部門的收入和盈利能力的連續改善，以及持續的供應鏈、成本通脹和與流行病相關的挑戰。

Our Waste Solutions segment's revenue increased 7% in the third quarter over last year. Base Business for our Waste Solutions segment increased 11% compared to the third quarter last year and was up 2% sequentially from the second quarter of this year. The increase was driven by continued improvement in fundamentals and a 13% increase in our landfill volumes. We saw a broad-based business improvements across most of our end markets during the quarter.

我們的廢物解決方案部門的收入在第三季度比去年同期增長了 7%。我們廢物解決方案部門的基礎業務與去年第三季度相比增長了 11%，比今年第二季度增長了 2%。這一增長是由基本面的持續改善和我們的垃圾填埋場數量增加 13% 推動的。本季度，我們在大多數終端市場看到了基礎廣泛的業務改善。

Year-to-date, Base Business is up 5%. While we're on track with our targeted Base Business growth of 5% to 7% for the full year, due to ongoing challenges in our -- with our industrial customers and what they're facing, we expect the Base Business to come in at the low end of that range, plus or minus 1% or 2% for the full year.

今年迄今為止，基礎業務增長了 5%。雖然我們有望實現全年 5% 至 7% 的目標基礎業務增長，但由於我們的工業客戶和他們所面臨的持續挑戰，我們預計基礎業務將進入在該範圍的低端，全年加減 1% 或 2%。

Our Event Business for the Waste Solutions segment declined 18% compared to the third quarter last year due to additional deferrals into 2022, a less favorable service mix as replacement projects were at a lower average selling price compared to the third quarter last year. This, combined with cost pressures, contributed to decline in profitability and margin in the third quarter compared to last year.

我們廢物解決方案部門的活動業務與去年第三季度相比下降了 18%，原因是額外推遲到 2022 年，服務組合不太有利，因為替換項目的平均售價低於去年第三季度。這與成本壓力相結合，導致第三季度的盈利能力和利潤率與去年同期相比有所下降。

Turning to our Field Services. This segment sought and delivered solid growth of 5%, despite a difficult comp with strong COVID decontamination work and large emergency response projects in the third quarter last year that were not replaced.

轉向我們的現場服務。該部門尋求並實現了 5% 的穩健增長，儘管去年第三季度強大的 COVID 去污工作和大型應急響應項目沒有被取代。

Revenue growth was driven by our remediation and small quantity generation service lines led by a 14% increase in our retail services as we continue to execute and gain market share. With the recent award commencing in the first quarter of 2022, and the potential for additional growth from our existing retail customers, we expect to gain additional market share next year.

隨著我們繼續執行並獲得市場份額，我們的零售服務增長了 14%，帶動了我們的修復和小批量發電服務線推動收入增長。隨著最近的獎勵於 2022 年第一季度開始，以及我們現有零售客戶的額外增長潛力，我們預計明年將獲得更多的市場份額。

Our Field Services growth was partially offset by lower transportation and logistics that has been hampered by supply and labor constraints and lower large-scale emergency response revenue. However, late in the third quarter and into the -- early into the fourth quarter, we responded to multiple large-scale emergency response incidents for the first time this year, which is going to be -- expected to be a positive for our fourth quarter.

我們的現場服務增長部分被供應和勞動力限制以及大規模應急響應收入減少阻礙的運輸和物流減少所抵消。然而，在第三季度末和第四季度初，我們今年首次對多起大規模應急響應事件做出響應，預計這將對我們的第四季度產生積極影響四分之一。

Like others in the industry, we are facing labor constraints resulting from -- resulting in higher subcontractor work, as well as higher inflation-related costs, including transportation, materials and supplies, which resulted in lower EBITDA and margin compared to the third quarter last year.

與業內其他公司一樣，我們面臨著勞動力限制——導致分包商工作量增加，以及與通貨膨脹相關的成本增加，包括運輸、材料和供應，這導致與去年第三季度相比 EBITDA 和利潤率較低年。

To help mitigate the impact, we are focused on managing the costs we can control and adjusting spot pricing and surcharges, while we prepare for more significant price increases in 2022. We believe that we will be able to pass through these costs through pricing over time.

為了幫助減輕影響，我們專注於管理我們可以控制的成本並調整現貨定價和附加費，同時我們為 2022 年更大幅度的價格上漲做準備。我們相信，隨著時間的推移，我們將能夠通過定價來轉嫁這些成本.

Our Energy Waste segment had another strong quarter of growth and delivered results ahead of our expectations with the fifth consecutive quarter of improved EBITDA and EBITDA margin. These improving results were driven by increased activity in the Permian and Eagle Ford basins and resulted in revenue doubling from the third quarter last year and resulted in EBITDA of $3.5 million.

我們的 Energy Waste 部門又實現了強勁的季度增長，並且連續第五個季度實現了 EBITDA 和 EBITDA 利潤率的改善，超出了我們的預期。這些改善的結果是由二疊紀盆地和伊格爾福特盆地的活動增加推動的，導致收入比去年第三季度翻了一番，並導致 EBITDA 為 350 萬美元。

Total EBITDA for the quarter was $45.4 million, in line with the third quarter of last year. We are encouraged with the growth generated from our recurring revenue in our Base Business, Field Services and Energy Waste segments was able to offset some of the challenges we are facing, including the lower large-scale ER, emergency response, and Event Business, a less favorable service mix and continued labor and inflation challenges.

本季度總 EBITDA 為 4540 萬美元，與去年第三季度持平。我們感到鼓舞的是，我們在基礎業務、現場服務和能源廢物部門的經常性收入所產生的增長能夠抵消我們面臨的一些挑戰，包括較低的大型 ER、應急響應和活動業務，a不太有利的服務組合以及持續的勞動力和通貨膨脹挑戰。

We remain confident that our business fundamentals are strong, and we are seeing improvements driven by an industrial recovery, despite ongoing supply chain disruption and labor challenges that many companies are navigating. We believe growth opportunities will accelerate across our service lines as port congestion subside and more people return to the workforce.

我們仍然相信我們的業務基本面強勁，並且我們看到工業復甦推動了改善，儘管許多公司正在應對持續的供應鏈中斷和勞動力挑戰。我們相信，隨著港口擁堵的消退和更多人重返工作崗位，我們服務領域的增長機會將會加速。

On the labor front, we are seeing labor conditions improve with increased applications and the highest recruiting rates for the year. As we enter the final quarter of the year, we expect sequential improvement supported by continued growth in our recurring business, the start of several sizable Event Business projects, execution on several large-scale emergency response events and continued recovery in our Energy Waste business. As such, we expect the fourth quarter will be the strongest quarter of the year.

