CARDS Recycling, based in Springdale, Arkansas, isn’t a typical portable sanitation company. It started as a landfill operator and trash service company, but Jason Fitzgerald, the vice president of business development, saw that many customers for their trash containers were also using portable restrooms. CARDS tried to see if it could be the provider of those restrooms, and the results have exceeded the company’s original expectations.
The portable restroom division is still small compared to the rest of the company. CARDS Recycling, serving a broad area including parts of Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri and Texas, has more than 200 trucks and only two of them are vacuum trucks for servicing portable restrooms, but the portables division is growing rapidly. The COVID-19 pandemic struck just as CARDS acquired its first shipment of 120 Satellite Industries Global 2 restrooms. The company continued to add inventory and expects to have 500 units at the end of the year.
CARDS jumped into portable sanitation in a serious way, even though none of its employees had restroom or wastewater experience.
“It was a learning experience for sure,” Fitzgerald says. “Four of us went and took the test for pumper trucks and septic pumping and toilet pumping together down at the state testing facility. It is a requirement to be licensed in the state of Arkansas. Come to find out, we only needed one person to do it, not four of us, but it was good practice for all of us.”
So far, CARDS has not added luxury restroom trailers to its inventory, but that may be on the horizon. The company was considering adding some special event trailers early in 2020, but hit the pause button because of the pandemic.
“When COVID hit, we had 120 units sitting on the ground, and we were wondering if we made the right decision on starting this division at this time,” Fitzgerald says. It appears that the decision worked out just fine. In addition to the growing number of restrooms, another truck and driver were also in the plans by year-end.
Many of CARDS’ portable restroom customers are homebuilders, some of which keep the units on site for years as they build out subdivisions. There is a lot of homebuilding going on in Northwest Arkansas. CARDS also is working with two of the contractors at the new Walmart corporate headquarters under construction in nearby Bentonville, and that project could require numerous restroom units for a long time.
1. The vacuum truck came first
Before CARDS Recycling had any portable restrooms, the company bought a vacuum truck. Fitzgerald and some colleagues were on their way back from a meeting when they saw a new service truck sitting on a truck dealer’s lot. The truck was a 2020 Hino 268a built out with a 1,500-gallon waste/500-gallon freshwater steel tank and a Masport pump. “We said let’s go see what they want for that,” Fitzgerald says. “We pulled in and made a deal.” The truck was already white over black, so it didn’t need to be painted to fit into the CARDS color scheme. “We just added our decal to the side,” Fitzgerald says. The company recently picked up a 2021 Ford F-550 4x4 built out by Imperial Industries with a 900-gallon waste/400-gallon freshwater aluminum tank and Masport pump.
2. Experienced employee boosts new division
As CARDS added equipment for its new division, it also added an employee with experience in the portable sanitation business, Brian Cheatham.
“Brian is one of the guys that is really the catalyst for this division,” Fitzgerald says. “He’s not only helping sell the products, but he’s also the one that’s out there servicing the units. He’s our PR on the ground. You’re not going to find anyone that’s as committed to doing what he does and knows as much as he does about his craft as Brian. He’s just been a great addition to our team, and we’re very thankful to have him.”
3. Customer service is crucial
Fitzgerald is keenly aware that customer service is the key to the portable restroom operation. “We are growing as a company but still want to keep our focus on the customer,” he says. “We make sure they know that service is our primary mission. If they call us, we’ll take care of them, no matter what. They have a number that they can call and reach Brian or myself at all times.”
Fitzgerald has evidence that customers appreciate the CARDS Recycling customer service. One customer called and said that after several employees commented on the cleanliness of the portable restrooms, he watched as Cheatham serviced one of their units. “He said, ‘I watched your gentleman clean the toilet, and it was like he was taking an outside dog and bathing it to make it an inside dog.’”
Fitzgerald says Cheatham even scrubs down brand-new units when they are placed on a job site for the first time. “He takes a scrub brush and sprays it down and brushes everything inside the unit, even though it hasn’t been used. He not only does that the first time, but each time to each toilet every day. We’re very appreciative of what he does for us,” Fitzgerald says.
4. The product is the billboard
CARDS doesn’t do a lot of advertising, but its services are well known thanks to its distinctive and consistent color scheme. The company will put up banners for special events in the cities where it has contracts, and it has a website and a Facebook page, but it doesn’t advertise in local media or on billboards.
“Our units and [containers] are like billboards,” Fitzgerald says. “Our branding has just been our units. You definitely can’t miss us. We’re big and orange and with a big CARDS on the side. We have a couple of customers that are homebuilders, and if you pull into their subdivisions, it looks like a sea of orange.
5. Long-term relationships lead to success
Fitzgerald had relationships with many homebuilders because of his previous experience in the waste disposal business, and those relationships have helped as CARDS ventured into the portable restroom business. “You do business with people, not companies, right? No matter who I’ve worked for, the customers understand that we’re going to be able to service them. That’s the key. Standing behind what you say you’re going to be able to do.”
The move into providing portable restrooms has expanded CARDS’ relationships with existing customers, but the company is also regularly adding new customers. “We’re successful because of our people and our customers,” Fitzgerald says. “We want to stay humble and keep growing. We know that if we can just get people to use us, they will never stop.”
