When Mike Ink took the family pumping business over from his father, Robert, in 2005, he decided to refurbish the company’s 1988 Peterbilt 379 service vehicle. The truck, running a Cat 3406 engine and 15-speed Eaton-Fuller transmission, was repainted in its same bright red color with blue and charcoal gray accent stripes. With the help of his dad, Ink replaced a steel vacuum tank with a 3,500-gallon aluminum model from Pik-Rite Inc. Vacuum comes courtesy of an HXL400 pump from Masport Inc. Dad bought the truck in 1993 as an over-the-road tractor with 300,000 miles. They removed the sleeper and created a solid day-cab hauler, which now has 660,000 miles. To build capacity for trips to the treatment plant, the guys had always envisioned a matching tagalong trailer for the Pete. So with the refurbishing project, they worked with C.W. Martin Machine to convert an old lime spreader chassis for the purpose. Air-ride suspension was added, along with 20,000-pound axles front and back. The Inks mounted a 3,600-gallon aluminum tank from Imperial Industries. Ink hooks a hose between the trailer and truck-mounted vacuum tank to generate suction to fill the trailer. With the setup, they can transport the waste from several septic tanks to the nearest disposal sites.