在勞工方面，我們看到隨著申請的增加和今年最高的招聘率，勞工條件有所改善。隨著我們進入今年最後一個季度，我們預計在經常性業務的持續增長、幾個大型活動業務項目的啟動、幾個大型應急響應事件的執行以及我們的能源廢物業務的持續復甦的支持下，業績將有所改善。因此，我們預計第四季度將是今年最強勁的季度。

We expect project deferments experienced this year will benefit 2022, and combined with expectations for continued recovery of the industrial sector next year, we believe we'll be well positioned for growth in 2022.

我們預計今年經歷的項目延期將使 2022 年受益，再加上對明年工業部門持續復甦的預期，我們相信我們將為 2022 年的增長做好準備。

Before I turn the call over to Eric, I want to review some key priorities, initiatives that our teams are working and executing towards that we believe will drive some longer-term value.

在我把電話轉給埃里克之前，我想回顧一下我們的團隊正在努力和執行的一些關鍵優先事項和舉措，我們認為這些舉措將帶來一些長期價值。

First, we are in the midst of advancing several permit modifications across our network that will open up more service and waste opportunities. To that end, we are focused on expanding our radiological capabilities, mercury waste treatment options and growing our thermal capabilities to increase our addressable market, internalize more waste and thereby limiting our dependence on the backlog incineration market.

首先，我們正在推進我們網絡中的幾項許可修改，這將開闢更多的服務和浪費機會。為此，我們專注於擴大我們的放射能力、汞廢物處理方案和提高我們的熱能能力，以擴大我們的潛在市場，將更多廢物內部化，從而限制我們對積壓焚燒市場的依賴。

Next, we are leveraging recent technology advancements, including digitalization and software to help increase business and drive efficiencies in our operations. For example, our digital marketing efforts have generated a 300% increase in our lead generation this year. Our investments in AI software has generated a 30% increase in stops per day in our retail program with the installation of this technology in our fleet. We believe further efficiencies will be realized as retail customers adopt these technologies, including a new sorting process in the back of the retail stores.

接下來，我們正在利用最新的技術進步，包括數字化和軟件來幫助增加業務並提高我們的運營效率。例如，我們的數字營銷工作使我們今年的潛在客戶增加了 300%。通過在我們的車隊中安裝這項技術，我們對 AI 軟件的投資使我們的零售計劃每天的停車次數增加了 30%。我們相信，隨著零售客戶採用這些技術，包括零售店後面的新分揀流程，效率將會進一步提高。

We also recently launched a new lab pack platform program known as LPx that will improve in-field efficiencies, reduce training cycles for technicians and deliver improved accuracy and real-time data to our customers. Further, we also continue -- are continuing to deploy organic investments to support both our service offerings and sustainability initiatives.

我們最近還推出了一個名為 LPx 的新實驗室包平台計劃，該計劃將提高現場效率，縮短技術人員的培訓週期，並為我們的客戶提供更高的準確性和實時數據。此外，我們還繼續 - 繼續部署有機投資以支持我們的服務產品和可持續發展計劃。

Some of our larger investments this year include the construction of a new container management building in the eastern part of the U.S. to support our growing retail and LTL business. We are in the final stages of deploying a second aerosol recycling unit in the Midwest, which we expect will be fully deployed and operational in the first quarter of next year. This aerosol unit will open up additional opportunities to internalize high-volume waste streams generated from our services group.

我們今年的一些較大投資包括在美國東部建造一座新的集裝箱管理大樓，以支持我們不斷增長的零售和 LTL 業務。我們正處於在中西部部署第二個氣溶膠回收裝置的最後階段，我們預計該裝置將在明年第一季度全面部署並投入運營。該氣霧劑裝置將為將我們服務部門產生的大量廢物流內部化提供更多機會。

On the sustainability front, we have successfully piloted a new container reconditioning system that allows us to recycle and reuse containers within our operations. We expect to have a production run rate of 100,000 containers by the end of the year, and we anticipate this will continue to grow in future years, eventually opening up opportunities to provide refurbished containers to our customers.

在可持續發展方面，我們成功地試行了一個新的容器修復系統，使我們能夠在我們的運營中回收和再利用容器。我們預計到今年年底，生產運行率將達到 100,000 個集裝箱，我們預計這一數字在未來幾年將繼續增長，最終為我們的客戶提供翻新集裝箱的機會。

As part of our overall ESG strategy in 2021, we set out to quantify the amount of greenhouse gas emissions throughout our operations and established reduction goals. As we have discussed before, our fleet operations represents our largest source of direct greenhouse gases as our landfills are inorganic and do not generate methane gas.

作為我們 2021 年整體 ESG 戰略的一部分，我們著手量化整個運營過程中的溫室氣體排放量，並製定了減排目標。正如我們之前所討論的，我們的車隊運營是我們最大的直接溫室氣體來源，因為我們的垃圾填埋場是無機的，不會產生甲烷氣體。

We have established a goal to reduce our direct emissions by 30% by 2030 through upgrades to our fleet use of renewable fuels and other improved route efficiencies. We are also exploring the feasibility of integrating electric vehicles as well as other alternative fuel to our power units into our fleet.

我們制定了一個目標，即到 2030 年通過升級我們的車隊使用可再生燃料和其他改進的路線效率，將我們的直接排放量減少 30%。我們還在探索將電動汽車和其他替代燃料整合到我們車隊中的可行性。

We have established a goal to demonstrate by 2025 that our recycling businesses such as our aerosol can recycling, glycol and oil recycling and metals recovery, minimize the environmental impacts from new production of many carbon-intensive materials and thereby eliminate the generation of greenhouse gas by 3x the direct emissions produced by our operations.

我們制定了一個目標，以證明到 2025 年，我們的回收業務（例如我們的氣霧罐回收、乙二醇和油回收以及金屬回收）可以最大限度地減少許多碳密集型材料的新生產對環境的影響，從而通過以下方式消除溫室氣體的產生我們運營產生的直接排放量的 3 倍。

Finally, we are well positioned to take advantage of the emerging PFAS market with a wide variety of capabilities across our network, including thermal, Class 1 deep-well, RCRA permitted Subtitle C landfills and wastewater treatment options, all included as options in the EPA's guidance.

最後，我們完全有能力利用新興的 PFAS 市場，我們的網絡具有廣泛的能力，包括熱能、1 級深井、RCRA 允許的 Subtitle C 垃圾填埋場和廢水處理選項，所有這些選項都包含在 EPA 的選項中指導。

In fact, during the third quarter and continuing in the fourth quarter of this year, we have seen several large PFAS jobs where customers are choosing our secured solutions to address their environmental needs. We expect further opportunities in this area as regulations are formalized and additional funding is secured for cleanup activities.

