Northeast Sanitation Blog

Long term construction projects offer many challenges not the least of which are portable restrooms for your construction workers.  For your long-term construction project this winter, plan to have a mobile office trailer on-site for your restroom solution.

Perfect when you don’t want to dig for a temporary septic tank or when you do not have access to running water. A mobile office restroom system (MORs) can be installed in just a few hours and they cut down on your site costs. The water supply is provided, along with the RV toilet and the waste tank. These easily installed systems are maintained weekly from the outside.

With mobile office trailer equipment, you can alleviate the stress of wasted materials and manpower while increasing the productivity of your employees. Increase productivity and convenience and decrease your costs. For the convenience of mobile office trailer restroom units contact NSC Restrooms.

Driving in and around Boston this time of year, you see all of the road construction projects. Driving on routes 128 and 95 are perfect examples. Have you seen all of the portable toilets?

Not only do portable toilets increase the productivity of your workers on site, they also ensure the safety of your workers. Road construction has its own inherent dangers. Reduce those risks with portable toilets. Conveniently placed on both sides of the road where your crews are working, they provide easy access to your men and women on the job.
 
No more down time while workers leave the site to find a restroom. Porta Potties should be included in every proposal to ensure the safety of your workers and the timely completion of jobs.

At NSC Restrooms, all of our portable toilets come with 2 rolls of quality toilet paper, antibacterial hand wash, locking doors, and are well-ventilated.  Holding tanks are also available to accommodate office trailers and/or campers that do not have sewerage or septic systems available.

Contact NSC Restrooms for information on porta potties rentals for you road construction workers.

Portable toilets provide an important economic benefit to the construction industry and outdoor events. Portable toilets  save money on construction and other work sites because they save time and reduce labor costs.

Workers are more productive when they don’t have to leave the job site for restroom facilities.  The portable toilets can be easily relocated so they can be conveniently placed near the workers as the project progresses.
 
For outdoor events, portable toilets generate money for the event organizer because guests will stay longer and in turn, spend more money.

There are several models of portable toilets to choose from. We can supply you with a range from basic portable toilets to mid-priced models to flushing portable toilets as well as restroom trailers. We provide a full range of components for portable sanitation such as portable sinks and mobile showers. The difference is the quality. Contact NSC Restrooms today.

Construction season has begun; private residential construction, commercial construction and municipalities doing road construction. Whatever your construction site demands, you need portable toilets for your site workers.

It has been shown that having a portable toilet on-site increases worker productivity. Northeast Sanitation has the expertise required to accommodate your construction site, ensure a safe and sanitary work site, and increase worker productivity.  At NSC Restrooms we pride ourselves on our safety record.

Whether your construction site is a high-rise, a highway, or a residential job, we want you to get the portable toilet product that you need for your specific site. Regardless of the size of your job,  we can accommodate your needs for portable restrooms.

With everything else you are coordinating on your job site, no contractor wants the extra work of finding the right portable toilet.  NSC Restrooms also has a variety of porta potties and portable toilet products for construction job sites, including holding tanks for on-site office restroom trailersthat are designed to accommodate office trailers and/or campers that do not have sewerage or septic available, lift kits and portable sinks.

Everyone is familiar one form or another of portable toilets. Everyone, who’s ever been to an outdoor concert, a wedding outdoors or on the beach, or has some exposure to the construction industry is familiar with a portable restroom. Construction sites and camping sites are the two places where the traditional Porta Potty units are most commonly seen.

Restrooms can present a challenge in various locations or venues but portable toilets have some innovative designs these days to suit every need. If you are a camper you are likely aware of the portable toilets provided on camp sites. For large parties and wedding events, there are portable restroom trailers for rent similar to any home bathroom.
There are many models and types of portable toilets available. They range from the larger, mobile restrooms units that are attached to trailers and are essentially the same as a rest room that you would find in a hotel to single units found on construction sites and ball fields. There are ADA and handicap accessible single units available as well as ADA restroom trailers too.

Take a look at the variety of mobile restrooms available today. They take so much of the work out of planning an event, and with the various styles and levels of luxury, your options for venues increases exponentially.  

