Scaling the Sanitation Game

The contours of Matt Peklo’s company took shape during the COVID era while he was working for an energy company in its product development department.

The Michigan native says he spent seven years climbing the corporate ladder, gaining valuable experience in financial modeling and product feasibility research, exposure to the C-suite and encouragement from people who cared about his career progression.

During his last year with the company, Peklo was crunching numbers and considering a different side hustle than his small lawn mowing business. The pull of entrepreneurship, connecting analytical discipline combined with a desire to grow a profitable business, led Peklo to take the leap.

His first step was touring Lang Specialty Trailers’ factory where he picked up his first luxury restroom trailer. Returning home to Rochester with that new five-station Pro model and starting to rent it out, he gained fresh perspective on what would become the launch of Michigan Luxury Restroom Rentals and PEKLO Portables in 2023.

A big event for them is the Detroit Tigers Opening Day. “We always look forward to it,” Charles says. “It’s spring and everybody’s moving out from the cold winter. And it’s the signal for the start of our busy season.”

Five Takeaways From Matt Peklo’s Luxury Trailer and Portable Toilet Brands

1. Settling in with spreadsheet discipline

In just two years, Peklo’s company has expanded from one restroom trailer to 17 trailers and 150 portable toilets. ServiceCore was implemented early and remains the company’s primary software platform for billing, scheduling and calendar management.

“I felt super comfortable being able to do that on my own and model some products and go from there,” he says. “It quickly evolved into more. I bought another restroom trailer because the demand was so severe in my area. That’s when I realized I might be onto something here.”

The main office is either at home or in a truck, and the operation currently runs as a three-person team. It’s a family business, too. His father, Marty, was hired part time as a route driver and also helps with sales and servicing units.

Peklo recently brought on his first full-time employee — portable restroom service technician Edwin Martin — adding dedicated support for delivery, pickup, service routes and day-to-day field operations as the company continues to grow.

The position was designed to compete for dependable talent, with full benefits, paid time off, a 401(k) match and fully paid health insurance. The posting drew about 50 applicants, but Martin stood out because he was one of only two candidates who called directly about the job.

“I appreciated him being proactive and taking that initiative,” Peklo says. “He’s been working out great so far. It’s going really good.”

The health insurance benefit came through a county program that helps small businesses access coverage by pooling resources. That support allowed the young company to provide a more competitive benefits package than many small operators might otherwise be able to offer.

2. Building the fleet without overspending

A 2024 Ram 3500 long bed holding a 600-gallon KeeVac slide-in split tank is the company’s go-to set up for hauling restroom trailers.

Peklo also bought a 2023 Ford F-550 diesel truck, hired an upfitter to install a 16-foot flatbed, then acquired a 1,000-gallon Satellite aluminum slide-on tank.

They cut down costs by purchasing the tanks separately and installing them using a friend’s warehouse. When the first batch of six porta potty units were delivered, he relied solely on a hand riveter to self-assemble the units in his garage, picking up the experience and conserving capital.

Today, the company’s overall fleet comprises one unit from Art’s Restroom Trailers; four trailers from Comforts of Home Services; seven JAG restroom trailers; one trailer from Lang; and three trailers from Rich Specialty Trailers. The most recent acquisitions in May 2026 were a 2024 Chevy Silverado 5500 HD Duramax, already built out with a Satellite 1,000-gallon split tank, and a four-station restroom trailer from PolyJohn.

3. Not diluting the brands

The primary territory for Peklo is southeast Michigan, while also performing occasional work across the state. His business grew quickly based on demand in their service area resulting in a need to buy more equipment and maximize the efficiency of pump trucks, expanding in both the luxury restroom trailers and portable toilet arenas.

Peklo says they have been fortunate with building new business relationships resulting in long-term contracts, often generated through word of mouth and referrals. With a client list including prominent names like Ford, Chrysler, Costco, Lowe’s and The Home Depot, they intentionally maintain separate brands of PEKLO Portables and Michigan Luxury Restroom Rentals to avoid diluting the luxury trailer experience with more basic portable sanitation needs, while addressing both markets effectively.