事實上，在第三季度和今年第四季度，我們已經看到幾個大型 PFAS 工作，客戶選擇我們的安全解決方案來滿足他們的環境需求。隨著法規的正式化和清理活動的額外資金得到保障，我們期待在這一領域有更多機會。

With that, I'll turn the call back to Eric.

有了這個，我會把電話轉回給埃里克。

Thanks, Jeff. Starting with consolidated results on Slide 8. Revenue for the third quarter of 2021 was $257.2 million. Revenue for our Waste Solutions segment was $115.2 million for the third quarter, up 7% compared to $107.2 million in the third quarter of 2020. This increase was driven by a 5% increase in treatment and disposal revenue and a 25% increase in transportation revenue.

謝謝，傑夫。從幻燈片 8 的合併結果開始。2021 年第三季度的收入為 2.572 億美元。我們廢物解決方案部門第三季度的收入為 1.152 億美元，比 2020 年第三季度的 1.072 億美元增長 7%。這一增長是由於處理和處置收入增長了 5%，運輸收入增長了 25% .

As Jeff mentioned, the increase in treatment and disposal revenue was due to an 11% increase in Base Business, partially offset by an 18% decrease in Event Business compared to the third quarter last year.

正如傑夫提到的那樣，處理和處置收入的增加是由於基礎業務增長了 11%，部分被事件業務與去年第三季度相比下降 18% 所抵消。

The Field Services segment delivered revenue of $131.6 million in the third quarter of 2021, up 5% compared to $125.7 million in the third quarter of 2020. The increase was primarily due to growth in our remediation, small quantity generation and Industrial Services business lines, partially offset by lower revenue in our emergency response and transportation service lines.

現場服務部門在 2021 年第三季度實現收入 1.316 億美元，比 2020 年第三季度的 1.257 億美元增長 5%。這一增長主要是由於我們的修復、小批量發電和工業服務業務線的增長，部分被我們的應急響應和運輸服務線的收入減少所抵消。

Revenue for the Energy Waste segment increased to $10.4 million, up from $5.2 million in the third quarter last year. The increases in revenue as well as our cost control initiatives implemented in 2020 resulted in an EBITDA margin of 34% compared to only 2% in the third quarter last year and the fifth consecutive quarter of improved EBITDA and EBITDA margin.

能源廢物部門的收入從去年第三季度的 520 萬美元增至 1040 萬美元。收入的增加以及我們在 2020 年實施的成本控制舉措使 EBITDA 利潤率達到 34%，而去年第三季度僅為 2%，並且 EBITDA 和 EBITDA 利潤率連續第五個季度有所改善。

Total gross margin was 25% in the third quarter, down from 27% in the third quarter last year. Gross margin for our Waste Solutions segment was 34%, down from 39% in the third quarter of 2020. Treatment and disposal margin for the Waste Solutions segment was 40% in the third quarter of 2021, down from 43% in the third quarter last year, reflecting lower Event Business, a less favorable service mix and cost inflation, partially offset by a 9% increase in total waste volumes disposed.

第三季度的總毛利率為 25%，低於去年第三季度的 27%。我們廢物解決方案部門的毛利率為 34%，低於 2020 年第三季度的 39%。廢物解決方案部門的處理和處置利潤率在 2021 年第三季度為 40%，低於去年第三季度的 43%年，反映出較低的活動業務、不太有利的服務組合和成本通脹，部分被處理的廢物總量增加 9% 所抵消。

Gross margin for our Field Services segment was 17% in the third quarter compared to 20% a year ago due to a less favorable service mix, labor constraints, higher subcontracting work and cost inflation in materials and transportation.

我們現場服務部門的毛利率在第三季度為 17%，而一年前為 20%，原因是服務組合不佳、勞動力限制、分包工作增加以及材料和運輸成本上漲。

Selling, general and administrative spending or SG&A was $47.7 million in the third quarter of 2021, down from $51.1 million in the third quarter of 2020, which included $1.6 million in business development and integration expenses. Excluding business development and integration expenses, SG&A decreased 5% in the third quarter of 2021 compared to the third quarter last year. This decrease was primarily related to lower incentive compensation and lower insurance costs.

2021 年第三季度的銷售、一般和行政支出或 SG&A 為 4770 萬美元，低於 2020 年第三季度的 5110 萬美元，其中包括 160 萬美元的業務開發和整合費用。不包括業務發展和整合費用，2021 年第三季度的 SG&A 與去年第三季度相比下降了 5%。這一減少主要與較低的激勵薪酬和較低的保險成本有關。

Adjusted EBITDA was consistent with the third quarter last year at $45.4 million. We generated adjusted free cash flow of $14.9 million in the third quarter of 2021, down from $16.8 million in the third quarter last year. This decline was a direct result of increased capital spending during the quarter of approximately $9.7 million compared to the third quarter last year.

調整後的 EBITDA 與去年第三季度一致，為 4540 萬美元。我們在 2021 年第三季度產生了 1490 萬美元的調整後自由現金流，低於去年第三季度的 1680 萬美元。與去年第三季度相比，本季度的資本支出增加了約 970 萬美元，直接導致了這一下降。

We had cash of $71.4 million and $62 million of available capacity on our revolving line of credit at the end of the quarter. Net borrowings were $685.9 million at the end of the third quarter, and leverage was -- our leverage was 4.6x, down from over 4.7x at the end of the second quarter.

本季度末，我們的循環信貸額度有 7140 萬美元的現金和 6200 萬美元的可用容量。第三季度末的淨借款為 6.859 億美元，槓桿率為——我們的槓桿率為 4.6 倍，低於第二季度末的 4.7 多倍。

Turning to our business outlook. As included in our release this morning, we are revising our 2021 full year guidance as shown on Slide 11. We now expect 2021 adjusted EBITDA to range from $158 million to $167 million, down from our previously issued guidance of $165 million to $175 million.

轉向我們的業務前景。正如我們今天早上發布的那樣，我們正在修改我們的 2021 年全年指導，如幻燈片 11 所示。我們現在預計 2021 年調整後的 EBITDA 為 1.58 億美元至 1.67 億美元，低於我們之前發布的 1.65 億美元至 1.75 億美元的指導。

For adjusted free cash flow, we are fine-tuning our guidance to be between $42 million and $54 million. Adjusted earnings per diluted share is now expected to range from $0.22 to $0.41 compared to our previous range of $0.37 to $0.60.

對於調整後的自由現金流，我們正在將我們的指導微調至 4200 萬美元至 5400 萬美元之間。調整後的每股攤薄收益現在預計在 0.22 美元到 0.41 美元之間，而我們之前的範圍是 0.37 美元到 0.60 美元。

Revenue is tracking towards the higher end of our estimates, and we're increasing the lower end of our guidance range from $940 million to $960 million, with the top end of the range remaining at $990 million.

