Issue link: http://psai.uberflip.com/i/954030
134 2018 INDUSTRY RESOURCE DIRECTORY Bad things happen. In the summer of 2014 a Vermont-based portable restroom company was fined $6,000 in New Hampshire after one of its trucks was found to be transporting units with human waste in them. Doing so is against the law in New Hampshire, and the rivulets of dripping waste trailing the truck as it sped down the road caught the attention of the highway patrol. TRANSPORTING UNITS CONTAINING WASTE If you Google the phrase "porta potty truck spill" you will find numerous other incidents in which an accident of some sort—unfortunate, dangerous, and expensive—led to smelly messes, backed up traffic, and hazmat situations because the units being transported contained human waste, prefill, or both. Based on the news coverage, the public makes little distinction between spills involving only pre-fill and those involving waste. No portable restroom operator wants to be known as "the guys who spilled [excrement] on the highway." Yet every time a truck enters a roadway with any sort of liquid in them, there is a risk of being the next story on the news. Industry standards and state laws say "no." Since the early 1990s at least, the PSAI has had a standard that reads, "Portable restroom units must be emptied before they are picked up and returned to the company lot." This standard also applies to portable restroom trailers, and it exists for three main reasons: • Most states have laws requiring that waste only be transported in sealed containers, waste tanks, or vehicles licensed for this purpose. Portable units cannot be sealed to meet the requirements of these laws. • A unit containing waste is very heavy. This presents numerous hazards to the personnel loading and unloading it and increases the risk of spills. • Units containing waste create an unstable load, leading to surge, slosh, and other safety issues while driving Is it ever okay to move units containing waste? On a highway, no it isn't ever okay. Some operators do it, but it is not consistent with the long-standing standard and it is usually against the law. We do realize that in the real world there are times when units have to be moved from point A to point B on a site, and for whatever reason it isn't feasible to pump them first. Let's be clear though: "it isn't feasible" is not the same thing as "it isn't convenient" or "it isn't profitable." Moving wet units should always be the drop- dead last resort because there is virtually no way to completely eliminate the possibility of a spill.