The trend in the past several years has been an upswing in requests for VIP-style restroom trailers. During the height of the building boom, even some construction contractors were asking for trailers previously reserved for special events. It appears the current recessionary market has cooled those desires somewhat.
PROs who offer restroom trailers say they’re fielding more calls for smaller, no-frills models, even as the overall market for trailers continues to grow. Typically, customers are still asking for trailers at special events with high attendance or for those requiring an upgrade from standard restrooms. But they’re not requesting as many of the executive-level amenities as in the building boom years.
Likely, there are two market pressures coming to bear on this trend. The obvious one is that belts have tightened and budgets are lower. Anyone sitting on the fence between traditional individual restrooms and executive trailers is liable to fall on the side of economy for the time being.
Advance Portable Toilet Services has 265 portable restrooms and one six-stall restroom trailer from Ameri-Can Engineering. It provides two women’s stalls and four men’s stations, two stalls and two urinals.
“Our typical trailer customer is ordering for weddings, golf tournaments and corporate parties,” says Charles Lahood.
“Weddings and parties tend to have between 200 and 400 attendees,” he says. “The golf tournament is our largest event, part of the Nationwide PGA Tour. We get about 10,000 people for that.” The event, part of the PGA’s developmental tour for emerging pros, also rents individual portable units and hand-wash stations from Advanced.
The size of the golf event’s crowd makes Lahood believe he could justify a second trailer, and he’s shopped for one at the Pumper & Cleaner Environmental Expo International. He isn’t sure which features he wants yet, but is eager to see what new amenities are available.
Regardless of which model he chooses, Lahood believes that for the time being, customers won’t be looking for all the bells and whistles. “At least not for more localized events,” he says. Typically, larger events sponsored by national brands with a more regional scope are the ones asking for trailers. “But if it’s more affordable, we may get more local (trailer) business,” Lahood says.
“We have an older trailer with removable holding tanks that need to be installed for each job,” says Jack Kelly of A-1 Portable Toilet Rental. Custom made by a firm that specializes in office trailers, it has three women’s stalls, two men’s stalls and two urinals. A regular trailer customer is the University of Kansas women’s softball program. Kelly provides a trailer for its weekend tournaments and generally services it once a day over the two-day event.
Currently shopping for a newer model, Kelly’s not looking for a high-end addition. He says his market won’t support an executive level trailer. “I’d be looking for something that’s more durable and easy to clean.”
He’d like to double his trailer inventory, but likes the idea of a smaller and service-friendly model. “We want one that’s about the same configuration capacity-wise, but the trailer we’re using now is 32 feet long. That’s not easy to haul or position, and the removable tanks aren’t easy to service. The ones we’re seeing now are a lot smaller but have larger capacity in their permanent tanks.” Again, practicality rules the day for this PRO.
“We tend to service the VIP section of special events like outdoor festivals and band concerts,” says Mark Manning of A King’s Throne. “The other major category is outdoor weddings and receptions.” A King’s Throne currently offers what Manning and co-owner Tim Smith consider a mid-level trailer that accommodates eight users at a time. It’s a custom fabrication by a private company.
Smith says they would be far more likely to be able to rent a smaller, two-stall model in the current market. “In the future, that’s what we’ll be looking for, but now’s not the time for us to be making that kind of large purchase.”