收入正朝著我們估計的較高端發展，我們將指導範圍的下限從 9.4 億美元增加到 9.6 億美元，範圍的上限仍為 9.9 億美元。

To dive a bit deeper into our guidance revision. The primary drivers of the downward revision are continued deferments of Event Business into 2022, and softer Event and Base Business due to ongoing headwinds as industrial production remains below pre-pandemic levels, hampered by continued transportation and labor shortages, as well as inflationary pressures on the cost side. These headwinds were partially offset by lower incentive compensation in our revised guidance range compared to what was assumed in our previous guidance range.

深入了解我們的指導修訂。下調的主要驅動因素是活動業務繼續推遲到 2022 年，以及由於工業生產仍低於大流行前水平、持續的運輸和勞動力短缺以及通貨膨脹壓力的阻礙，持續的不利因素導致活動和基礎業務疲軟成本方面。與我們之前的指導範圍內的假設相比，我們修訂後的指導範圍內的激勵薪酬較低，部分抵消了這些不利因素。

While these factors were impacting our outlook for 2021, our business fundamentals remained strong. Base Business continues to increase along with most of our recurring Field Services. Our project pipeline in Waste Solutions is strong and growing. However, deferments and delays are pushing this work into 2022. The good news is this has not lost work, and these projects are highly likely to commence shipments in the first half of 2022.

儘管這些因素正在影響我們對 2021 年的展望，但我們的業務基本面依然強勁。基礎業務隨著我們大多數經常性現場服務的持續增長。我們在 Waste Solutions 的項目管線很強大，而且還在不斷增長。然而，延期和延誤正在將這項工作推到 2022 年。好消息是，這還沒有失去工作，這些項目極有可能在 2022 年上半年開始出貨。

With that, I'll turn the call back to Jeff.

有了這個，我會把電話轉回傑夫。

Thanks Eric. We remain encouraged by continuing improvements in the industrial sector as we move back towards pre-pandemic levels. While we continue to navigate short-term Event Business deferral, supply chain, transportation, labor and cost inflation challenges, our competitive position remains as strong as ever, and we continue to leverage our network of irreplaceable facilities and service offerings to win business and position US Ecology for the future.

謝謝埃里克。隨著我們回到大流行前的水平，我們仍然對工業部門的持續改善感到鼓舞。在我們繼續應對短期活動業務延期、供應鏈、運輸、勞動力和成本通脹挑戰的同時，我們的競爭地位一如既往地強大，我們繼續利用我們不可替代的設施和服務產品網絡來贏得業務和地位未來的美國生態學。

Our operational execution was put on display in October as we responded to the Huntington Beach, California oil spill where we quickly assembled and deployed over 1,000 responders using our vast independent network contractor network. This rapid response mitigated the environmental damage in just a matter of days from this unfortunate event.

我們在 10 月份對加利福尼亞州亨廷頓海灘漏油事件做出響應時展示了我們的運營執行力，在那裡我們使用我們龐大的獨立網絡承包商網絡迅速召集並部署了 1,000 多名響應者。在這一不幸事件發生後的短短幾天內，這種快速反應減輕了環境破壞。

As I highlighted earlier, we are executing on a number of strategic priorities that will further strengthen our market position and capabilities that we believe will generate incremental growth in the future.

正如我之前強調的那樣，我們正在執行一些戰略優先事項，這些優先事項將進一步加強我們的市場地位和能力，我們相信這將在未來產生增量增長。

Before I conclude and open the call up for questions, I want to once again thank and recognize our talented team across US Ecology, particularly those team members that have been on the front lines responding to fires, hurricanes, oil spills and accidents over the road. We have the best people and the right assets and remain a trusted partner, uniquely positioned to meet our customers' needs.

在我結束並開始提問之前，我想再次感謝和認可我們在 US Ecology 的才華橫溢的團隊，特別是那些一直在第一線應對火災、颶風、漏油和道路事故的團隊成員.我們擁有最優秀的人才和合適的資產，並且仍然是值得信賴的合作夥伴，在滿足客戶需求方面具有獨特的優勢。

With that, operator, please open up the call.

有了這個，接線員，請打開電話。

(Operator Instructions) And our first question will come from Tyler Brown of Raymond James.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題將來自雷蒙德詹姆斯的泰勒布朗。

Lots of discussion this quarter on inflation. I think you guys made some helpful comments in your prepared remarks. But just how quickly do you think you can adjust pricing to offset the headwinds? I think you mentioned increases in spot rates with the rest kind of coming in '22. But I'm just curious how much of the book is spot? And then can you just broadly, just to help us all understand, how does pricing work in some of the different parts of your business? I know there's a lot there, but that's my big question.

本季度有很多關於通貨膨脹的討論。我認為你們在準備好的發言中提出了一些有用的意見。但您認為調整定價以抵消逆風的速度有多快？我想你提到了現貨利率的增加，而其餘的則在 22 年出現。但我只是好奇這本書有多少是現貨？然後你能不能更廣泛地說，只是為了幫助我們所有人理解，定價在你的業務的一些不同部分是如何運作的？我知道那裡有很多，但這是我的大問題。

Yes. Steve, do you want to take that and I'll fill in?

是的。史蒂夫，你要不要拿去我來填？

Sure. Yes, so I', Tyler on the waste disposal business, we've already sent out notifications to our customers for January 1 increase. It will be high single-digit increase on all of our base treatment and disposal business. So that's in motion.

當然。是的，所以我，負責廢物處理業務的泰勒，我們已經向我們的客戶發出了 1 月 1 日漲價的通知。我們所有的基礎處理和處置業務都將實現高個位數的增長。所以這是在進行中。

The services, a lot of them are bid on a weekly basis, even though we have master service agreements in place with many of our larger generators. What happens is we'll go out and measure a tank, for example, for a tank cleaning, and then we'll bid that at the time with current cost. So not necessarily an increase needed, we just need to bid projects as we go forward with our current rates. So that's in progress also.

儘管我們與許多大型發電機簽訂了主服務協議，但其中很多服務每週都會出價。發生的事情是我們會出去測量一個水箱，例如，進行水箱清潔，然後我們會在當時以當前成本出價。所以不一定需要增加，我們只需要在我們以目前的費率前進時投標項目。所以這也在進行中。

On transportation, we've been moving transportation rates up as we go each week, and we're doing a pretty detailed evaluation if we need further adjustments effective January 1. But we're pretty confident we'll be able to pass along a large percentage of -- recover a large percentage of our cost increases with pricing. Not all of it will happen January 1. It will be over time next year, but we feel very confident we'll be able to cover most of that.

