Emergency and Backup Planning

There are always unforeseen circumstances that take place within a business year, and at times they can be difficult to avoid. Emergency and backup planning is an important aspect of your business operations that will help you handle emergencies, implement secondary strategy options and continue to deliver excellent customer service regardless of the situation.

When you own a business in the portable restroom rental industry, there are various emergency situations that call for backup planning. From adding more units to trucks stuck in the mud, having backup plans for these situations will help you and your employees avoid scrambling to fix a situation and enable for business to return to the usual pace without too much of a delay.

Here are some potential emergencies that require backup planning in the portable restroom rental industry.

Last-Minute, Same-Day Deliveries for Events

Many businesses in the portable restroom rental industry will tell you that people will often call in a pinch when they realize their event venue doesn’t have an available restroom or they have underestimated the need for units. For these circumstances, you’ll want to adequately handle last-minute business requests with either quotes that reflect the work that needs to be done on short notice or consolations if the event is too far away or you are unable to get to the event in time due to prior commitments and deliveries.

Overlooking the Need for Equipment

There will be instances where a driver will go to a site to deliver units and find that they have overlooked the need for a dolly and end up doing the job manually. This creates the potential for injuries to employees and possible damage to units. Always plan on bringing equipment to move a unit in case the customer changes their mind on a previously agreed upon layout.

Also, having smaller supplies like extra rolls of toilet paper, cleaning supplies and locks if the units are dropped off overnight will prevent extra trips back to an event or construction site, saving you time and money.

Getting a Truck Stuck or Breaking Down

Portable restroom rental units can be delivered in all kinds of conditions. Rain or shine, you’ll need to consider the environmental conditions and prepare before delivery. Trucks often get stuck when a drop-off is in a rural area and drivers think they can brave the mud for a drop-off and end up getting stuck. If a driver does get stuck in the middle of a field, it is important to have a backup plan to enact. You need to be able to mobilize quickly and tackle the emergency head-on.

One truck in your fleet will not serve you well if a driver is stuck or if a truck breaks down on the way to a delivery. This is where having a support network is important, as is owning a backup truck to assist in an emergency situation.

Poor Placement on Drop-off for Units

No one wants to trounce through the dirt and mud to get to a unit, and your employees don’t want to drag a unit around the site all day, either. When an event is booked, talk to the event coordinator and map out an area that makes sense for the units. If there is a road or sidewalk nearby, a dolly will do better on concrete than on a dirt path. Likewise, customers, event-goers and construction workers will appreciate a unit that is a little less dirty than it might be when it is completely exposed to dirt, rocks and the elements. An event coordinator might not understand the importance initially, so plan ahead to avoid a follow-up call requesting movement of a unit.

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