Portable Sanitation Association International

Association Insight, June 9, 2021

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ASSOCIATIONINSIGHT Portable Sanitation Association International News BIWEEKLY EDITION JUNE 9, 2021 Page 3 Tips on Maintaining Trailers—Part II: Efficiencies at Delivery…continued from page 1 Continued on page 16 Tony, Anthony, and Bill shared this material at the PSAI's April Virtual Conference in a session called "Maintaining Restroom Trailers in the Yard and in the Field." In the last Association Insight, we covered important safety issues related to portable restroom trailers as discussed during that session. In part II, we look at how paying attention to operational efficiencies can keep costs down and improve your profit margin during sales and delivery. Preparing the Trailer for Delivery Pre-rental trailer prep is where a portable sanitation company sets itself up for providing an excellent customer experience. Use of a red tag/green tag process makes it easier to ensure nothing is overlooked while getting ready in the yard. This is especially important when different team members each have important responsibilities, but no one is doing everything in the process. Anthony says, "It's not a complicated process. We use a red tag, which is put on the exterior of the trailer when our techs pick it up from the [prior rental.] ... It goes through a series of inspections and [maintenance] processes … [Then it is finally] signed off and a green tag is placed on the trailer. [At that point] it's clean, and everybody knows it's ready to be hooked up and headed off to the next site." What things need to be cleaned and inspected? The PSAI has a sample checklist in the Industry Resource Library to help anyone who is starting from scratch or wants to make sure their own checklist is comprehensive. Here are some of the things the presenters emphasized in April, along with some PSAI tips from our Basic Service Technician Training on the topic of trailers. 1. Interior. Make sure everything has been cleaned and checked to ensure it is in proper working order. This includes often overlooked items like wiping down the air conditioning vents and making sure your faucets function properly. See that all of your lights are working, all the cabinet and stall doors close and lock as they should, toilet paper and soap dispensers function as designed, the toilets are holding water, and so on. All cabinet and stall doors should be closed and locked for transport. You don't want them swinging wildly as you go down the road. They can be damaged, the hinges can be destroyed, and the swinging doors can damage other things. 2. Consumables. Paper towels, toilet paper, and soap should all be present and stowed for transport. What this means may vary from trailer to trailer. Generally, you want to carry enough supply to see the rental through to the next service, and you want it securely stowed so that it is not leaking, coming unrolled, or moving loosely around the trailer as you drive down the road. 3. Exterior surfaces. On the outside, everything should be washed and—if weather permits—shined. Once you arrive at the site you may have to do additional cleaning and/or shining because of the outside conditions during transport, but at least make sure you leave the yard with a unit that looks good going down the road. It probably has your company name on it—it's a moving billboard. You want it to reflect well on your company. Bill Gibson Tony Watson Anthony Heath

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