在交通方面，我們每週都在提高交通費率，如果我們需要從 1 月 1 日起進一步調整，我們正在做一個非常詳細的評估。但我們非常有信心我們能夠通過很大一部分 - 通過定價收回我們成本增加的很大一部分。並不是所有的事情都會在 1 月 1 日發生。明年會隨著時間的推移發生，但我們非常有信心我們能夠涵蓋其中的大部分。

So I just want to make sure, so on the Base Business, it could be up mid-to-high single digit next year, pricing?

所以我只想確定，所以在基礎業務上，它明年可能會上漲到中高個位數，定價？

On the waste disposal side, and we do have on the services side some multiyear agreements which we're looking at to determine what our options are. But, yes, on a big chunk of our Base Business, you're going to see a high single digit increase.

在廢物處理方面，我們在服務方面確實有一些多年期協議，我們正在研究這些協議以確定我們的選擇。但是，是的，在我們基礎業務的很大一部分上，你會看到高個位數的增長。

And then, so Tyler, on that. I think it's probably appreciated and known, but I'll just state it anyway. But we're in a unique time that we haven't really seen with the kind of inflationary trends not being very predictable in that front. And so we're being prudent on how we go about and looking at pricing right now, and these are our plans. But we are also waiting for what pricing increases that we're going to see. And we've seen -- we've had notifications from some, we haven't from others in there. But, I think the good thing about our business, and I think Steve highlighted it there is, we have the ability to price our services 0. And it doesn't happen overnight. It happens over time, but we have that ability there. And we've got to remain competitive in the marketplace -- in there. So assuming others are doing similar type things, then we'll be able to recover that pricing. It may happen over quarters as opposed to immediate during the quarter.

然後，泰勒，就此而言。我認為它可能會受到讚賞和了解，但我還是要說明一下。但我們正處於一個獨特的時代，我們還沒有真正看到那種通脹趨勢在這方面不太可預測。因此，我們現在對我們的行事方式和定價持謹慎態度，這些是我們的計劃。但我們也在等待我們將看到的價格上漲。我們已經看到 - 我們已經收到了一些人的通知，但我們還沒有收到其他人的通知。但是，我認為我們業務的好處是，我認為史蒂夫強調了這一點，我們有能力將我們的服務定價為 0。而且這不會在一夜之間發生。它隨著時間的推移而發生，但我們在那裡有這種能力。我們必須在市場上保持競爭力——在那裡。因此，假設其他人正在做類似的事情，那麼我們將能夠恢復該定價。它可能會在幾個季度內發生，而不是在一個季度內立即發生。

A lot of our agreements allow us to adjust on 30-day or 60-day notice. So if we put in our increase, let's say, January 1 and something unexpected happens in first quarter where we're seeing continued inflation, we'll still have the ability to make further adjustments as needed.

我們的許多協議允許我們在提前 30 天或 60 天通知的情況下進行調整。因此，如果我們增加，比方說，1 月 1 日，並且第一季度發生了意想不到的事情，我們看到持續的通貨膨脹，我們仍然有能力根據需要進行進一步調整。

And then, Eric, on Slide 13, the guidance bridge is super helpful. I think it's in the appendix. But I was curious about that $4 million positive delta from corporate. It looks like that is all incentive comp, which I get. But then if I scroll a little bit further, it looks like there's another, call it, aggregate $4 million from incentive comp at the segment level. I can't tell if those are -- if that's $8 million total or if it's just allocations or what exactly and what not?

然後，埃里克，在幻燈片 13 上，引導橋非常有用。我認為它在附錄中。但我對公司帶來的 400 萬美元的正增量感到好奇。看起來這就是我得到的所有激勵補償。但是，如果我再往前滾動一點，看起來還有另一個，稱之為細分市場級別的激勵補償總計 400 萬美元。我不知道這些是 - 總共是 800 萬美元，還是只是撥款，或者到底是什麼，什麼不是？

Yes. So if you look at the change from our guidance last quarter to the change this quarter, kind of at the midpoint. So from total EBITDA of $170 million at the end of last quarter down to $162.5 million, embedded in that is about a little over $7 million -- $7.5 million of incentive comp favorability. Just as the results have come down, the financial component of our incentive comp programs, which is the majority of it, obviously come down commensurately with it. So it's about $7 million, $7.5 million in terms of the change from last quarter's guidance to the current guidance.

是的。因此，如果你看看我們上個季度的指導變化到本季度的變化，那就是中點。因此，從上個季度末的 1.7 億美元的 EBITDA 總額下降到 1.625 億美元，其中包含大約 700 萬美元多一點——750 萬美元的激勵補償優惠。正如結果下降一樣，我們激勵計劃的財務部分（佔其中的大部分）顯然也相應下降。因此，從上一季度的指導到當前指導的變化約為 700 萬美元，750 萬美元。

So big picture, looking out to '22, which sounds like it should be better. So assuming that you get a 100% incentive comp accrual there, I mean, are we talking a $10 million type headwind next year to EBITDA, just big picture?

這麼大的圖景，展望 22 年，聽起來應該更好。因此，假設你在那裡獲得 100% 的激勵補償，我的意思是，我們是否在談論明年 EBITDA 的 1000 萬美元逆風，只是大局？

Yes. I think that's probably a little high. I think it's more in the probably $7 million to $8 million range.

是的。我認為這可能有點高。我認為它可能在 700 萬到 800 萬美元之間。

So that would be a full accrual?

那麼這將是一個完整的應計？

Yes. Correct.

是的。正確的。

And then on CapEx I know it is early, but how should we think about it next year? I mean it seems like maybe you deferred a little bit. You've got your fleet refresh kicking in. My notes have that you have a pretty large cell development year next year, could CapEx be close to $100 million next year or is that just way too much?

然後在資本支出上，我知道現在還早，但明年我們應該如何考慮呢？我的意思是你似乎推遲了一點。你的車隊更新開始了。我的筆記是明年你有一個相當大的電池開發，明年的資本支出會接近 1 億美元還是太多了？

Tyler, this is Simon. It really depends on a lot of the projects that we have going right now. We've got several large projects going at the moment. We are seeing some supply and materials shortages, which do delay schedules. So I can envision some of that shifting over to '22, which could push it up upwards towards the $100 million range.

泰勒，這是西蒙。這真的取決於我們現在正在進行的很多項目。目前我們有幾個大型項目正在進行。我們看到一些供應和材料短缺，這確實會延遲時間表。所以我可以設想其中一些轉移到 22 年，這可能會將其推高至 1 億美元的範圍。

And Tyler, I'll just add on that. And Tyler, I'll just add on that. We're early in the budgeting cycle and it's we're working through that process as we speak right now. We're going to be prudent on our capital on there. We do know that we have. The areas we will not skimp on is landfill development, and that's just a necessity. And we do have that going out the next couple of years, and we know that as a fact. The rest of it has some discretion to it. And depending on the outlook and things like that. But I think could it be $100 million? Yes, it could be $100 million next year. It could be less, more in line with what we have this year or what we had planned for originally this year, about $90 million. So...

