February 2009 Table of Contents

Features

• 12Cover Story: Image is Everything
  For 2008 Classy Truck of the Year winner Colin Deems, a flashy rig is a pumper’s best calling card
• 18Building the Business: Little Leadership
  It’s the smallest workplace gestures that make the biggest difference in employee morale
• 24Rules and Regs: Michigan Septage Plant Plagued by Problems
  The troubled Grand Traverse County septage plant will lose about $3.4 million by 2014, according to an independent accounting and engineering study released last November.
• 36Profile: Can’t Take His Place
  When her father was taken away at a young age, Mandie Hagan stepped up to help her mom run the family pumping business
• 54Profile: Promo Power
  A clever ad campaign, a nifty logo and tracking effective marketing drive a diverse and profitable business for Sweet Pea Sewer & Septic
• 64Interview: Now Showing
  The New Hampshire Estuaries Project is having a ball promoting the Golden Plunger Award, the highest honor for films about onsite system maintenance
• 78Overheard Online: Use Your Shovel … At a Price
  You might not like dealing with a buried lid, but you have to think about digging lids as a profit center … and a chance to sell additional services

Columns

• 84Reader Pipelines: Reading the Crystal Ball
  Fluctuating fuel costs and tightening onsite system restrictions are among the challenges pumpers see the industry facing in 2009
• 92Septic System Answer Man: Separate But Equal?
  Because it’s unlikely that even side-by-side drainfield trenches will perform the same, the Answer Man promotes the use of a sequential distribution design
• 100NAWT: NAWT Boosts Membership Benefits by Developing Partnerships with Service Companies
  SAVE, MARKET, AND BUY WISELY; ONE-STOP SHOP; INDUSTRY CATALOG DISCOUNT; NAWT IN LOUISVILLE
• 112Classy Trucks: Classy Truck of February
  This month we feature A-1 Septic Tank Cleaning
• 118Industry News: Industry News
  Vanair Moves to New Facility; Screentech Re-Designs Web Site; United Site Services Acquires Nickel Ridge Portables
• 126Product Spotlight: Denali and Century III Restroom Trailers
  The Denali and Century Series restroom trailers, made by Forest River Inc. for Alpha Mobile Solutions, offer one-man setup and interiors aimed at handling large crowds at special events or disaster-response sites.
• 136Money Manager: Finding a Parking Place
  Your cash reserves don’t have to sit idle. With a little planning, you can put these dollars to work earning more for your business.
• 154After Hours: A Higher Calling
  Georgia waste hauler Rodney Upton preaches more than effective septic system maintenance. He’s studying for a second career in the ministry.
• 160Association News: Association News
  News, Training & Education and Calendar of Events