Weddings and graduation parties make up the luxury side’s customer base, in addition to other happenings like car shows, celebrations of life, VIP and community-based events. And PEKLO Portables has been everywhere from steel processing facilities, manufacturing plants and construction sites to backyard type weddings and do-it-yourself parties planned by a more cost-conscious type of buyer.

Peklo has seen a recent uptick in restroom rental trailers for bathroom remodels, and services for corporate building renovations and facilities out of commission or undergoing restoration due to floods, fires and other unforeseen issues. While winter is generally a slower time for outdoor events, the slowdown he had anticipated in December didn’t arrive until March this year.

4. Playing a numbers game

The Southeast Michigan portable sanitation market is crowded, with a mix of long-established regional operators, large companies and smaller independents often competing for the same work.

Peklo says he entered at a time when demand was strong, but the economics were less forgiving. The opportunity is real, but so is the math. Some competitors have been in business for decades and operate with legacy fleets, dedicated pump trucks, thousands of units and dense routes. That scale can give them a lower cost per unit while newer operators must be more analytical from day one.

Larger operators may also price aggressively to win or protect major contracts, he says, and that has encouraged his business to compete in areas where a smaller, service-focused company can be set apart by communication, responsiveness and quality.

At the same time, after several years of inflation in equipment, fuel, labor, dump fees and supplies, Peklo says price pressure is a constant, especially on the portable toilet side. While some contracts can look attractive on paper, he sees pricing in the market difficult to sustain once the real cost of service is calculated.

Rather than chase every low-bid opportunity, and instead of spreading the company too thin across the region, the focus for Peklo is on understanding the geography, and building work along tight routes including those close to home base and near existing customers.

Every additional stop in a tight service area improves efficiency and every long, isolated stop adds cost. Knowing where the company can compete profitably and where route density can support that growth is among his biggest operational priorities.

To help with that strategy, the company leases two separate locations for equipment storage: portable toilets in an industrial lot and restroom trailers in a more central warehouse parking area.

Peklo’s background and fiscal discipline have helped the company make those evaluations, including how to approach certain opportunities such as highly competitive municipal bids more objectively.

By plugging in expected costs, including truck time and service frequency, he can estimate whether a contract is likely to make money before taking it on.

For newer operators, he says, growth is not just about adding units; it is about understanding which routes, customers and service areas can be handled profitably.

5. Competing beyond price

For PEKLO Portables and Michigan Luxury Restroom Rentals, success means giving customers confidence that the equipment will arrive clean, work properly and be serviced on time when something needs attention.

The company competes on value instead of price, doing its best to implement a higher-quality normal service standard, making every unit in the field feel not just serviced, but truly maintained.

Premium equipment and supplies are only part of the business model. Peklo says the larger opportunity is in matching the right trailer or portable toilet to the job, using properly equipped trucks, investing in better hygiene products and relying on routing software to protect labor, fuel and service time.

Peklo says customers may not know the difference between one restroom trailer or portable restroom from another until the unit is on site.

For him, part of the value proposition is spending more time to understand and address any customer concerns, responding quickly and refusing to treat supplies as an afterthought.

Peklo uses Walex Bio-Actives, deodorizing products and urinal cakes, hospital-grade disinfectants, higher-strength odor control, extra air fresheners and EPA-registered cleaning chemicals. Instead of relying only on a quick pump-and-spray routine, crews are expected to always hand-wipe every unit, scrub off tough stains and disinfect toilet tanks.

Price competition may always be intense, but Peklo believes service is still a differentiator. In a crowded market, the lowest price may win the bid, but reliability wins the relationship.

And to maintain the level of service he expects, Peklo stays busy. “Answering emails, phone calls, scheduling customers, getting deposits, taking payments, anything I need to do on the administrative side,” he says. “I am building routes for the day, rearranging orders, updating routes, stuff changes at the last minute so much.

“Just getting that all tuned up so my other driver can go out and run his route. After that, I’m hopping in a truck and I’m running my route. I work a hundred hours a week. It’s rare that I get a day off.”

That availability also extends to customers. Peklo continues, “If they miss the toilet, a lock on the gate, a unit blows over or something happens, they can text me 24/7.”