Downstream works with 2,530 active suppliers across waste, site services and equipment.
Downstream researchWhere Downstream’s supplier network reaches — and where it’s thin
Data as of (yesterday)
Downstream matches enterprise buyers with local suppliers for waste, site services and equipment. This post lays out where that network stands, how it got there, and which markets have the most room for a new partner.
The network today
On the surface, the network looks like a single national footprint: 2,530 active suppliers operating 5,570 distinct locations across all 50 states. Because multi-line yards cross categories, summing the individual segments yields 6,506 locations, with 936 branches counted more than once. Look underneath those totals, however, and you find three very different industries.
Waste is a local, fragmented business. It takes 1,489 suppliers to run 1,887 locations—an average of just 1.27 yards per company. Equipment is the opposite, dominated by large, multi-branch chains where just 161 suppliers control 2,136 locations, averaging 13.27 branches apiece. Site Services sits between those two poles, with 1,047 suppliers across 2,483 locations, or 2.37 locations per operator.
Product variety follows the same split. The entire network spans 283,516 listings—with 241,047 in Equipment, 34,311 in Site Services, and 8,158 in Waste—though these figures represent a catalog cross-product of one row per product per location, largely created by a bulk import, making them a measure of catalog breadth rather than supplier count. Despite the contrast between independent haulers and multi-branch equipment chains, both models achieve nearly identical national reach across all 50 states. When restricting to category-specific requests and testing whether a job's delivery point is within 50 miles of at least one active supplier location in that segment, the network covers 99.3% of Waste demand, 99.3% of Site Services demand, and 98.1% of Equipment demand.
- Active suppliers
- 2,530
- Active service locations
- 5,570
- States with coverage
- 50
- Catalog breadth listings
- 283,516
- Catalog cross-product: one row per product per location, largely created by a bulk import. A measure of catalog breadth, not of supplier count.
The categories describe different markets: independent waste haulers, site-service partners and equipment branch networks. A company can serve more than one category, so category counts do not add up to the platform total.
Waste
- Active suppliers
- 1,489
- Service locations
- 1,887
- States with coverage
- 50
- Locations per supplier
- 1.27
- Catalog listings
- 8,158
- Catalog cross-product: one row per product per location, largely created by a bulk import. A measure of catalog breadth, not of supplier count.
Includes: Waste Management.
Site Services
- Active suppliers
- 1,047
- Service locations
- 2,483
- States with coverage
- 50
- Locations per supplier
- 2.37
- Catalog listings
- 34,311
- Catalog cross-product: one row per product per location, largely created by a bulk import. A measure of catalog breadth, not of supplier count.
Includes: Fence & Traffic Control, Ground Protection, Mobile Offices, Portable Storage, Pumps, Tanks, and Filtration, Restrooms & Sanitation, Temporary Industrial Tent.
Equipment
The categories contain 6,506 location entries across 5,570 distinct locations. 936 entries are additional counts of locations serving multiple categories. The network total above counts each service location once.
How the map filled in
Tracing the network's footprint requires two upfront caveats: locations are dated by when they were created on the platform, and the series tracks only locations that remain active today. Because suppliers who have since left the platform are excluded, the earlier quarters understate the network as it actually stood at the time. Even with that filter, the early trajectory shows steady, incremental additions—starting in 2023Q2 with 46 mapped active locations (33 in waste, 18 in site services, and 1 in equipment) and building to 536 total mapped locations by 2024Q3.
The curve shifts sharply in 2024Q4, when mapped active locations jump to 1,864. This spike was driven by a single national-account onboarding on 12 November 2024 that added 1,821 locations in one day, a real step-change left unsmoothed in the data. That onboarding also reshaped the category mix, pushing mapped equipment locations from 31 in 2024Q3 to 1,239 in 2024Q4, while site services moved from 159 to 612.
Following that national-account cohort, steady quarterly additions resumed across all categories. By 2026Q4, the map reaches 5,436 active locations, comprising 2,356 in site services, 2,009 in equipment, and 1,780 in waste. Alongside the 5,436 mapped locations, the broader network includes 5,570 total active locations, as 134 active locations are counted in supplier totals but omitted from the map due to missing or invalid coordinates or a state that does not resolve to one of the 50 states plus DC.
The map plots 5,436 locations by quarter of onboarding, from 2023Q2 to 2026Q4. The supplier totals include 5,570 active locations; 134 cannot be mapped.
Locations with no usable coordinate (including (0,0) geocode failures) or whose state does not resolve to one of the 50 states plus DC. They are counted in the supplier cards and cannot be placed on the map.
Amber marks the bulk national-account onboarding; teal marks other additions. The map shows locations still active today, not the full historical network.
Buyer demand within reach
Using a 50.0-mile service radius, almost all buyer requests already have an active supplier nearby. The data tracks two figures: the serviceable demand share across all requests, and the serviceable demand share restricted to requests within a specific category.
