 | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  |
Companies New To The Industry Feel
Impact of Economic Punch
Impact of Economic Punch
Sanitation Journal staff members wondered: What effect is the residential construction downturn having on those who
have just entered the industry within the past five years?
After all, conventional wisdom holds that it takes at least a good five years for a new business to flourish. What happens
when a business owner’s cash flow goes into a business start-up, only to soon be met by an unanticipated challenge that
shakes its customer base to its core?
Sanitation Journal contacted portable sanitation operators throughout the United States. The response was overwhelming
as legions were eager to share their experiences.
Some are hanging on by their fingernails. Some still service construction sites, but have an extraordinary number of
invoices in arrears. Some construction companies aren’t ordering units, but have employees sneaking to adjacent sites to
use units being rented by another company.
And…some portable sanitation companies are holding their own or thriving.
As for those whose businesses are in distress, a classified ad in Sanitation Journal symbolizes Tony Walker’s situation:
“Must sell – 400 plus tan PolyJon toilets. Most less than four years old. Asking $300 each. All ready to go to work. Will
discount for quantity purchases.”
Walker, owner of A+ Porta-Potty in Ocala, Florida could be called the ‘poster boy’ for the crisis that’s hit the residential
construction sector of the portable sanitation business.
A year ago, he noticed the demand for units – which increased when rebuilding efforts after hurricanes were in full swing
and the ongoing building because Florida’s growth has yet to be tapped out - was started to take a U-turn.
The 400 units he’s selling off represents 20 percent of his inventory.
Walker’s business is not new – he’s been around for eight years (and in the industry throughout his life) - and knows
business is cyclical. When the pace picks up again, he’ll buy newer units as needed. .
But for now, the economic slump has taken a big bite out of business - some 90 percent of it is tied up in construction.
And Walker has company.
“It doesn’t only affect us, it affects the guy in the little grocery store on the corner also,” he points out. “It affects the guy
at the gas station and all of the little individually-owned businesses. It affects us all.”
For now, Walker is holding on to what he’s got and banking that his reputation will hold his company steady.
He’s also taking a harder look at the special events sector he overlooked when business was good in the construction
sector.
“I think there is light at the end of the tunnel; it’s just not going to be that big rush it’s been for the past several years,”
Walker says. “This is a new position for our company to be in because it’s always been so good here.”
In addition to selling off units, Walker’s also laid off some employees.
“We’ve made some changes and adjustments, have tightened up our belts and do what we’ve got to do,” he says. “It’s a
sad thing when you’ve got to let people go, especially people who’ve been with you since you started. We never
considered that; we were always looking ahead. Now we have to look ahead in a different way. It’s a whole new ballgame
for us. I think it probably is for a lot of companies.”
In fact, Walker had spoken with a portable toilet manufacturing company salesman who told him there is a surplus of
thousands of portable toilets just in Florida.
“That’s a lot to an industry like this,” Walker says.
He drives past other companies’ yards, not only seeing portable sanitation units crammed together, but roll-off boxes as
well.
“I’ve spoken with contractors who not only build houses, but will do concrete work for other contractors and were once
running 30 to 40 guys; right now they’re running two or three guys,” Walker says. “It hurts a lot of people in a lot of ways.”
People like Ellie Madrigal, vice-president of Eagle Portables in Lynwood, California.
Her company is new out of the chute, having started in March, although Madrigal has previous portable sanitation
operation experience.
Most of Eagle Portables’ 200 units are dedicated to the construction sector.
“Business has gone down quite a bit,” Madrigal says. “There’s not as much construction going on. But we do have our
loyal customers.”
One is college athletic competitions.
In bracing for the business decline, Eagle Portables’ managers sought more work in the special events sector, which in
climates like California can be found year-round.
“I think that’s the only thing that will keep us afloat,” she says. “I do my best to advertise everywhere. I’ve distributed
about 4,000 flyers.”
Kyle Kirkman is doing his best to get paid. He started Pure Potties in Atlanta, Georgia three years ago to service the
commercial and residential sectors, as well as a small amount of special events. The company has 200 units and one
employee.
By most accounts, Kirkman should be entering his fourth year of business starting to look forward to an uptick in revenues.
Instead, Kirkman faces the challenge of getting invoices paid from construction clients who don’t want to pay for the
portable sanitation service he’s given them.
“Even the large commercial general contractors - it doesn’t matter,” he says. “Commercial is slowing down and they’re not
paying. Residential is actually steady, but they’re not paying either.”