泰勒，我會補充一點。泰勒，我會補充一點。我們處於預算週期的早期階段，正如我們現在所說的那樣，我們正在完成這個過程。我們將謹慎對待那裡的資本。我們確實知道我們有。我們不會吝嗇的領域是垃圾填埋場的開發，而這只是必要的。我們確實會在接下來的幾年內推出，我們知道這是事實。它的其餘部分有一定的自由裁量權。並取決於前景和類似的事情。但我認為它可能是 1 億美元嗎？是的，明年可能是 1 億美元。它可能會更少，但更符合我們今年的情況或我們今年最初的計劃，大約 9000 萬美元。所以...

Okay. That's helpful. And then just my last one here -- and this is just a big, broad question. But the leverage still remains relatively high, probably higher than you and most would care it to be. As the business improves, are there any things that you can do, whether it's monetizing pieces of the book? Or is there anything that you can do to help accelerate some of the deleveraging? I get the better EBITDA is going to be a big part of that. But is there anything externally or idiosyncratically that you could do to help there?

好的。這很有幫助。然後是我的最後一個問題——這只是一個大而寬泛的問題。但槓桿率仍然相對較高，可能高於您和大多數人希望達到的水平。隨著業務的改善，您是否可以做任何事情，無論是將書中的部分貨幣化嗎？或者您可以做些什麼來幫助加速一些去槓桿化？我得到更好的 EBITDA 將成為其中的重要組成部分。但是，您可以從外部或特殊方面做些什麼來幫助那裡嗎？

Yes. So let's first talk high level with the leverage. Yes, it's higher than what we would like to have. But I think it's important to note that we have a great credit structure that it's not a cash flow issue, it's more of a math issue. And so we do believe just through the growth projections that we have, we're going to definitely grow out of that leverage level at a good pace.

是的。因此，讓我們首先談談槓桿的高水平。是的，它比我們想要的要高。但我認為重要的是要注意我們有一個很好的信貸結構，這不是現金流問題，更像是一個數學問題。因此，我們確實相信，僅通過我們的增長預測，我們肯定會以良好的速度擺脫槓桿水平。

As far as your question, are there pieces of the business that are -- whether it's noncore or things that could be monetized. We are definitely actively looking at that, and we have identified pieces of the business that we are evaluating today that could bring that down and at a much faster rate.

至於你的問題，是否有一些業務——無論是非核心業務還是可以貨幣化的業務。我們肯定正在積極研究這一點，並且我們已經確定了我們今天正在評估的業務部分，這些部分可能會以更快的速度降低它。

(Operator Instructions) And our next question will come from Michael Hoffman of Stifel.

（操作員說明）我們的下一個問題將來自 Stifel 的邁克爾霍夫曼。

Eric, what's the dollar amount of project revenue that has to get done from a regulatory standpoint? Didn't get done in the original budget, but could get done. I know there's a lot of maybe dones in '22.

埃里克，從監管的角度來看，必須完成的項目收入有多少美元？沒有在最初的預算中完成，但可以完成。我知道 22 年有很多可能完成的事情。

Well, I would tell you, if you look at the segment bridge for Waste Solutions, it's in the deck. I mean for -- since last quarter's guidance, there's about another $4 million of EBITDA that shifted from this year to next. If you go back to last quarter, there was about $3 million of deferrals there. So we're already talking EBITDA of $7 million, $7.5 million that shifted out of 2021 into 2022. I would say a large portion of that is regulatory driven kind of event work and clean up their projects that will happen that are going to come. It's just a question of timing and they've deferred into next year.

好吧，我會告訴你，如果你看一下 Waste Solutions 的分段橋，它就在甲板上。我的意思是 - 自上個季度的指導以來，還有大約 400 萬美元的 EBITDA 從今年轉移到明年。如果回到上個季度，那裡有大約 300 萬美元的延期付款。因此，我們已經在談論 EBITDA 為 700 萬美元，從 2021 年轉移到 2022 年的 750 萬美元。我想說其中很大一部分是監管驅動的事件工作，並清理他們即將發生的項目。這只是時間問題，他們已經推遲到明年。

And the regulators have been giving lots of extensions on various things. I mean you all have lived with it on incineration. They're giving generators 30-day and 45-day extensions on storage. So is there a risk that some of the regulatory stuff has given extensions again, because there's capacity constraints on volume being able to move around trucking and all that?

監管機構一直在對各種事情進行大量擴展。我的意思是你們都在焚燒中生活過。他們為發電機提供 30 天和 45 天的存儲延期。那麼，是否存在一些監管措施再次延期的風險，因為能夠在卡車運輸和所有其他方面移動的體積存在容量限制？

On most of the stuff that is from a deferral standpoint, we're highly confident that that's going to move next year. I mean there's actually some of it that is starting to ship at -- whether it's late November or December that's just going to carry over and that's part of the deferral. So on that, we feel very confident.

從延期的角度來看，大多數事情，我們非常有信心明年會發生。我的意思是實際上有一些開始發貨——無論是在 11 月下旬還是 12 月，它們都會繼續發貨，這是延期的一部分。因此，在這一點上，我們感到非常有信心。

I think your bigger question is, if we go into 2022, are we going to be living in the same environment of continued deferrals, delays, things to that effect. And, unfortunately, in periods of uncertainty, yes, that tends to happen more frequently. I mean we've seen it in our past, you go back to the last couple of cycles, we saw it as well in there.

我認為你更大的問題是，如果我們進入 2022 年，我們是否會生活在同樣的環境中，持續延期、延誤，以及類似的事情。不幸的是，在不確定時期，是的，這種情況往往會更頻繁地發生。我的意思是我們在過去看到過它，你回到最後幾個週期，我們也在那裡看到過它。

I will say the pipeline continues to improve. The teams are receiving lots of bids right now. All indications are there's going to be good opportunities next year. But as we -- we'll know a lot more when we release our full year outlook in February of next year. But right now, things are pointing in the right direction, and we think things are going to be more stabilized.

