text: *Pricing Activities.*We seek to secure price increases necessary to oÅset increased costs. During the 
  fourth quarter of 2003, we implemented a broad-based pricing initiative across all lines of our business. 
  
  *Long-Term Contracts.*We seek to obtain long-term contracts for collecting solid waste in high- 
  growth markets. These include exclusive franchise agreements with municipalities as well as commer- 
  cial and industrial contracts. By obtaining such long-term agreements, we have the opportunity to grow 
  our contracted revenue base at the same rate as the underlying population growth in these markets. For 
  example, we have secured exclusive, long-term franchise agreements in high-growth markets such as 
  Los Angeles, Orange and Contra Costa Counties in California, Las Vegas, Nevada, Arlington, Texas, 
  and many areas of Florida. We believe that this positions our company to experience internal growth 
  rates that are generally higher than our industry's overall growth rate. In addition, we believe that by 
  securing a base of long-term recurring revenue in growth markets, we are better able to protect our 
  market position from competition and our business may be less susceptible to downturns in economic 
  conditions. 
  
  *Sales and Marketing Activities.*We seek to manage our sales and marketing activities to enable our 
  company to capitalize on our leading positions in many of the markets in which we operate. We 
  currently have approximately 500 sales and marketing employees in the Ñeld, who are compensated 
  using a commission structure that is focused on generating high levels of quality revenue. For the most 
  part, these employees directly solicit business from existing and prospective commercial, industrial, 
  municipal and residential customers. We emphasize our rate and cost structures when we train new 
  and existing sales personnel. In addition, we utilize a contact management system that assists our sales 
  people in tracking leads. It also tracks renewal periods for potential commercial, industrial and 
  franchise contracts. 