As with all other facets of the portable restroom industry, the restrooms themselves have experienced technological innovations and upgrades in the past several years. Everything from tougher grades of plastic for the shell to the move from wooden skids to plastic has affected how PROs plan their equipment orders and perform their jobs. But from the customer’s point of view, it’s the evolution in outward appearance and amenities that has taken away much of the traditional stigma about using portable restrooms. And it’s this evolution that has opened the floodgates to new business.
Standard units are now being dressed up with mirrors, shelves and flushable stools. ADA units are finding new uses with the installation of baby-changing stations that need a bit of extra room. Single portables are being enhanced with external companion units like hand-wash sinks and sanitizing stations. High-end units and the ultimate executive restroom trailers are building in popularity.
It’s all good, because it’s all driving greater usage. These PROs tell us which upgrade their customers are asking for most:
Running water is the most common requested upgrade from standard portable restroom service noticed by Dale Robison in his St. Louis area rental business. “Sinks,” he says, “or some way to wash your hands after you use the restroom” is the specific request he most often gets. He says event customers don’t necessarily demand in-unit sinks, but are usually happy with hand-wash stations.
Asked where he thinks this demand originated, Robison says, “In the beginning, it was driven by health and safety departments. But I think they’re educating the customers a lot more, so it’s coming from the customers now. I’d say for at least the past 8-10 years I’ve noticed an increase” in this demand.
Hand sanitizers are what Rick Owens’ customers ask for most as an upgrade, he says. But the demand didn’t start with them. “Where we are, people hadn’t necessarily known about them at all, but we introduced sanitizers and now they love them.”
There’s a big issue that comes with this add-on for A-1, though. “Where we live, there’s a problem with theft. People take the bags of sanitizer out of the dispensers, and that gets expensive.”
Where he lives is at the foot of the Cumberland Mountains inside Cumberland Gap National Historical Park. This “Gateway to the West,” as it was known during the early days of this continent’s exploration and settlement, attracts campers, bikers and others who decide it’s easier and cheaper just to appropriate his sanitizer bags for the rest of their journeys, rather than go into town to buy their own.
He says that his construction customers are more concerned with frequent pump-outs and a clean unit, while the park expects more in the way of amenities.
Service technician Art Bugner finds his event customers ask for both in-unit hand-wash sinks and sanitizer units, depending on the site. “Five years ago, we didn’t have hand sanitizers, but now just about every unit has one.”
His construction customers are partial to having heaters in their units in his northern location. Sitting on Lake Erie’s south shore, Fostoria can often be vulnerable to cold north winds.
“The Tuff Jon ‘Sky Heaters’ (tuff-jon.com) are what most of them ask for,” he says, “but we also use the little ceramic box heaters that you just plug in. A lot of construction companies like those.”
