PROs know that looks count for a lot when it comes to whether someone will use a portable restroom. And each portable sanitation contractor has a unique blend of circumstances — volume, staff, shop configuration, time — that determine the best way to keep portable restrooms clean and in good repair. These operators share what works best for them:
Nathan Johnson oversees all maintenance and repair of restrooms at Port-Able John Rental & Service. A full-time yard worker is solely responsible for assembly, maintenance and repair of portable restrooms. Drivers bring damaged units to a certain spot in the yard for repair, unless the damage can be repaired in the field.
“The driver is responsible for day-to-day monitoring and initial assessment of damage. They carry a lot of typical parts like door springs and toilet seats on the trucks, so a driver can take care of something like that on the route. But if he sees something structural, like a skid or a side panel that happened to get cut, or roof or tank damage, then it comes back to the yard.”
Johnson says he’ll usually buy units unassembled, then puts the units together to save money. Still, when time is of the essence, Johnson will have them sent ready to go. “For example,” he explains, “I do four big music festivals up here each year. And if I’m getting close to the Fourth of July and still have most of my units at another show, I’ll just go ahead and order what I need and have them shipped pre-assembled.”
Wayne Bradley and his wife, Jane, run a small but busy shop at A Plus Sanitation LLC. He takes care of repairs to damaged restrooms. “The drivers on a jobsite, if a spring’s broke, they’ll fix it. If it’s non-repairable, they’ll put another one in its place, bring it home, and I’ll fix it.”
When things are really busy, he may not get to the repair right away. “Sometimes we’ll recycle the broken ones,” he explains. “We put them out back, and wait to fix them when things get slow.”
He orders his units assembled. “I’d rather pay the money,” he says. “We had a couple units that got destroyed. Trucks or something hit them. We had to take them apart and put the new pieces in. And boy, unless you’ve got real strong hands or an air rivet gun, that’s just tough.” He says it’s not billable time when he’s putting together units anyway. “I’d rather just order them, have them delivered together, put them on the truck and take them to the jobsite.”
Tony Thompson runs considerable volume through his shop. With a standing inventory of more than 2,000 restrooms, his maintenance and repair work needs to be efficient. “We do both field and yard repairs,” he says. “I have two full-time employees that do nothing but work on the pad at the shop. They go through them from top to bottom when they come in off the job. They get a full pressure wash inside and out, even laying them over to get the bottoms. They do graffiti removal, and if they need repairs, they’re done then.”
Drivers carry some hand tools and a few small repair items on the truck. If they notice a spring missing, a door lock that needs a screw or a broken door handle, they’ll make these small repairs in the field. Otherwise, they’ll swap out with a new restroom and bring the damaged unit back to the pad at the shop.
“I buy all my units pre-assembled. One exception was when we serviced the cleanup from Hurricane Katrina,’’ he said. “Then, my cousin (who owns his own shop) and I bought about 4,500 units and had them shipped directly to the site. For that amount of volume, the manufacturer sent along crews that assembled them right there.”