Quoting the figure for all requested jobs, 99.1% have a delivery point within 50 miles of at least one active Waste supplier location. On the same basis, 99.2% of all requested jobs have a delivery point within 50 miles of at least one active Site Services supplier location, and 98.4% of all requested jobs have a delivery point within 50 miles of at least one active Equipment supplier location.
Quoting the category-matched figures, the serviceable share is 99.3% when applying the same test, restricted to Waste requests. It is also 99.3% using the same test, restricted to Site Services requests, and 98.1% using the same test, restricted to Equipment requests. Geographic coverage across these categories is already extensive.
For every job buyers requested through Downstream, we checked whether an active supplier in that category sits within 50 miles of the delivery address. These percentages describe requests for each category, including those that did not convert to a rental.
Waste
- Category requests within reach
- 99.3%
- Same test, restricted to Waste requests.
Site Services
- Category requests within reach
- 99.3%
- Same test, restricted to Site Services requests.
Where there is the most room
To find where suppliers have the most room to grow, we look at the depth of demand per supplier rather than the absence of suppliers in a given geography. We evaluate metros with at least 25 requests within a 100.0 km (50.0 miles) radius, ranking them on requested demand per independent supplier and on FRED metro building permits per independent supplier, where supplier counts represent distinct companies rather than branch locations. All demand and permit figures are index values rebased to the top metro, not raw counts of jobs or permits.
In the waste category, the Miami Area, FL ranks first with a demand per supplier index of 98.4 and a permits per supplier index of 6.4 across 11 independent suppliers, based on requested demand and FRED metro building permits per distinct company rather than branch locations. Using the same per-company basis, the Jacksonville Area, FL follows with a demand per supplier index of 79.0 and a permits per supplier index of 7.4 across 6 independent suppliers, while the Buffalo Area, NY posts a demand per supplier index of 60.8 and a permits per supplier index of 58.4 across 3 independent suppliers.
The New York Area, NY leads both site services and equipment. Ranked on requested demand and FRED metro building permits per distinct independent company rather than branch locations, New York records a site services demand per supplier index of 100.0 and a permits per supplier index of 27.0 across 11 independent suppliers. In equipment, under the same distinct-company basis, New York posts a demand per supplier index of 100.0 and a permits per supplier index of 21.2 across 7 independent suppliers. By contrast, while the Dallas–Fort Worth Area, TX has an overall equipment demand index of 100.0, dividing requested demand and FRED building permits across its 27 distinct independent companies (not branch locations) brings its demand per supplier index to 55.4 and its permits per supplier index to 5.8.
Ranked on requested demand per independent supplier and on FRED metro building permits per independent supplier. Supplier counts are distinct companies, not branch locations.
Every index is rebased to 100 at that category’s top metro for that measure. Indices compare markets; they are not counts of jobs, requests or permits. Absolute demand by metro is not published. The supplied ranking order is preserved.
Growing with us
Joining does not mean rebuilding your business around a new system. We onboard your catalog from whatever you already keep it in, map your products to the categories buyers search, and set your service area and pricing.
From there your listings are matched against live enterprise demand in your region — you quote the jobs you want and decline the rest.
- Catalog onboarding
- We do the data entry, including per-location service areas.
- Visibility
- Your listings appear wherever buyers search your categories in your region.
- Matching
- Enterprise demand routed to you by category, location and availability.
Methodology and caveats
These figures are derived from Downstream marketplace data, which represents one marketplace and not a census of US rental supply. Supply is measured as of 2026-10-20, where a supplier location counts as active when neither the location nor its parent company is deleted and it carries at least one active product listing in the category. Listing counts are a catalog cross-product—one row per product per location—and were largely created by a bulk import, so supplier and location counts are the real measure of network size. Waste, Site Services, and Equipment are a Downstream rollup of product category groups rather than a catalog field; a supplier serving more than one bucket is counted in each, so the three buckets do not sum to the platform total.
Demand and supply run on different clocks: requests are counted over all history, while the time-lapse is dated on supplier location creation. Demand means all requested jobs to date—one row per buyer address and category ever requested, converted or not—because counting converted rentals alone would be circular, as a rental can only convert where a supplier already existed to serve it. Requested demand includes jobs imported during a January–March 2026 backfill; that import damaged date fields, not addresses, so it is sound for geography, and figures are reported with and without it in the accompanying QA record. Serviceable demand share counts a requested job as within reach when its delivery coordinates are within 50 miles (straight-line great-circle distance) of at least one active supplier location offering that bucket. Supplier-declared service areas and per-listing service radii are deliberately not used; 50 miles is the observed 90th percentile of how far suppliers actually travel on completed rentals.
In the time-lapse, supplier locations are dated on when the location was created on the platform. For example, 1,821 locations were added on 12 November 2024 in a single national-account onboarding; that step is real and is shown rather than smoothed. Because the time-lapse only shows locations that are active today, suppliers who have since left the platform never appear, meaning earlier quarters understate the network as it stood at the time.