Remember the old adage that says a chain is only as strong as its weakest link? The same holds true when it comes to employees in the portable restroom industry, says Jeremy Hawkins, the frontman for the U.S. operations of global portable restroom service provider ADCO International.
“You are who your drivers are and what they do,” says Hawkins, minority owner and operator of Blu-John.com in Cumming, Ga., the largest of seven portable restroom operations under the umbrella of ADCO Holdings, the U.S. arm of ADCO International. “The company is only as good as its weakest driver.”
Attracting and retaining good employees, however, is a constant battle for ADCO, just as it is for many smaller portable restroom operators, says Hawkins, who is steering ADCO’s push into U.S. markets while holding the reins at Blu-John.
“In this industry, the hardest thing is acquiring good general managers, good drivers — good employees in general,” Hawkins says. “It’s tough to fill job openings from top to bottom.”
Finding good drivers is particularly vexing. Drivers are critical because they interact with customers more than any other employee and represent the face of the company. Yet they’re difficult to attract because the job isn’t very glamorous.
Blu-John.com and its sister companies surmount the stigma by treating drivers as professionals.
“Our guys are professional drivers, just like a UPS driver or a bottled water service guy,” Hawkins says. “If your employees aren’t top quality, then the company won’t be top quality. This industry is all about service.
“You can have the best trucks with all the newest bells and whistles and the best restrooms with all the bells and whistles, but if your drivers aren’t dedicated and trained well, you’re not going to be as successful as you can be.”
EMPLOYEE BENEFITS
ADCO offers competitive pay, benefits and training to keep employees happy, as well as special incentive programs. Benefits include paid vacation, sick and personal days, health and dental insurance and a 401(k) retirement plan, plus uniforms and Portable Sanitation Association International certification opportunities for drivers.
The company also encourages sales staff to attend seminars, classes and other continuing education activities, and pays for college courses for general managers who are on a corporate track.
The PSAI certification is a critical component of drivers’ training. And Hawkins says that before any driver makes his first service stop, he also receives two weeks of in-house training to learn the correct way to operate a truck and service restrooms.
Hawkins’ views about employee retention have been shaped by years in the industry. After serving as a regional sales manager for 3M’s office products division, Hawkins cut his teeth in the portable restroom industry as the head of international sales for restroom manufacturer PolyPortables Inc. from 1990 to 2000.
“I was on the other side of the business for 10 years,” he recalls. “I lived in Germany and traveled all over the world — South America, Russia, Asia and Europe. I joined PolyPortables right after the Berlin Wall came down, so it was a good time to be in the portable restroom business. It was a boom time.
“After I’d set up several European distributorships, I didn’t need to live in Europe any more, so I went back home to the Atlanta area, where I grew up. Then ADCO made me an offer I couldn’t refuse, and here I am.”
GREEN LIGHT FOR BLU-JOHN
The U.S. branch of ADCO Holdings started in 1998 in Atlanta, and Hawkins established the Blu-John.com subsidiary and built a new office for both in Atlanta in 2001. Since ADCO landed, the company acquired six more portable restroom companies: a Waste Management operation in Savannah, Ga., that was renamed Blu-John.com of Savannah Inc.; Sani-Kan in Cumberland, R.I., which serves the entire state and the metro-Boston area; Down East Rent A John Inc. in Jacksonville, N.C.; Port-San in Raleigh-Durham, N.C.; Portable Sanitation and Services (PSS) in Jacksonville, Fla.; and Sun Coast Portable Sanitation in Fort Myers, Fla.
ADCO’s U.S. operations include nearly 25,000 restrooms — about 4,000 at Blu-John alone — mostly made by PolyPortables Inc., PolyJohn Enterprises Corp., Satellite Industries Inc., Synergy World Inc. and Five Peaks Technology. The holding company also runs about 400 service vehicles, about 25 owned by Blu-John.
When it buys new trucks, ADCO Holdings prefers GMC 7500s and International 4300s, built out by Progress Tank with 1,200-gallon wastewater and 300-gallon freshwater tanks, Hawkins says.
