Portable Sanitation Association International

ASSOCIATIONINSIGHT Portable Sanitation Association International News BIWEEKLY EDITION AUGUST 19, 2020 Page 4 Continued on page 7 The Ideal Truck for Portable Sanitation…continued from page 2 3. New transportation needs for trucks Due to the increased demand for sinks, transportation of this equipment is also presenting some interesting challenges. On route service trucks, how can the fold down gate carry sinks in addition to, or in place of, restroom units? According to Wes, "Winter conditions will have a dramatic impact on operators in cold weather climates that have hand wash stations in the field. In actuality, these operators would need three storage tanks on their routes. One with the water and brine solution for the units, one for regular water for the sinks, and, of course, one for waste." New customer locations for units and sinks also is a consideration in terms of truck design and safety. Wes provides the example of an elementary school with either sinks and/or units. "Keeping children away from the service vehicle while also protecting others from tripping hazards with the vacuum and water hoses are but one new challenge for safe route service." He continues, "wheel chocks and safety cones are excellent solutions, however, as noted above, storage for this equipment must be taken into consideration". One other trend that Wes has observed is dedicated sink trucks. The configuration of these vehicles demands equal amounts of water and waste and, generally, a smaller footprint because sinks are generally located in more public—and, therefore, harder to reach—areas. This veteran concludes that "we (truck suppliers) don't have all of the answers. We need dialog and, together, we can solve the challenges of our new business environment." Recent Trends from an Operator's Viewpoint—Tony Watson, United Site Services Another well-respected and highly qualified member of the virtual roundtable is Tony Watson. He is a current member of the United Site Services team and previously spent many years managing operations for the Andy Gump Company. Over the last five years, Tony had seen the trend toward larger service vehicles. Now, over the last 12 months or so, that has begun to change. "With the State of California now requiring a CDL for tanks over 1,000 gallons, regardless of the size of the truck; smaller vehicles are appearing once again." Tony also observed the increased demand for water is impacting truck design, and that trend should be continuing. Furthermore, he says gas trucks—as opposed to diesel models—are making a comeback due to emissions controls and are often a viable consideration. Tony's other observations include new choices in vacuum pump design, improved GPS and fleet management software, as well as new safety products. According to Tony, "Safe is now cool and strobe lights, beacon lights, backup cameras, and fender mirrors are in demand." Tony has yet another great suggestion. He says, "We use orange seat belts so that we can easily observe from the dash cam if the driver is wearing his belt or not." Tony concludes with his analysis of the demand for additional weekly services during the COVID-19 pandemic. He says, "We strongly advocate multiple services per week in light of the fact that fast food restaurants, for example, clean their restrooms daily if not many times throughout the day. What if they only serviced their restrooms once a week?" This is a valuable sales tool. Tony Watson

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