Every one of his customers is 45 to 60 days in arrears on invoices.
Their excuse, says Kirkman: “Things are slow; the banks are tightening up on our draws and we don’t pay until we get
paid. If our building owners or our developers don’t pay us, we don’t pay you.”
Additionally, work is slowing down. Where he used to get 10 calls a day for business, Kirkman is now counting three a
week. And they’re price-shopping.
Kirkman also is not actively seeking new customers at this time.
“Let’s say you have a company and I have a company and they’re not paying you and you cut their service off,” he says.
“They’re going to come get me and then in three months, I’m going to be in the same boat you’re in.
“I’m just trying to manage my existing customers; trying to make sure I have enough coming in as well as going out to pay
for everything. I’m in a survival mode right now.”
Kirkman also has started a program whereby he’s taken his five “worst” customers (those more than 60 days in arrears) and
five “best” customers and offered them a 10 percent discount if they pay Net 10 for the entire invoice.
Those who pay Net 15 get a five percent discount. He offers no other discounts, but tacks on a two percent surcharge on
anything over 15 days.
That strategy has been fairly well received with some of the smaller home builders with whom Kirkman works as well as
some of the moderately-sized ones “because they’re putting an extra 10 percent in their pockets,” he notes.
Kirkman says the practice has required him to be more diligent in his collection process.
“It’s also made me more aware that I may be billing $15,000 a month but only collecting $10,000 in one month,” he says. “So
where is that other $5,000 going? Is it just the invoices are getting lost in the mail? Most of time, no.”
So to avoid any misconceptions about that, Kirkman is now sending invoices certified mail.
“That way, they can’t say it got lost in the mail or they haven’t seen it,” he points out. “I know no other way to try to speed
the process of getting paid.”
His approaches are also an attempt to avoid more costs of time and money taking the customers to court.
“Everybody is suffering right now to some degree,” says Kirkland.
And some are not. He spoke with an Alabama portable sanitation operator whose business has gone from 150 to 200 units
in six months.
Then there’s Jennifer Smith, co-owner of Harvey’s Honey Huts in Cambria, California. She told Sanitation Journal, “I’ve
been in the business 29 years, but I have lived through previous slumps and it is amazing what is out there to carry
companies through the construction slowdown.”
She’s actually grown her company through recessions, Smith says.
To boot, California is a state that’s particularly vulnerable to the residential construction slump.
But even as there are areas around the United States that are relatively unaffected by the downturn, so too are there areas
within states like California that are shielded from the problems.
Smith explains that the area surrounding her business is posh, so there hadn’t been a lot of construction growth until the
state stepped in and told the county it would cut off state funding unless it allowed affordable housing.
Development took place for a little while, but the earthmoving has stopped for the time being.
“What happens when you don’t have major construction projects is people can’t sell their homes, so they become very
creative and they remodel,” says Smith. The vast majority of the work on her books is for remodels.
While portable sanitation operators aren’t putting out as many units for home remodels as they would new construction,
Smith points out one benefit: “My units come back in better condition. They haven’t been mistreated. I don’t have to retire
those units. You’d be amazed at how many units have to be retired from those big construction projects. They can never go
out again. People are abusive.”
A smaller portion of her company’s work is commercial construction, Smith says, adding that companies that can’t develop
residential are building commercial.
While commercial construction is compensating for some of the loss of residential construction, “nothing is going to offset
that huge amount of residential projects that were going on, especially in a county that never allowed them,” Smith says.
Smith says she’s “not the least bit worried about the downturn in the economy in this area, because I am as busy as I’ve
ever been. People know our name.”
Weekend special events are where she is noticing a difference.
“You don’t have the numbers showing up to participate in those events because cash is tight, gas is high,” she says. “But
the people who promote the events never downsize the number of toilets they order for the events even though there were
fewer people last year; they are all very optimistic.”
Smith says diversifying into special events has helped bring revenues into her company, but adds that it’s come at a price.
“Weekend events are very hard, because there is so much demanded on you,” she says. The competition is ratcheting up
as well and as they buy more special event units, so does she.
Smith sees the silver lining.
“They’ve been very good for me, my competitors; they’ve made me improve myself,” she says.
Smith is giving the industry a vote of confidence by continuing to buy equipment.
“I just keep buying and buying. I am in the process of purchasing another party trailer because it seems I just don’t have
enough now. I didn’t start buying them until last year, because that competitor forced me into doing that.”