Using advanced technology makes the company more attractive to employees while increasing efficiency and productivity. For instance, ADCO relies heavily on Global Positioning System technology. All route supervisors carry GPS units, which come in handy when they need to run a route for a sick driver or make an emergency service call.
“Our supervisors wear a lot of hats, and GPS makes it easy to find places they may not be familiar with,” Hawkins says.
In addition, dispatchers, route supervisors and general managers all have Total Activity Control software from Clear Computing Inc. installed on their computers. The software enables them to monitor all aspects of operations, including efficient routing.
“One of the biggest aspects of this industry is route density,” Hawkins says. “If your drivers are criss-crossing each other, you’re losing money. If you don’t achieve good route density, you’re just spinning your wheels.”
When current or former customers call ADCO, the TAC software automatically calls up their account history on a customer service representative’s computer screen — how many restrooms they order, location of the units, what day they’re serviced, and so on.
“For expediency and efficiency, that’s a great thing,” Hawkins says.
CAREFUL EXPANSION
The economic slowdown has somewhat dampened ADCO’s growth plans, Hawkins says.
“It’s very volatile right now,” he observes. “A company with 2,000 units out there right now might have only 1,200 by the end of the acquisition period, so you’ve got to be careful. But as soon as the downturn ends, we’ll be as aggressive as we ever were.”
Prospecting for potential acquisitions starts with a focus on growth areas, Hawkins says.
“We examine markets that we feel are developing, with ongoing growth forecasts,” he explains. “Then we look at a company and how it fits in its market — its market share, its reputation and the quality of service it provides.
“We look at the value of the company’s customer base. In other words, does the company have customers just because it offers the cheapest rates in town, or does it do business based on quality of service?”
ADCO also analyzes a company’s customer database to see how long customers have stayed with the company. It also examines the company’s pricing structure.
STRENGTH IN NUMBERS
Being one of the country’s largest portable restroom operations has its advantages, not the least of which is purchasing power.
“In dealing with vendors, we pull together our needs for all seven companies and get a volume price break,” Hawkins explains.
ADCO’s size also makes it more attractive to other large regional or national businesses.
“A lot of builders we deal with are national in scope,” Hawkins notes. “So we can tell them, ‘Hey, we’re also in the Raleigh-Durham area, just like you are — we’d love to offer the same pricing and get your business there, too.’ ” The same is true for certain special events, Hawkins says, pointing to a traveling circus that passes through several of ADCO’s service areas.
ADCO can also parlay its size into joint marketing efforts with businesses that offer complementary services, such as fencing, storage containers and roll-off Dumpsters.
“We’ll meet with local vendors and team up with the ones that we get along with and that provide superior service,” Hawkins says. “Then our people promote their businesses and they promote ours. We can even send one invoice for all the services. That sort of one-stop shopping happens a whole lot.”
Of course, those kinds of relationships can backfire if the informal partners provide poor service.
“But if you do your homework and have a relationship with the company you’re cross-marketing with, you can keep those instances far and few between,” Hawkins notes.
As a large company, ADCO also can provide other employment options to workers who want to relocate. “If an employee wants to move from Atlanta to, say, the Tampa/Fort Myers area in Florida, we might be able to help them stay with the company,” Hawkins says.
LOVES A CHALLENGE
Despite almost 20 years in the same industry, it’s clear that Hawkins isn’t the least bit jaded. He still relishes his job and the people he works with.
“It’s a beautiful industry in that you get involved in all levels of running a business,” he says. “And I love the people in the industry. They’re all down-to-earth, with a lot of entrepreneurial spirit.”
While his job entails many challenges, Hawkins doesn’t mind wearing all the different hats that requires.
“It’s a challenge, but if you win, you win big,” he says. “If you’re in a good market, have a good marketing plan, have your routes organized and have good people working for you, it’s the most fun in the world. It’s a challenge staying up with all that, but that’s the fun part.”
