The Best Portable Restroom Trucks for Your Business

The economy seems to be affecting everything these days. In the waste hauling industry the trend seems to be showing in the volume of business, as is the case in any industry, but Randy S. Tischendorf, lead sales person for Portable Service Units at Imperial Industries says the company is doing very well, “We have as much backlog now as we ever did. Trucks are selling as fast as we can build them.”

Namely, Imperial’s 1175 gallon portable service unit is setting record sales numbers for 2011. The aluminum service unit is the company’s “bread and butter,” according to Tischendorf, and the only issue that he sees at the moment is trouble acquiring chassis due only to the fact that manufacturers are between model years.

Imperial Industries is set to launch a new 1000 gallon tank service unit, which will be offered at a competitive price, with more features, including twin toolboxes, and a right angle gear driven pump instead of a direct drive pump. “The right angle gear pump is more convenient because it’s right there,” Tischendorf says. The service unit also features an all aluminum toilet gate that is spring assisted and, like the right angle pump, also easy to work with.

Imperial Industries has been selling bulk storage units since 1981. Headquartered in Wisconsin, the company began by making bulk storage bins for feed and progressed from there to include industrial bulk storage and then evolved into solid and liquid bulk storage for the food, plastics and water treatment industries. In the late 80’s to mid 90’s, Imperial expanded into truck mounted liquid waste tanks and portable service units and then in 2008, they started to manufacture the portable restrooms, themselves. General Sales Manager Tom Aerts is very pleased with the continued growth that has been experienced with portable service units and portable restrooms since 2008. Their service area covers the entire continental United States as well as Hawaii and also includes Canada and Mexico. For more information visit www.imperialind.com or call 1.800.558.2945.

Brian Amthor, Marketing and Sales Director for Amthor International in Gretna, Virginia, says his company can also boast a tremendous backlog, which he attributes to the diversity of Amthor’s product line. He is seeing more people starting to buy in 2011, which is a different and welcome sight from last year. “We’re starting to see people spend some money, even if it’s purchasing a new model tank on a pre-owned chassis.”

Amthor International started in 1928 by Amthor’s great-grandfather, who was a blacksmith. Since then the company has evolved into the tank truck manufacturing company that it is today, with dealers in five continents and a factory in Virginia. They partnered with Navistar to gain the ability to buy a new international truck that can be paired with an Amthor tank, giving them a leading edge over some of their competitors.

Another way Amthor International stays ahead of the curve is by making service tanks for a number of applications, and their vacuum trucks make up a large part of that product line. Split evenly down the middle between septic and portable restroom, they make tanks in aluminum, steel and stainless, with their best sellers being the Matador Runabout portable restroom tank and the Matador septic tank.
Amthor attributes the company’s success, in part, to the fact that their tanks have a thicker side shell for longevity and corrosion allowance. Also to combat corrosion, Amthor’s tanks line the waste compartment with epoxy, which also prevents waste from attacking the aluminum when it is sucked out of the truck. Magnesium anodes are added to the water compartment as an extra measure, in the event that an operator is dealing with a bad batch of water, loaded with amoebas that can attack the aluminum of the tank, for instance, the magnesium anodes act as an extra preventative measure against corrosion. “We like to overkill our products. Going above and beyond for our customers is better than not going far enough,” Amthor says.

Amthor International’s trucks all have full head baffles that are used as interior heads so there is no need for external rings on the tank. The feature makes it easier for companies to paint their names on the sides of the tanks. “We try to make it look good but we also try to make the driver’s life easier,” he says. Aesthetics, a global mindset and a strong sense of what a quality vacuum truck should look like and how it should perform are what keep Amthor International ahead of the competition. For more information visit www.amthorinternational.com or call 434.656.6233.

Kevin Keegan of KeeVac Industries in Denver, Colorado is someone else who know how a septic truck should perform, and after years of working in the industry, he knows his way around a vacuum truck. Getting his start in the industry performing auto and truck repair, he decided to branch out and start his own portable restroom company, Affordable Portable Services. After six years, he sold that company to United Site Services and became Fleet Manager at United Site’s Colorado location. Taking all the knowledge he learned up until that point, he left United Site Services to start KeeVac in attempt to help vacuum truck owners improve their efficiency through lightweight aluminum trucks mounted on correctly specified chassis. Kevin’s personal experience in servicing portable toilets and septic tanks has resulted in numerous improvements for operator ease, operator safety and reduced maintenance costs.

KeeVac primarily uses aluminum for their truck tanks because it is lighter, which allows for more versatility. A larger tank can go on the same sized chassis as a smaller tank and works directly with their customers to design the ultimate vacuum truck system for your company’s specific needs. KeeVac does offer mild steel, as well as stainless steel vacuum trucks, and Keegan finds merit in both. The steel options are heavier, less expensive and stainless steel doesn’t corrode, he finds aluminum to be the best option of all due to the versatility factor.

Another favorite of Keegan’s is the hydraulic lift system and finds it the smoothest way to move a truck. The front lift, rear opening door is an excellent feature because he says, “Sludge and sediment doesn’t want to come out of the tank. The hydraulic system allows you to lift up the tank and dump out the sludge and sediment like a dump truck.” And KeeVac offers a number of sizes for people interested in hauling liquid waste. They offer a 300 gallon tank that fits on a pick-up truck and go all the way up to 5500-8000 gallon semi-trucks. For more information visit www.keevac.com or call 866.789.9440.

Story by Megan McClure

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