Tom Harris, with his father Nelson, is co-owner of New England Restrooms in North Reading, Massachusetts. Theirs is a
new business, less than three years old. They have 400 units they place in the construction and municipal sectors. They
also own a solid waste company, and rolled that customer base into the liquid waste business.
Rehabilitation of older houses keeps portable sanitation operators busy in this region. Harris has noted a slight slowdown
in new residential construction.
“We’re moving units,” he says. “We run three vacuum trucks and we have guys leaving here at 5:30 a.m. who don’t get
back sometimes until 8 p.m.
“We’re not putting our heads in the sand, either. We’re advertising ourselves and looking for more work. Every time we see
a unit, we stop and see somebody, drop a card off and follow up with phone calls.”
And the Nelsons diversify.
“We’re looking to continue to grow our toilet business,” he says. “We are forecasting what we need for next year, so we’ll
have a handle on it. We just went into high-end trailer units.”
Another portable sanitation operator who’s doing fairly well is Kenny Sinkhorn, owner of Big Blue Septic Service in
Somerset, Kentucky.
Sinkhorn, who built his business from scratch, has been in business for five years and rents portable sanitation units to the
construction sector as well as special events.
He started in 2002, pumping septic tanks before adding portable sanitation to his services. He started out with four units
and in 2003, bought 28 more units. He’s bought out competitors and has brought the total number of units to 200.
He continues to buy more units to accommodate customers’ requests, whether it is units compliant with the Americans with
Disabilities Act, flushable units or other types in order to secure their business on a long-term basis.
After buying out the competition, he rid himself of older units by selling them to people who own rental properties in
nearby wooded areas and could use portable sanitation.
Construction clients make up 75 percent of his company’s clientele. But Sinkhorn is doing just fine.
“I’ve not really experienced a slowdown,” he says. He’s got a lot of regular customers.
But ironically, Sinkhorn’s company could realize an even greater market penetration if more construction companies
actually rented portable sanitation units. It turns out that what’s going on in his area is that a construction company will be
putting up new homes in a neighborhood next to another emerging development and one company will rent units while the
other company’s workers help themselves to those units without paying for them.
Sinkhorn’s been getting a lot of complaints about it. Those who rent the units are complaining that they’re dirty.
“A lot of contractors act like I’m robbing them for a $60 monthly fee to get a clean facility,” Sinkhorn says.
Overall, though, Big Blue Septic Service is making money from road construction, such as portions of Interstate 66 being
constructed to connect to other portions. Sinkhorn’s units are being requested to serve those constructing roads and
bridges.
The road construction brings more growth. Ohioans are retiring in Kentucky. Tourists are making more stops in the state.
Although Sinkhorn’s business isn’t suffering, he eyes the industry-wide problems with caution as business owners act out
of desperation.
“That makes me concerned for my own business,” he says. “There’s another company out here playing the cut-throat deal
where they are lowering their prices $20 to $30 just to get business and I’ve lost some business to it.
“It’s hard to compete when somebody’s offering a unit for $40 a month and maybe even sometimes cleaning them twice a
week. It’s rough when they start doing that.”
But Sinkhorn is utilizing an approach that so many portable sanitation operators are taking these days: diversification. His
competition isn’t diversified and that gives him an edge.
While younger, independent companies are feeling the heat of the residential housing construction slump, larger ones with
satellite offices throughout the United States, such as United Site Services (USS), also are taking a hit.
Large conglomerates such as USS are sometimes the entities to which smaller companies turn when they are seeking to sell
their businesses.
“There is no doubt that many in our industry are feeling the pinch from the slowdown in residential construction,” says
David Walsh, vice president of sales for USS. “From all indications, this softening will persist into 2008, so the key for USS
is to ensure that our operations are strong and that we continue to pursue other markets aggressively until the residential
market returns.”
Walsh says he believes many portable sanitation operators see units in their yards and can’t help but think that some price
is better than no price.
“That’s driving some very competitive situations at job sites on a daily basis,” he points out. “The impact of the industry
slowdown varies from region to region and the recovery will occur in varying stages.”
Where some portable sanitation operators see gloom, USS views these times as an opportunity.
“At USS, we look at where the industry is now and we see opportunity such as further diversification of services,” says
Walsh. “Beyond that, there is the opportunity to make improvements in our business operations to better serve our
customers and to continue to attract key talent to our team.”
While the slowdown has certainly affected the industry, Walsh says, “USS will continue to focus on servicing our
customers because we know that delighted customers will stay with our brand and be with us when the residential
homebuilder market returns.”
have just entered the industry within the past five years?
