Issue link: http://psai.uberflip.com/i/1304428
ASSOCIATIONINSIGHT Portable Sanitation Association International News BIWEEKLY EDITION OCTOBER 28, 2020 Page 15 Ensuring Quality in the Field—Part II: QC for Trailers, Drivers…continued from page 2 Continued on page 21 Delivering the Trailer Unit There will always be a few things that happen when it comes time to deliver. Be prepared. • Make sure that you stock the most commonly replaced parts. If you have to swap out a toilet paper holder or a paper towel holder, you want to be able to do that quickly. • Make sure you have keys for the unit. That seems pretty basic, but it somehow happens that drivers leave the yard without them. • Make sure your customer has the right hook up. All of this should have been gone through during the sales process, but if you aren't 100 percent sure, check it out before you drive a long way with a trailer. Once you get to the site, what you want to do is you just want to drop it, hook everything up, do a final walk through. If the customers are there, walk through with them and show them how everything works. If not, text or email the instructions. Ideally, take photos with time stamps and/or have a method of getting the customer's sign off as to the condition of the equipment when you left it in their custody—much like the sign off that would happen when someone rents a car. Before the driver leaves the site, they should do a thorough walk through and wipe everything down. They should also have disinfectant wipes with them to go over the hand areas of railings, faucets, and toilet handles. Tips for Long Term Rentals With long term units, maintaining and recovering the unit occurs on an on-going basis with each service. He says his drivers are "constantly going through the unit to make sure everything is working, because you want to nip it in the bud because a small problem can become a big problem." This means at service time, the tech is touching on everything. He observes that on long term units things "get worn out pretty quick." John also notes that if your customer is military or government- related, they expect you to have the parts on hand and be able to replace or recover as quickly as possible. At each service the technician should be making sure to check for major damage before leaving the site. That's because it is just always a good idea to keep your units in good shape, but also because it is hard to go back to the customer and charge them for any damage once you've left their site. Rental Recovery More often, though, the rental is short term and recovery begins when the driver goes out to pick up the trailer. At that point, make sure you're doing a thorough inspection as soon as you get to the site. Look for and document the damage. Take photos with time stamps and mark the damage on your recovery paperwork. Before the driver leaves the site s/he should drain all water tanks and pump the waste. Transporting with liquid in the tanks can do serious damage to your units and, if there is an accident, you can be cited for transporting with waste in the tank.