我會說管道繼續改進。這些團隊現在收到了很多投標。所有跡像都表明明年將有好機會。但正如我們一樣——當我們在明年 2 月發布全年展望時，我們會知道更多。但現在，事情正朝著正確的方向發展，我們認為事情會更加穩定。

Michael, a lot of the, what we're calling deferrals, are government-related. We have one Superfund site that's actually is starting next week, won't impact Q4 too much by the time we mobilize and start shipping. But they ran into water issues when they mobilized a few months ago, that got delayed. There's not, in my mind, big risk on that one. We have one of the FUSRAP sites that's just kicking off in a couple of weeks. It had to do with getting new work plans, that delayed it 3-4 months. We have another job that is -- it has to do with freeway construction and a new bridge, and they ran into unexpected waste issues that delayed the project. We have a change of scope and the job is going to grow. That resulted in a delay. But there's not really much in the way of discretionary work that got delayed, at least on the big movers. Most of these were just schedule issues and a combination of regulatory and scope problems or waste issues that they didn't expect.

邁克爾，很多，我們稱之為延期，都與政府有關。我們有一個 Superfund 網站實際上將於下周啟動，到我們動員起來並開始發貨時不會對第四季度產生太大影響。但他們在幾個月前動員時遇到了水問題，因此被推遲了。在我看來，那件事並沒有太大的風險。我們有一個 FUSRAP 站點將在幾週後啟動。這與獲得新的工作計劃有關，因此推遲了 3-4 個月。我們還有另一項工作 - 它與高速公路建設和一座新橋樑有關，他們遇到了意想不到的浪費問題，從而推遲了項目。我們的範圍發生了變化，工作將會增加。這導致了延遲。但實際上並沒有多少可自由支配的工作被推遲，至少對大推動者而言是這樣。其中大部分只是進度問題以及監管和範圍問題的組合，或者是他們沒有預料到的浪費問題。

Okay. Fair enough. And certainly, there's evidence in the quarter's results and decisions to do things that -- like in Field Service. So I guess, what I'm trying to tease out here is that, okay, it's disappointing that there are these pressures and delays and there's deferrals, but there's evidence of activity happening across the breadth of the customer base that would suggest that you can't delay some of these things forever, even the discretionary stuff, and therefore, stuff starts percolating. It's just hard to predict it. That's the problem. It's hard to predict it.

好的。很公平。當然，本季度的結果和決策中有證據表明要做的事情——比如在 Field Service 中。所以我想，我想在這裡弄清楚的是，好吧，令人失望的是存在這些壓力和延遲以及延期，但有證據表明整個客戶群都在發生活動，這表明你可以永遠拖延其中的一些事情，甚至是可自由支配的事情，因此，事情開始滲透。只是很難預測。那就是問題所在。很難預測。

Yes. And absolutely, it can't be deferred in perpetuity. So yes, we're seeing the same things.

是的。絕對不能永久推遲。所以是的，我們看到了同樣的事情。

Okay. The back to teasing out, where I was just trying to get on the -- your ability to overcome inflation -- cost inflation. Given the timing of these price increases, the levels, is this by the end of 1Q, everything being equal, that nothing keeps rising. It sort of has hit levels and therefore, you can account for it, you're caught up? Or does it take longer to catch up?

好的。回到戲弄的地方，我只是想談談——你克服通貨膨脹的能力——成本通貨膨脹。考慮到這些價格上漲的時間、水平，這是在第一季度末，一切都相同，沒有什麼會繼續上漲。它有點達到了水平，因此，你可以解釋一下，你被趕上了嗎？還是需要更長的時間才能趕上？

I think it will take a few quarters in there. And that's -- we're assuming we're still going to -- we're not going to see a stability in inflation next year. I think it's going to continue to increase in the first half of next year. And so we may have to do some additional adjustments. But that's going to be all factored in into our outlook, but we'll probably have some headwinds next year. But I think the key takeaway is we will be able to price through it. And that's the -- that really goes to the scope of our assets and services and how critically needed they are.

我認為在那裡需要幾個季度。那就是——我們假設我們仍然會——明年我們不會看到通脹穩定。我認為它會在明年上半年繼續增加。因此我們可能需要做一些額外的調整。但這將全部納入我們的展望，但明年我們可能會遇到一些不利因素。但我認為關鍵要點是我們將能夠通過它定價。這就是——真正涉及到我們的資產和服務的範圍以及它們的迫切需要。

And so from -- since we had the model, thinking about it as first half has got pressure second half, we start to level off and maybe even exit with some tailwind.

因此，自從我們有了這個模型，考慮到上半場下半場有壓力，我們開始趨於平穩，甚至可能順風退出。

Yes.

是的。

And then if industrial production, which is currently being forecast to run between 3% and 4% next year -- and personally, I think that's low, but I'd say it is 3%, 4%, plus what you've just shared with us on price, do we have a conversation in the Base Business that's back to a high single-digit growth rate? That's the right way to think about it?

然後，如果目前預測明年的工業生產將在 3% 到 4% 之間運行——我個人認為這很低，但我會說它是 3%、4%，再加上你剛才所說的與我們分享了價格，我們是否在基礎業務中進行了恢復高個位數增長率的對話？這是正確的思考方式嗎？

Yes. We're still working through our budgeting process next year, but I think those are good solid data points that you're pointing to next year on there. Our Base Business, as you're probably tracking in your models, is not still back to pre-pandemic level. I mean, during the quarter, we were still -- we -- if you compare to 2019, we were down about 7% from 2019 to Q3. And so there's ongoing challenges out there.

是的。我們仍在努力完成明年的預算編制過程，但我認為這些是你在明年指出的很好的可靠數據點。正如您可能在模型中跟踪的那樣，我們的基礎業務尚未恢復到大流行前的水平。我的意思是，在本季度，我們仍然——我們——如果你與 2019 年相比，我們從 2019 年到第三季度下降了約 7%。因此，那裡存在持續的挑戰。

I will say if we can alleviate the bottlenecks, I know our customers are saying that if they can get labor and raw materials, they have a lot more demand and a lot more product that they would produce. That would generate more waste overall. So to me, that's the big critical area for our customers' perspective on understanding what volumes are next year.

我會說如果我們能緩解瓶頸，我知道我們的客戶說如果他們能得到勞動力和原材料，他們就會有更多的需求和更多的產品。這會產生更多的垃圾。所以對我來說，這是我們客戶了解明年銷量的關鍵領域。

And to that end, another player in this market on a call suggested if they could have hired 2,000 more people in services-based work, they could have done 2,000 billable hours more work. And I'm assuming you've got the same proportional issue is if you could found the bodies, you had to done more work.

為此，該市場的另一位參與者在電話中建議，如果他們可以在基於服務的工作中多僱用 2,000 人，他們可以多做 2,000 個計費小時。我假設你有同樣的比例問題，如果你能找到屍體，你必須做更多的工作。

Absolutely. So we have 300 open positions, smaller scale than maybe the peer you're referencing. But, yes, we -- that is a headwind. And right now if we had those bodies, we would be having billable hours. In addition, there would be increased waste flows, there would be increased equipment charges, it goes on and on and on.