After all, conventional wisdom holds that it takes at least a good five years for a new business to flourish. What happens
when a business owner’s cash flow goes into a business start-up, only to soon be met by an unanticipated challenge that
shakes its customer base to its core?
Sanitation Journal contacted portable sanitation operators throughout the United States. The response was overwhelming
as legions were eager to share their experiences.
Some are hanging on by their fingernails. Some still service construction sites, but have an extraordinary number of
invoices in arrears. Some construction companies aren’t ordering units, but have employees sneaking to adjacent sites to
use units being rented by another company.
And…some portable sanitation companies are holding their own or thriving.
As for those whose businesses are in distress, a classified ad in Sanitation Journal symbolizes Tony Walker’s situation:
“Must sell – 400 plus tan PolyJon toilets. Most less than four years old. Asking $300 each. All ready to go to work. Will
discount for quantity purchases.”
Walker, owner of A+ Porta-Potty in Ocala, Florida could be called the ‘poster boy’ for the crisis that’s hit the residential
construction sector of the portable sanitation business.
A year ago, he noticed the demand for units – which increased when rebuilding efforts after hurricanes were in full swing
and the ongoing building because Florida’s growth has yet to be tapped out - was started to take a U-turn.
The 400 units he’s selling off represents 20 percent of his inventory.
Walker’s business is not new – he’s been around for eight years (and in the industry throughout his life) - and knows
business is cyclical. When the pace picks up again, he’ll buy newer units as needed. .
But for now, the economic slump has taken a big bite out of business - some 90 percent of it is tied up in construction.
And Walker has company.
“It doesn’t only affect us, it affects the guy in the little grocery store on the corner also,” he points out. “It affects the guy
at the gas station and all of the little individually-owned businesses. It affects us all.”
For now, Walker is holding on to what he’s got and banking that his reputation will hold his company steady.
He’s also taking a harder look at the special events sector he overlooked when business was good in the construction
sector.
“I think there is light at the end of the tunnel; it’s just not going to be that big rush it’s been for the past several years,”
Walker says. “This is a new position for our company to be in because it’s always been so good here.”
In addition to selling off units, Walker’s also laid off some employees.
“We’ve made some changes and adjustments, have tightened up our belts and do what we’ve got to do,” he says. “It’s a
sad thing when you’ve got to let people go, especially people who’ve been with you since you started. We never
considered that; we were always looking ahead. Now we have to look ahead in a different way. It’s a whole new ballgame
for us. I think it probably is for a lot of companies.”
In fact, Walker had spoken with a portable toilet manufacturing company salesman who told him there is a surplus of
thousands of portable toilets just in Florida.
“That’s a lot to an industry like this,” Walker says.
He drives past other companies’ yards, not only seeing portable sanitation units crammed together, but roll-off boxes as
well.
“I’ve spoken with contractors who not only build houses, but will do concrete work for other contractors and were once
running 30 to 40 guys; right now they’re running two or three guys,” Walker says. “It hurts a lot of people in a lot of ways.”
People like Ellie Madrigal, vice-president of Eagle Portables in Lynwood, California.
Her company is new out of the chute, having started in March, although Madrigal has previous portable sanitation
operation experience.
Most of Eagle Portables’ 200 units are dedicated to the construction sector.
“Business has gone down quite a bit,” Madrigal says. “There’s not as much construction going on. But we do have our
loyal customers.”
One is college athletic competitions.
In bracing for the business decline, Eagle Portables’ managers sought more work in the special events sector, which in
climates like California can be found year-round.
“I think that’s the only thing that will keep us afloat,” she says. “I do my best to advertise everywhere. I’ve distributed
about 4,000 flyers.”
Kyle Kirkman is doing his best to get paid. He started Pure Potties in Atlanta, Georgia three years ago to service the
commercial and residential sectors, as well as a small amount of special events. The company has 200 units and one
employee.
By most accounts, Kirkman should be entering his fourth year of business starting to look forward to an uptick in revenues.
Instead, Kirkman faces the challenge of getting invoices paid from construction clients who don’t want to pay for the
portable sanitation service he’s given them.
“Even the large commercial general contractors - it doesn’t matter,” he says. “Commercial is slowing down and they’re not
paying. Residential is actually steady, but they’re not paying either.”
Every one of his customers is 45 to 60 days in arrears on invoices.