It has been amazing to us here at NSC Restrooms, all the different types of people who need to rent portable toilets. You'd actually be surprised about the different number of people and organizations who need some kind of portable toilet rental. The people looking come from all different backgrounds, and industries throughout New England and have all different reasons for making the search.

Some of the people we have helped have been organizing charity events, or huge music, theme, or agricultural festivals. Then there have been those planning garden parties, and small outdoor get togethers, and huge outdoor weddings that have needed our luxury restroom trailers. We have worked with construction companies bringing portable toilets to the job site, event planners who need portable restrooms for corporate events, and we have brought portable toilets to the ball fields of many cities and towns.

Whatever your reason for needing to rent a portable restroom, be sure to ask the right questions, and hire the right vendor. Many situations can occur so you not only want the nicest, cleanest portable restrooms, but you want the company that will ensure that you are also satisfied with their customer service and response time.

How Irish Dancing Got Started through the use of Portable Toilets.

WEBSITE BUILDS BONDS

At first, McNamara relied on established business contacts — the “golden Rolodex,” as he puts it — and word-of-mouth referrals. But three years ago, he realized the company also required an Internet presence. The current website was revised about a year ago, and he says it’s a continual work in progress.

“In today’s world, people want to know you have a website,” he adds. “Everyone should have one that shows their products and explains what they do. But you also have to deliver on what you say on the website.”

To keep the website interesting, McNamara posts a weekly blog that talks about a wide array of issues, from strategic placement of units on construction sites to how many restrooms a customer might need for a wedding or party.

“We aim for information people can use,” he says. “At the same time, we’re also always looking for creative ideas to have some fun with it, too.

We ask our drivers for ideas, and they’ve come up with topics like how to protect units on site, putting stone pads in front of units when it’s muddy, placement of hand sinks and so on. It’s all aimed at benefitting the end-user.”

IMAGE IS MARKETING, TOO

NSC also emphasizes less subtle forms of marketing, like new, clean and well-maintained trucks; uniformed, clean-cut drivers who are courteous and professional; and use of new technology, such as global positioning systems, which helps improve customer service.

“We purchase anything that makes us more competitive in the marketplace,” he says. “We try to stay ahead of the curve on that because it saves you money in the long run.”

The NCS fleet includes a 2006 Ford LCF with a 350-gallon waste/150-gallon steel tank, made by Best Enterprises Inc.; a 2007 International 4300 with a 1,500-waste/500-gallon freshwater aluminum Progress (Progress Tank LLC) tank; a 2008 Hino 268 with a 1,500-gallon waste/500-gallon freshwater aluminum Progress tank; a 2008 International 4300 with a 750-gallon waste/350-gallon freshwater flat steel tank from Crescent Tank Mfg.; two 2010 Hino 268s with Progress aluminum tanks (one 1,150-gallon waste/350-gallon freshwater and the other with a 1,500-gallon waste/500-gallon freshwater); and a 2007 Ford LCF flatbed truck for deliveries. All of the trucks use Masport Inc. pumps.

NSC also owns 1,100 standard portable restrooms, mostly Integra units from PolyPortables Inc.; 60 handicapped-accessible units (30 made by Satellite Industries Inc. and 30 made by PolyPortables); and two restroom trailers, a 15-footer made by JAG Mobile Solutions Inc. and a 24-footer manufactured by Comforts of Home Services Inc.

The upscale JAG trailer has four 18-inch, flat-screen televisions. Customers who run charity events or weddings often burn their own DVDs with photo slide shows and play them continuously on the TVs.

“We’ve gotten lots of positive feedback about the TVs. I’m not sure it makes us more money, but you know people talk about it,’’ McNamara says. “New equipment is a great marketing tool. We wash and clean trucks every day. We want to create the perception that we’re the best company out there … when people see our trucks, they remember us.”

GPS technology helps improve customer service. NCS uses a system made by Navtrak Inc. that provides detailed information, from how fast technicians drive to the duration of a service call to the exact time the vacuum power on trucks is turned on and off. If a customer questions whether a technician made a service call, NCS can e-mail them a GPS report that proves they did.

