When it comes to rodeoing, every second counts. Blink and you might miss a ride. That’s why Tim Myers, owner of All American Sanitation, knows when it comes to providing rodeos with portable restrooms, rodeo fans want to be in and out without missing a moment of action.

COMPANY HISTORY

Tim Myers spent years as the owner of All American Excavation in New London, Iowa. As part of the company’s services, it performed septic installations. That’s how Myers heard that one of his competitors was looking to sell its portable restroom company. “I thought about it for about two or three weeks and I just called them up one day and said, ‘Hey, what do you got?’”

Myers purchased the company in November 2023 and rebranded as All American Sanitation. The original company had been in business for about 20 years. It was a successful business, but it needed a pick-me-up. “They were kind of in cruise control,” Myers says. “They didn’t want to expand. That’s not me. If I’m going to buy something, I want it to grow.”

Myers invested in additional portable restroom units and today, All American Sanitation has 300 Armal units, 16 Satellite Global ADA-compliant units and 25 portable Satellite hand-washing stations. They operate two pump trucks, a 2014 Ford F-550 and a 2015 Ford F-550. Both host Satellite 350-gallon freshwater/750-gallon wastewater steel tanks. The company also has two Ford F-250s that are used to deliver portable restrooms using one of the company’s two 12-unit haulers or the six-unit hauler. In addition to Myers and his wife, Brandy Myers, who does the bookkeeping, the company has two full-time employees, service technicians Randy Privia and Jim Kitto.

All American Sanitation’s robust inventory allows it to serve several different types of clientele including major local events like the Old Threshers Reunion, a five-day event ending on Labor Day. The Old Threshers Reunion celebrates agricultural heritage and attracts thousands of people from around the world who camp out. Despite the massive scale of that event, All American Sanitation tackles an even bigger event just days later, the Tri-State Rodeo.

All american sanitation017 — With a line of Armal restrooms in place outside the rodeo grounds, owner Tim Myers can hop back in his Satellite rigged Ford F-550 pickup and head back to the shop knowing the rodeo attendees have what they need.

THE MAIN EVENT

Thousands of rodeo fans descend upon Fort Madison, Iowa, every year during the first week of September for the annual Tri-State Rodeo. In 2025, the rodeo took place Sept. 3-6. Since 2000, the Tri-State Rodeo has been named one of the nation’s top five large outdoor rodeos. It consistently ranks first among the Great Lakes Circuit. In 2025, the Women’s Professional Rodeo Association named the Tri-State Rodeo the Large Rodeo of the Year.

The Tri-State Rodeo is All American Sanitation’s biggest event of the year. “The company has had the Tri-State Rodeo for 15 or 20 years,” Myers says. “As far as what we do there, everything has pretty much stayed the same.”

The Tri-State Rodeo hosts four rodeos over four days. All American Sanitation sets up one week prior to the start. This also allows the company to provide portable restrooms for the Special Olympics Rodeo, which takes place the weekend before the Tri-State Rodeo.

All american sanitation048 — Below: With the rodeo in full swing, All American Excavation & Sanitation is on full display. As a supporter of the event, their company banner is placed above the spectator bleachers for all to see.

TRACKING USAGE

The Tri-State Rodeo gets bigger every year. The rodeo attracts roughly 5,000 attendees every day. In 2025, All American Sanitation set up 147 portable restroom stations; 122 were for the rodeo — including 38 stationed inside the arena — while the remaining 25 were for private campers.

“There are a lot of private horse clubs that set up a few campers in circles and those saddle clubs want their own private one,” Myers says.

To keep up with demand, the portable restroom units are pumped daily. “My guys will start servicing the portable restrooms at 3 a.m. and they won’t be done until about 11 a.m., and then they go on their regular route,” Myers says.

Daily servicing involves four round trips of dumping at the Fort Madison Wastewater Treatment Plant, which opens early for the event. But even with close to 150 restrooms on site with daily service, it’s tough to keep up with the intense demand of the event.

“When there’s 4,000 to 5,000 people at a regular event, someplace where they don’t serve food and alcohol, you don’t need nearly as many,” Myers says. “At a rodeo, people are drinking all day long. So you need about one porta potty for every 15 or 20 people.”

Myers has people on site every night, making sure the restrooms stay operational and reporting back about the wait times. However, due to the event and crowd, there’s nothing that can be done on site if lines are too long or restrooms fill up.

“It would be impossible to service ours during the event,” Myers says. “The only thing they can really do is just add more porta potties because it’s so packed in there, trying to get a service truck in would just be impossible.”

In addition to servicing the company’s portable restrooms, Myers brought back camper pumping to the event. “The old owners didn’t like doing the camper pumping, so they priced it really high so no one ever did,” Myers says. “We brought our price back down to $50 per camper, which is what we charge at the Old Threshers Reunion. We probably pumped 30 or 40 campers this year.”

All american sanitation036 — The team set up over 140 restrooms on and around the grounds for the event.

WRAPPING IT UP

All American Sanitation crews spend Sunday and Monday pumping, cleaning and removing the units. “It takes about 16 trips total,” Myers says. “We’ll suck them out and hose them down on site with disinfectant. When we get them back to the yard, we’ll pressure-wash them down again because they get dusty going down gravel and dirty roads.”

The portable restroom units are spread out among the company’s storage yards. “We basically empty all three of my yards to service the rodeo, so when we’re done, we take them and distribute them to all three to pull from,” Myers says.

As the event grows, Myers says the number of portable restrooms needs to increase to keep up with demand.

“We got a lot of feedback from people this year that were like, ‘Look, we’re waiting for 20 minutes to go to the bathroom,’ or saying, ‘These things are full already.’ You know, when it’s 8 p.m. and there’s still four or five hours of entertainment left, and these things are almost full, something needs to be done.”

Ultimately, the decision for how many portable restrooms go on site is up to the rodeo’s board of directors. Myers says he’s working with the board to make it the best possible event for competitors and rodeo fans.