Their excuse, says Kirkman: “Things are slow; the banks are tightening up on our draws and we don’t pay until we get
paid. If our building owners or our developers don’t pay us, we don’t pay you.”
Additionally, work is slowing down. Where he used to get 10 calls a day for business, Kirkman is now counting three a
week. And they’re price-shopping.
Kirkman also is not actively seeking new customers at this time.
“Let’s say you have a company and I have a company and they’re not paying you and you cut their service off,” he says.
“They’re going to come get me and then in three months, I’m going to be in the same boat you’re in.
“I’m just trying to manage my existing customers; trying to make sure I have enough coming in as well as going out to pay
for everything. I’m in a survival mode right now.”
Kirkman also has started a program whereby he’s taken his five “worst” customers (those more than 60 days in arrears) and
five “best” customers and offered them a 10 percent discount if they pay Net 10 for the entire invoice.
Those who pay Net 15 get a five percent discount. He offers no other discounts, but tacks on a two percent surcharge on
anything over 15 days.
That strategy has been fairly well received with some of the smaller home builders with whom Kirkman works as well as
some of the moderately-sized ones “because they’re putting an extra 10 percent in their pockets,” he notes.
Kirkman says the practice has required him to be more diligent in his collection process.
“It’s also made me more aware that I may be billing $15,000 a month but only collecting $10,000 in one month,” he says. “So
where is that other $5,000 going? Is it just the invoices are getting lost in the mail? Most of time, no.”
So to avoid any misconceptions about that, Kirkman is now sending invoices certified mail.
“That way, they can’t say it got lost in the mail or they haven’t seen it,” he points out. “I know no other way to try to speed
the process of getting paid.”
His approaches are also an attempt to avoid more costs of time and money taking the customers to court.
“Everybody is suffering right now to some degree,” says Kirkland.
And some are not. He spoke with an Alabama portable sanitation operator whose business has gone from 150 to 200 units
in six months.
Then there’s Jennifer Smith, co-owner of Harvey’s Honey Huts in Cambria, California. She told Sanitation Journal, “I’ve
been in the business 29 years, but I have lived through previous slumps and it is amazing what is out there to carry
companies through the construction slowdown.”
She’s actually grown her company through recessions, Smith says.
To boot, California is a state that’s particularly vulnerable to the residential construction slump.
But even as there are areas around the United States that are relatively unaffected by the downturn, so too are there areas
within states like California that are shielded from the problems.
Smith explains that the area surrounding her business is posh, so there hadn’t been a lot of construction growth until the
state stepped in and told the county it would cut off state funding unless it allowed affordable housing.
Development took place for a little while, but the earthmoving has stopped for the time being.
“What happens when you don’t have major construction projects is people can’t sell their homes, so they become very
creative and they remodel,” says Smith. The vast majority of the work on her books is for remodels.
While portable sanitation operators aren’t putting out as many units for home remodels as they would new construction,
Smith points out one benefit: “My units come back in better condition. They haven’t been mistreated. I don’t have to retire
those units. You’d be amazed at how many units have to be retired from those big construction projects. They can never go
out again. People are abusive.”
A smaller portion of her company’s work is commercial construction, Smith says, adding that companies that can’t develop
residential are building commercial.
While commercial construction is compensating for some of the loss of residential construction, “nothing is going to offset
that huge amount of residential projects that were going on, especially in a county that never allowed them,” Smith says.
Smith says she’s “not the least bit worried about the downturn in the economy in this area, because I am as busy as I’ve
ever been. People know our name.”
Weekend special events are where she is noticing a difference.
“You don’t have the numbers showing up to participate in those events because cash is tight, gas is high,” she says. “But
the people who promote the events never downsize the number of toilets they order for the events even though there were
fewer people last year; they are all very optimistic.”
Smith says diversifying into special events has helped bring revenues into her company, but adds that it’s come at a price.
“Weekend events are very hard, because there is so much demanded on you,” she says. The competition is ratcheting up
as well and as they buy more special event units, so does she.
Smith sees the silver lining.
“They’ve been very good for me, my competitors; they’ve made me improve myself,” she says.
Smith is giving the industry a vote of confidence by continuing to buy equipment.
“I just keep buying and buying. I am in the process of purchasing another party trailer because it seems I just don’t have
enough now. I didn’t start buying them until last year, because that competitor forced me into doing that.”
Tom Harris, with his father Nelson, is co-owner of New England Restrooms in North Reading, Massachusetts. Theirs is a
new business, less than three years old. They have 400 units they place in the construction and municipal sectors. They
also own a solid waste company, and rolled that customer base into the liquid waste business.
