THE TEAM
Service Sanitation Inc. provides portable sanitation equipment, restroom and shower trailers, freshwater systems, roll-off containers and fencing in greater Chicago. Their four locations include a 4-acre headquarters in Gary, Indiana, additional dispatch offices in Aurora and Lincolnshire, Illinois, and an equipment yard in Chicago.
Chad Harris, director of logistics, explains that this family-owned corporation is managed by a team of directors and has 115 employees. The operational team for Taste of Chicago included 25 employees from all areas of the company – managers, salespeople, technicians, dispatch workers and attendants. “It really turns into a group effort,” Harris says.
COMPANY HISTORY
The company’s roots go back to the 1960s when two brothers began the business with two trucks and 300 fiberglass restrooms. The current family bought Service Sanitation in 2001. “The family has always been in the service industry,” Harris explains. “Specifically the garbage business – since 1956 – and portable sanitation was a great fit as another complementary service.”
The company continues to grow through acquisitions and today has an inventory of 12,000 units, 90 restroom trailers and 16 shower trailers, with a service territory covering the entire Chicagoland region of 10 million people. The customer base is diverse, about half of which is construction and industrial customers and the other half special event clients. They also do a considerable amount of work for disaster relief.
MAKING CONNECTIONS
Service Sanitation handled Taste of Chicago for the third year in 2014 after winning a contract in a bidding process. Harris believes they were chosen by the city’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events because of their reputation for quality service and ability to provide the large amount of equipment needed.
THE MAIN EVENT
Food was the main attraction at the 34th annual Taste of Chicago, the city’s largest festival. The event took place in Grant Park last July 9-13, and featured local restaurants, celebrity chefs and live music. Attendance was estimated at 1.1 million, about half of original predictions as a result of severe rain and flooding forcing a decision to close the event Saturday out of concern for public safety.
BY THE NUMBERS
Prior to the event, the Service Sanitation team worked with the city on required number of units, placement and the timing of delivery, service and pickup. Dispatchers planned truck and trailer loads and personnel requirements. Others looked into traffic expectations, permit requirements and schedules of other vendors.
The type of event determines the amount of equipment needed, Harris says. For Taste of Chicago – where food and alcohol is served – the company assumes restrooms will be used to approximately half to three-quarters of their capacity. “We determine how many and which trucks to send only after we get an idea of how many gallons we expect to pump,” he says.
The company brought in 380 Satellite Industries Maxim restrooms, 28 wheelchair-accessible PolyJohn Enterprises units, 80 PolyJohn Bravo hand-wash stations, 90 generic water barrels and 15 Satellite four-station hand-sanitizer stands.
Units are blue, a color Harris says is part of their image. “We’re big on our blue here,” he says. “We want to make it very obvious, even if you’re too far away to read our logo, that you know whose units are on site.”
LET’S ROLL
Equipment was delivered throughout the day Monday and Tuesday in preparation for Wednesday’s opening and for use by setup, administration and security crews. A lead event supervisor stationed on site coordinated the effort, directing drivers and ensuring correct placement. Units were placed in about 25 locations – five banks of 30 to 40 and others scattered in groups of two to five throughout the 300-acre park. Hand-wash stations, water barrels and hand-sanitizer stands were placed at each bank of restrooms and at individual food vendor stations.
The company used its fleet of 30 Hino stakebed trucks, each capable of carrying eight to 10 units, with Wee Engineer 14-, 16- and 18-unit trailers. Pickup was done Monday and Tuesday following the event.
KEEPIN’ IT CLEAN
The company maintained a ground crew at the event at all times – five during the week and seven on the weekend – to stock supplies and replenish water for the hand-wash stations. Vacuum service trucks were not allowed on the grounds during the event, so the team used company-designed hand carts to swap out hand-wash stations as they became full.
Seven service technicians arrived on the scene each night at 9 p.m. Using deodorant products from R.E.Z Packaging Inc., they cleaned, pumped and refreshed units, hand-wash stations and water barrels, finishing up around 3 a.m. The seven vehicles were 2007-2014 Hino 268 and International 4700 models outfitted by Satellite with 1,000-gallon waste/500-gallon freshwater stainless steel tanks and Masport Inc. pumps. Waste was taken to the Chicago wastewater treatment facility.
Communication among team members was critical to successfully serving the event, Harris says. “We had a lot of coordination with the crew at night reporting back to us if there were any aspects of our service that needed to be adjusted during the day. And the day crew would let us know about supplies that needed to be replenished for them.” In addition, the sales team was on site during the day, checking with organizers to see if anything had been misused or damaged and needed replacement. “Any event as large as this one requires you to be in constant contact with the customer to make sure all their needs are met,” Harris says.
ROLL WITH THE PUNCHES
The Saturday closure of the event necessitated an early morning meeting and some last minute changes. “That took a lot of coordination Saturday morning to make sure we had everything covered,” Harris says. “We called off the day crew, used less staff at night and rearranged schedules.” Although the venue was closed to the public on Saturday, security and event staff remained on site so a partial cleaning was done that night.
PLANNING PAYS OFF
The event went smoothly for the company even factoring in the scheduling changes, according to Harris. Service Sanitation staff typically meets and plans for large events in the off-season, Harris says, noting: “In the heat of summer it’s all about execution – just doing whatever it takes to make it happen.”