絕對地。所以我們有 300 個空缺職位，規模可能比你所引用的同行要小。但是，是的，我們——這是一個逆風。現在，如果我們有這些機構，我們就會有計費時間。此外，廢物流量會增加，設備費用也會增加，這樣的情況會一直持續下去。

So this is a -- you can't solve this question overnight, but what are the solutions to -- where you structurally have a smaller labor pool, which to draw off of. It's structural, that's the world we're living in. What do you do differently?

所以這是一個——你不能在一夜之間解決這個問題，但解決方案是什麼——在結構上你有一個較小的勞動力池，可以從中提取。它是結構性的，這就是我們生活的世界。你有什麼不同之處？

It's a great question, Mike. Michael, this is Simon. We're tapping into more networks, recruiting networks, kind of being more -- expanding kind of our employee -- that pool, if you will, looking at military partnerships, tapping into trade schools, even connecting with high schools when we can.

這是一個很好的問題，邁克。邁克爾，這是西蒙。我們正在利用更多的網絡，招聘網絡，有點像——擴大我們的員工——那個池，如果你願意的話，看看軍事夥伴關係，利用貿易學校，甚至在可能的時候與高中聯繫。

We're also looking into internal programs to accelerate the time from interview offer. Continue focusing on our culture, things like developing driver committees to understand what's important to them, really focusing on the engagement side of making sure USA remains -- US Ecology remains a fun place to work.

我們也在研究內部計劃，以加快面試機會的時間。繼續關注我們的文化，比如發展司機委員會以了解對他們來說什麼是重要的，真正關注確保美國仍然存在的參與方面——美國生態仍然是一個有趣的工作場所。

We're looking to tap into our own team and staying on the driver front, incentivizing our employees to pay for their training to become CDL drivers. And we're certainly being aggressive in making sure that we're paying consistent with market rates. So really, it's a case of pulling every lever we can, making sure that we can continue recruiting best-in-class.

我們希望利用我們自己的團隊並留在駕駛員方面，激勵我們的員工支付培訓費用以成為 CDL 駕駛員。我們當然會積極確保我們支付的費用與市場價格一致。所以說真的，這是一個盡我們所能，確保我們能夠繼續招聘一流人才的案例。

But there's no doubt there's just -- there's been a sea change and things are a little out of balance right now. But I will say over the last 3 months, we have been making meaningful headway on the driver pool and other areas. So these efforts I'm describing, we're starting to see month after month after month when we're outpacing -- our gains are outpacing our losses, if you will.

但毫無疑問，只是——發生了翻天覆地的變化，現在情況有點失衡。但我要說的是，在過去的 3 個月裡，我們在司機池和其他領域取得了有意義的進展。因此，我正在描述的這些努力，我們開始逐月看到我們正在超越——如果你願意的話，我們的收益正在超過我們的損失。

Yes. On the CapEx side, Jeff, so $10 million -- so this -- you made this statement, I want to just reaffirm. You were planning to spend more CapEx on landfill this year. You did it. You're going to do it again next year. This is all the Michigan build-out. And then we get this real nice drop-off in CapEx post '23. What was the $10 million now that you didn't spend? What didn't you spend it on?

是的。在資本支出方面，傑夫，所以 1000 萬美元——所以這個——你發表了這個聲明，我想重申一下。您計劃今年在垃圾填埋場上花費更多的資本支出。你做到了。明年你會再做一次。這就是密歇根的全部擴建。然後我們在 23 年後的資本支出中得到了這個真正好的下降。現在你沒有花的 1000 萬美元是多少？你沒有花錢做什麼？

Michael, this is Simon. Again, it's probably 2 big buckets. One is the -- we're building out our capacity at our Karnes landfill. We planned on completing all of that in '21. Some of that's going to land in '22 as we build that out. And most significantly, we're doing some major investments with some replacements of some tanks, which includes a lot of steel. And we've seen delays in getting the steel delivered, which has caused us to push that project in part into '22. So those 2 projects right there probably represent 70% or 80% of the deferral, if you will.

邁克爾，這是西蒙。同樣，它可能是 2 個大桶。一是——我們正在 Karnes 垃圾填埋場建設我們的能力。我們計劃在 21 年完成所有這些工作。隨著我們的構建，其中一些將在 22 年落地。最重要的是，我們正在進行一些重大投資，更換一些儲罐，其中包括大量鋼材。我們已經看到鋼材交付出現延誤，這導致我們將該項目部分推遲到 22 年。所以如果你願意的話，那兩個項目可能代表了 70% 或 80% 的延期。

And then Eric, there's a $10 million reduction in cash flow from ops in the cash flow bridge, but there's only -- there's a smaller reduction in net income. So what's happening in cash flow from ops that increases that to $10 million?

然後是埃里克，現金流橋中運營的現金流減少了 1000 萬美元，但只有 - 淨收入減少較小。那麼，將運營現金流增加到 1000 萬美元的運營現金流發生了什麼變化？

Yes. The biggest driver really is working capital. So as the fourth quarter becomes our strongest quarter of the year, we'll see some working capital drain on that as we exit the fourth quarter. There, hopefully, will be some pickup next year in terms of working capital. So it's really a working capital story in terms of getting paid. Especially as Jeff mentioned, we're responding and have some large-scale ER responses in October, early November, and those payment cycles tend to be a little longer as we're ultimately getting paid through insurance.

是的。最大的驅動力確實是營運資金。因此，隨著第四季度成為我們今年最強勁的季度，我們將在第四季度結束時看到一些營運資金流失。希望明年在營運資金方面會有一些回升。因此，就獲得報酬而言，這確實是一個營運資金故事。特別是正如 Jeff 提到的那樣，我們正在做出回應，並在 10 月、11 月初進行了一些大規模的 ER 響應，而且這些付款週期往往會更長一些，因為我們最終會通過保險獲得付款。

I think the quality of the asset stood out. It's a challenging operating environment, but certainly, the quality of assets stood out.

我認為資產的質量很突出。這是一個充滿挑戰的經營環境，但可以肯定的是，資產質量脫穎而出。

This concludes our question-and-answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to Jeff Feeler for any closing remarks.

我們的問答環節到此結束。我想將會議轉回 Jeff Feeler 的閉幕詞。

All right. I want to thank those that attended the call today. We'll be participating in some conferences over the course of November and looking forward to connecting with you.

好的。我要感謝今天參加電話會議的人。我們將在 11 月期間參加一些會議，並期待與您聯繫。

The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation, and you may now disconnect.

會議現已結束。感謝您參加今天的演講，您現在可以斷開連接了。