Rehabilitation of older houses keeps portable sanitation operators busy in this region. Harris has noted a slight slowdown
in new residential construction.
“We’re moving units,” he says. “We run three vacuum trucks and we have guys leaving here at 5:30 a.m. who don’t get
back sometimes until 8 p.m.
“We’re not putting our heads in the sand, either. We’re advertising ourselves and looking for more work. Every time we see
a unit, we stop and see somebody, drop a card off and follow up with phone calls.”
And the Nelsons diversify.
“We’re looking to continue to grow our toilet business,” he says. “We are forecasting what we need for next year, so we’ll
have a handle on it. We just went into high-end trailer units.”
Another portable sanitation operator who’s doing fairly well is Kenny Sinkhorn, owner of Big Blue Septic Service in
Somerset, Kentucky.
Sinkhorn, who built his business from scratch, has been in business for five years and rents portable sanitation units to the
construction sector as well as special events.
He started in 2002, pumping septic tanks before adding portable sanitation to his services. He started out with four units
and in 2003, bought 28 more units. He’s bought out competitors and has brought the total number of units to 200.
He continues to buy more units to accommodate customers’ requests, whether it is units compliant with the Americans with
Disabilities Act, flushable units or other types in order to secure their business on a long-term basis.
After buying out the competition, he rid himself of older units by selling them to people who own rental properties in
nearby wooded areas and could use portable sanitation.
Construction clients make up 75 percent of his company’s clientele. But Sinkhorn is doing just fine.
“I’ve not really experienced a slowdown,” he says. He’s got a lot of regular customers.
But ironically, Sinkhorn’s company could realize an even greater market penetration if more construction companies
actually rented portable sanitation units. It turns out that what’s going on in his area is that a construction company will be
putting up new homes in a neighborhood next to another emerging development and one company will rent units while the
other company’s workers help themselves to those units without paying for them.
Sinkhorn’s been getting a lot of complaints about it. Those who rent the units are complaining that they’re dirty.
“A lot of contractors act like I’m robbing them for a $60 monthly fee to get a clean facility,” Sinkhorn says.
Overall, though, Big Blue Septic Service is making money from road construction, such as portions of Interstate 66 being
constructed to connect to other portions. Sinkhorn’s units are being requested to serve those constructing roads and
bridges.
The road construction brings more growth. Ohioans are retiring in Kentucky. Tourists are making more stops in the state.
Although Sinkhorn’s business isn’t suffering, he eyes the industry-wide problems with caution as business owners act out
of desperation.
“That makes me concerned for my own business,” he says. “There’s another company out here playing the cut-throat deal
where they are lowering their prices $20 to $30 just to get business and I’ve lost some business to it.
“It’s hard to compete when somebody’s offering a unit for $40 a month and maybe even sometimes cleaning them twice a
week. It’s rough when they start doing that.”
But Sinkhorn is utilizing an approach that so many portable sanitation operators are taking these days: diversification. His
competition isn’t diversified and that gives him an edge.
While younger, independent companies are feeling the heat of the residential housing construction slump, larger ones with
satellite offices throughout the United States, such as United Site Services (USS), also are taking a hit.
Large conglomerates such as USS are sometimes the entities to which smaller companies turn when they are seeking to sell
their businesses.
“There is no doubt that many in our industry are feeling the pinch from the slowdown in residential construction,” says
David Walsh, vice president of sales for USS. “From all indications, this softening will persist into 2008, so the key for USS
is to ensure that our operations are strong and that we continue to pursue other markets aggressively until the residential
market returns.”
Walsh says he believes many portable sanitation operators see units in their yards and can’t help but think that some price
is better than no price.
“That’s driving some very competitive situations at job sites on a daily basis,” he points out. “The impact of the industry
slowdown varies from region to region and the recovery will occur in varying stages.”
Where some portable sanitation operators see gloom, USS views these times as an opportunity.
“At USS, we look at where the industry is now and we see opportunity such as further diversification of services,” says
Walsh. “Beyond that, there is the opportunity to make improvements in our business operations to better serve our
customers and to continue to attract key talent to our team.”
While the slowdown has certainly affected the industry, Walsh says, “USS will continue to focus on servicing our
customers because we know that delighted customers will stay with our brand and be with us when the residential
homebuilder market returns.”
| By: Carol Brzozowski |
 | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  |
Serving the American Liquid Waste Industry Since 2002