If there’s any question at all in a customer’s mind, though, McNamara follows the premise that the customer is always right, which means a technician will go back and re-service the units in question again. Most times, however, the report does the trick, and customers realize later on that, for example, a landscaping crew came on-site unbeknownst to them, which explains why units were full or dirty so soon after being serviced.

by Ken Wysocky

Prompt service, sharp-dressed technicians and keeping promises to customers is the success formula for upstart Massachusetts company Northeast Sanitation Corp.

Back in February 2006, a semi-retired Brian McNamara heard opportunity knocking and wasted no time answering the door — and stepping smack dab into another full-time career. Within five months, Northeast Sanitation Corp. in Sudbury, Mass., morphed from nothing more than an idea into a full-service portable restroom outfit.

Since then, NSC has enjoyed considerable growth, aided by the acquisition of two more portable sanitation businesses. And the decisive McNamara says he expects further expansion and revenue growth.

The key to the company’s quick success? Great employees and a simple but effective business philosophy: Do what you say you’re going to do.

“We don’t mess around,” McNamara says when asked how he took a company from concept to corporation in just five months. “I thought I saw a good opportunity in the marketplace, and so far, it’s proven to be just that.

“Our motto is, ‘The difference is in the details,’ ” he continues. “Whether it’s delivery, service or professionalism, it’s all about how you treat people … that’s what forges relationships. If you say you’re going to do something, do it. If you can’t, don’t be in business.”

MAN WITH A PLAN

McNamara spent most of his career in heavy civil construction and residential development. Working in New England, where the construction season is short and lousy weather is a fact of life, taught him how to make things happen fast. He eventually went into semi-retirement as a real estate developer. But while building a home in early 2006, a brush with unresponsive portable restroom service spurred his second career.

“They never came when they said they would,” McNamara recalls. “I’d have to call them three or four times to get service. So I started thinking that if they have this much market share and provide this level of service, there’s definitely a niche to be exploited.”

McNamara started by doing research on the Internet to determine the level of competition. Then he learned about the Pumper & Cleaner Environmental Expo International —which by chance was being held the following weekend.

“I went to the show, which was a great experience,” he says. “I found out about all the players in the industry, and ended up ordering 120 restrooms.”

By March, NSC was incorporated. And by July, the company was up and running. Growth occurred quickly, thanks to McNamara’s widespread network of construction industry contacts.

Revenues quickly grew. “We’re probably four times bigger now than the year we started,” he says. McNamara says a fundamentally sound business plan was critical to the company’s fast growth. That included forecasting sales revenue and net-profit goals, and asking friends and business associates to “shoot holes” in his business premises.

“I’d recommend that anyone start with a sound business plan,” he notes. “You can’t run blind. You’ve got to have forecasts, then be sure you hit the numbers. It’s not easy, but if you stay focused on your plan — which is your road map to success — you’ll succeed.”

Currently, construction-related rentals generate about 75 percent of the company’s sales revenue; the remaining 25 percent comes from special events. McNamara says his business plan calls for a 70/30 split after five years, so the business is on track. “We have to rely mostly on construction because in this area, there are only so many special events,” he says.

Portable restrooms need to be secured for both high winds and from mischievous kids who think tipping over porta potties is a fun activity. Typically some sort of metal spikes or rebar are used to spike down the units however in the winter with frozen ground this is impossible, therefore, sandbags from your local hardware store are the best measure.

Many of our seasonal sports leagues, who are tired of the nuisance caused by kids that think tipping over units is a “fun” activity during the summer, will secure the portable toilet with a chain against a link fence. Usually this is done by municipal fields that have no shortage of kids looking for fun. When a restroom is tipped over, we do ask our customers to call us. We will then dispatch one of our trucks to clean up and possibly replace the unit.

In the winter months, high winds caused by winter storms do cause more problems for portable restrooms than throughout the rest of the year. If you have a portable restroom and you have not anchored the unit down with spikes yet, you may not be able to given the frozen ground, so your next solution is either sand bags or poly rope and cinder blocks.

However, we think that using sand bags is the easiest way to help prevent high wind tip over’s, but putting the unit in the right place, such as along a building or construction container will help as well. Please keep in mind however, for safety reasons; whatever is used to secure the units should not interfere with entry or exiting the unit