In Hog Heaven

When he’s not pumping, Alabama portable restroom operator Tony Thompson hits the open road on his Harley

The problem with Thomas "Tony" Thompson’s leisure time pursuit is that the best season to enjoy it is also what he calls “portable restroom season,” when he’s busiest running his Anniston, Ala., company, East Alabama Portables.

But Thompson, 43, “lives to ride” as Harley-Davidson motorcycle enthusiasts like to say, and fits it in wherever he can. He rides to work, church, out to dinner or to visit friends in the evening.

“Sometimes on weekends I’ll just slip off by myself,” he says. “I’ve ridden to North Carolina and up to Missouri where I grew up.”

Thompson would like to get others in the industry riding too.

“Usually if there’s nice weather, it’s nice portable restroom weather, but whenever I’m not somewhere working I’ll go on some rides,” he says. “There are so many nice places to ride around here, and I’ve had several people in the industry mention getting together to ride. I’d like to get some people in the industry to come down some weekend and ride to Tennessee or north into the mountains of Georgia.”

Thompson bought his first Harley, a 2006 Screamin’ Eagle Fat Boy, about four years ago. He has since added a 2006 Ultra Classic to his stable, and he bought his wife, Selena, a 2002 Fat Boy. Selena’s bike has a custom purple pearlescent paintjob that Thompson jokes about saying, “now the only time I’ll ride hers is after dark.” Not to be outdone in the customization department, he had his Ultra Classic chromed and painted to match his 2006 Corvette.

On long motorcycle rides, Thompson says his wife will still ride with him on the Ultra Classic because it’s more comfortable. But around Anniston, she’s on her own.

“When I got my bike, she rode on the back a few times and said, ‘I want my own,’ ” he says. “She rides it 15 miles to her job at a school lunchroom every day and she’ll ride it to church too, which raises a few eyebrows. People at church just don’t expect to see a woman riding her own motorcycle, I guess.”

REWARDING EXPERIENCE

His first Harley was a way Thompson rewarded himself for his hard work during the six months he spent in Mississippi providing portable restrooms for the relief efforts after Hurricane Katrina.

“First I stayed in a camper in Hattiesburg at Camp Shelby and then in Biloxi where we set up base camp in the parking lot of the coliseum,” he says. “And we had other camps set up for drivers.

“We had portable toilets set up in half the state of Mississippi,” Thompson says. “It was quite an adventure.

“I still had a month or so left on the contract when I bought the bike there at a dealership in Mississippi,” he adds. “I rode it home.”

To complete his new biker look, Thompson also came home with a ponytail, which grew to be 13 inches long before he had it cut off at the end of the summer of 2008. He donated it to the “Locks of Love” program, which collects hair that is then made into wigs for cancer patients who lose their hair during chemotherapy treatments.

FINDING TIME TO HELP

Thompson joined the national Harley Owners Group when he bought his first Harley and the local H.O.G. chapter a couple of years later. Even though he’s often too busy to participate in H.O.G. events or other events at the nearby Mt. Cheaha Harley-Davidson/Buell, he has entered his Ultra Classic in the dealership’s bike shows and he helps out wherever he can.

“I do a lot with the local dealership,” he says. “I leave restrooms at the dealership for their events and either I don’t charge them at all or I give them a discount.”

Thompson’s company manages about 2,000 portable restrooms, mostly from PolyPortables Inc., and employs 15 people. They have diversified the business with roll-off trash containers and provide both portable restrooms and trash containers for special events, constructionsites, parks and other public places across northern and central Alabama within a 100-mile radius of Anniston, which includes the Birmingham area. East Alabama Portables has a wide variety of vehicles in its fleet, including the newest — a 2007 International with a Progress Tank. The aluminum tank is positioned sideways with a flatbed behind it, which Thompson calls “fantastic for pickup and delivery at special events.”

“When I first looked at it, it didn’t seem big, but it fools you,” he says. “It holds 810 gallons — 550 waste and the rest freshwater. It is equipped with a Masport HXL pump that can be used from both sides of the truck, which is convenient.”

RIDE TO THE SHOW?

In addition to his motorcycles and his business, Thompson is also busy on the 195-acre farm that he and Selena share with 15 miniature Sicilian donkeys. The donkeys came with the property, Thompson says, and he’s happy to let them wander around. He also took in a mini Brahman bull and has numerous wild turkeys on the property. This year he planted a vegetable garden and is considering adding goats to his menagerie.

The business, the animals and the garden keep Thompson occupied and he rarely has time to ride beyond his 12-mile daily commute from farm to business. But someday, he says, he’d like to combine business with pleasure and ride his motorcycle to the Pumper & Cleaner Environmental Expo. That’s a challenge, however, because while the climate in Alabama allows for nearly year-round riding, ice can become a problem when traveling north into Kentucky in the winter months.

“One of these years we’ll hit it so the weather is really nice and I can ride to the Pumper Show,” he says. “I’ve always wanted to ride to the show.”

But it certainly isn’t the only place Thompson dreams of riding.

“I want to go on a big ride like to bike week at Daytona or Myrtle Beach so bad I can’t stand it. I would also love to do Sturgis too,’’ he says of the huge Harley party, held each summer in North Dakota. “But if I do, I want to ride the whole way and that would take a least a week.”



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