THE TEAM

Jessica and Seth Gregory own Highway 38 Dumpsters & Restrooms in Hagerstown, Indiana. The company provides portable sanitation and roll-off services in a 25-mile radius for nearby small towns and Amish communities. Staff includes part-time secretary Kaite Cook and part-time technicians Robert Stevens and Zack Truitt.

With just over a year of experience under their belt, the Gregorys unexpectedly found themselves handling what was anticipated to be the biggest event of their lives as their town was in the center of the path of totality for the 2024 solar eclipse.

COMPANY HISTORY

Seth had been an over-the-road truck driver, but when the couple was expecting their first child, they were motivated to get him off the road. They didn’t have to look far for a solution.

“My mom and dad own Advanced Septic and Sewer,” Jessica Gregory explains. “They also had some portable restrooms and roll-offs. They were getting to retirement age so we said we’d be interested in buying that side of the business. We took that over Jan. 2, 2023 and have not slowed down since.” 

The company now has 150 portable restrooms and eight hand-wash stations (all from PolyJohn), and 28 roll-off containers.

THE MAIN EVENT

On Monday, April 8, the moon passed between the earth and sun, blotting out the sun along a 115-mile-wide path of full totality which, in North America, ran from Mazatlan, Mexico, on the Pacific Coast, to Newfoundland, Canada on the Atlantic. Hagerstown experienced full totality for four minutes at 3:07 p.m. EDT after a dramatic lead up starting at 1:52 p.m.

But the town decided to make it a four-day festival. Using the tagline, “Hospitality in Totality,” they sponsored a number of free events. Friday — a beer garden, polka band and an out-of-this-world costume contest. Saturday — fireworks and a concert featuring country music singer/songwriter Jeffrey Steele. Sunday — a car show and night parade.

MAKING PLANS

The town of 1,700 started preparing in early 2023 for an expected 50,000 visitors. They were the first to order units from the Gregorys. Community meetings were held every few months to keep everyone informed, answer questions, encourage participation and coordinate activities.

Gregory says they didn’t know what to expect but were excited — and terrified, having heard traffic horror stories from the 2017 eclipse. “But we’d also heard that the birds go quiet, frogs start croaking and it is an unreal experience,” she says.

GETTING HELP

Most of the company’s units were committed for unrelated jobs. So, with only 50 available to handle the eclipse, Gregory sought help.

“I put an ad in PRO to see if somebody had units we could buy or rent. That’s where Jamie Hunter came in. He reached out and said, ‘What do you need? I got it.’ He’s been an angel to work with, answering questions and giving advice.”

Hunter is the owner of 25-year-old Hoosier Portable Restrooms in Carmel, a suburb of Indianapolis.

“It was an actual physical ad,” Hunter says. “I’m still old school enough that I still like having a physical magazine. I told her I’d be happy to give her a hand. She said, ‘How many can I have?’ and I said you can have all you want. We worked out a very reasonable and inexpensive way.”

Hunter loves helping people and has a pay-it-forward philosophy. “When I started, I knew nothing,” he says. “But everybody was so kind. One guy gave me a Pumper magazine and I started talking to people and everybody was free with information.” He does the same and provides support and friendship for anyone who wants it. His advice to the Gregorys for the eclipse:  “You can only do so much.”

Gregory rented 50 portable restrooms and bought five wheelchair-accessible units and one hand-wash station (all from Satellite Industries) from Hunter out of his inventory of 800.

BY THE NUMBERS

The Gregorys now had 100 portable restrooms, 11 wheelchair-accessible units and nine hand-wash stations to work with.

Hagerstown took 32 — eight at the welcome center, seven downtown for the beer garden, two at the high school for the parade, five at the elementary school for the car show, five at the airport for the fireworks and five in a central parking lot. Each location also had a wheelchair-accessible unit and a hand-wash station.

Cambridge took 38 units and a few wheelchair-accessible units and hand-wash stations, sprinkled around town in parks and along the highway.

Of the remaining 30 units, 16 went to two Amish communities, eight to several campgrounds, one to a private party, and four to viewing areas including Hoosier Hill, expected to be a popular site as it’s the highest point in the state. The Gregorys also took one unit to their barn where they hosted family, employees and band members.

Two roll-offs were placed downtown and at a nearby church. The company kept track of everything using ServiceCore software and copious notes by Gregory.

LET’S ROLL

By mid-March the company started picking up units from Hoosier Portables and dropped their first deliveries to the Amish communities. Town units were delivered the week before the eclipse.

Their vacuum truck can carry five units. But they also have a 30-foot enclosed trailer custom-built by U.S. Cargo and pulled by a 2015 Chevrolet 2500 which holds 13 units. “We also own an online auction business so we haul stuff for people to sell,” Gregory explains. “So the trailer makes sense for us because we can use it for that as well. The units just slide in, we don’t have to strap them or anything. It also serves as a big billboard in our yard.”

KEEPIN’ IT CLEAN

The Gregorys did not plan to move or clean units during the four-day event because of traffic concerns. But they told customers they would do their best to get to them if they became full. “And we made sure all units had double toilet paper holders,” she says.

But there were no emergency calls and no units were cleaned until the event was over when the company began picking them up. Their service vehicle is a 2010 Ford F‑350, company-built with a 250-gallon waste/150-gallon freshwater steel tank and a Masport pump. Deodorizer supplies are from J&J Portable Sanitation Products.

The Gregorys typically store waste in a 2,000-gallon holding tank on their property, periodically hauled off by Gregory’s parents’ septic company to the treatment plant.

AWESTRUCK AND RELIEVED

While attendance numbers were considerably less than planned, it was a fun weekend for everyone, Gregory says. She especially enjoyed participating in the parade with their vacuum truck, a roll-off and a utility vehicle for family to ride in.

They experienced a few minor hiccups — a flat tire, a broken line on a hand-wash station. But on the positive side, they also experienced a fellow contractor’s generosity. “Obviously this was a special event and all that, but one of the biggest things is that the people in this industry are like your family,” Gregory says. “Jamie reaching out to us just really touched my heart in a big way.”

And the eclipse itself was an unforgettable experience, she says. “We had the perfect clear skies. It was phenomenal, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”