It’s a slow but definitely identifiable trend in the portable restroom industry: More and more people are asking for restroom trailers instead of — or in addition to — individual units. There are various reasons for this growing demand. Some folks want the additional functionality of running water, lights and sinks all in one place. Others prefer the upscale looks inside and out. And some PROs prefer the more upscale clientele — and their bigger budgets — attracted to the trailers.
But what about specialty trailers, such as those used for showers and decontamination? Is the trend following there as well? These PROs talk about how such trailers are helping steer their businesses into a more specialized profitability.
“I don’t like the onesie-twosie units myself, so I can understand why people prefer the trailer restrooms,” says owner Kyle Shern of Bio-Gard Inc. He characterizes his central Missouri territory as having a number of festivals already, with a trend toward more. That’s what’s currently driving his growth in the portables industry.
“I’d sure consider offering shower or de-con trailers if I thought there was a market for them,” he says. “With more community involvement and events, I’ll definitely be paying more attention to the market.” But a purchase has to make sound financial sense. “When the time comes, I’ll have to run the numbers and figure out whether it’s feasible to get a return on the investment.”
“We are currently thinking about expanding into the shower trailer market. We only have one provider in our region, and we’ve been getting requests from our rural folk festivals and music festivals,” explains Brian Delker, co-owner of Bob’s Johns.
Bob’s Johns also gets requests for shower trailers from a current customer, the U.S. Forest Service, for whom the firm provides portable restrooms to firefighters on the lines during fire season. “That’s why our competitor built a shower trailer, so now he services the entire western region. That commitment requires that his trailer always be available to the Forest Service during fire season, so he’s got that one tied up and can’t use it to fill other requests. That’s why we’d keep ours available for forest fires, but not go under a permanent contract with them.”
Currently, Bob’s Johns has two restroom trailers at different price points. Delker believes it’s possible that there may be decontamination trailers in his company’s future.
“We’re hearing from promoters that there’s an increase in requests by performers for shower trailers and nicer restrooms backstage. But we don’t have event organizers yet who are willing to pay for that kind of trailer. A shower unit would almost require a 24-hour attendant,” Delker says, so the cost factor doesn’t just bear on the trailer purchase, but also on field technicians to staff it.
Dan Gray is a Civil War re-enactor, so he understands what drives demand for on-site shower trailers. After a few days camping in the same clothes, sleeping on the ground around a campfire, some clean water and a change of clothes sounds mighty good. But there’s another market stirring his interest in adding shower and decontamination trailers to the A-1 Enterprises fleet.
“We’re thinking about it,” he says, adding, “We get a lot more calls for both — more showers than de-con — from construction sites funded by the federal government. We already have a regular restroom trailer from Ameri-Can Engineering."
Gray says getting more requests would push him past the tipping point in favor of ordering a shower or decontamination trailer. “I think in the last year, we had maybe 25 calls for a shower trailer. Currently I’m renting — subcontracting — it from someone else to fill those requests. I’d say if I’d get about 10 more calls in a year, I could justify making that purchase. That’s what I’d like to see.”
