Robert and Wendy Garland started their restroom company in 2008. Here they are shown with one of their trucks, built out by Crescent Tank and running a Masport pump. (Photos by Oliver Parini)
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Trucks + Get AlertsIn terms of flexibility and productivity, Wendy Garland — co-owner of Garland Waste Services in Center Conway, New Hampshire — says it’s tough to top the company’s primary service truck, outfitted by Crescent Tank.
Built on a 2016 Dodge 5500, the truck features a flat, rectangular-shaped steel vacuum tank that holds 550 gallons of waste and 250 gallons of freshwater. The tank enhances productivity and flexibility because it doubles as a truck bed that can carry six standard restrooms, Garland says.
The truck’s low center of gravity prevents restrooms from toppling over.
“We absolutely love it,” she says. “We couldn’t do what we do without it: We can deliver six restrooms, as well as service restrooms, all from that one truck. It’s so convenient. It’s the truck I use, and it’s so much easier to drive it than to tow a trailer — or try to back one up.”
The company bought the truck in 2017. Robert Garland, Wendy’s husband and a co-owner of the company, read about Crescent Tank’s unique tank design in Portable Restroom Operator magazine.
“He was excited because he figured it would make our lives so much easier,” she says. “And it truly has done that. I can do almost twice as much work as I’d do without it, just because I can do deliveries and service calls on the same trip.”
In addition, the company saves a significant amount of money on fuel through reduced trips, which is no small thing in the remote and rugged Mount Washington Valley area that the company serves. Many service calls occur in distant locations where it’s much easier to deliver six restrooms in one trip, as opposed to three hourlong round trips with a standard restroom truck that can carry only two units, she says.
“Plus, the liftgate on the back makes it so easy to load and unload restrooms,” Garland adds. “My 14-year-old son, Lincoln, can do it.”
The company constantly receives phone calls from desperate customers who forgot to order a restroom and need one in a hurry or need a restroom picked up earlier than expected. The Crescent Tank truck allows the company to more easily accommodate those last-minute requests, even if it’s already on a service route.
“The truck is worth every penny we paid for it,” she says. “From our standpoint, I don’t know how people can work without one.”
Read more about Garland Waste Services in the September issue of Portable Restroom Operator magazine.
