The Pink Pots portable restroom service vehicle by Best Enterprises was an eye-catching crowd favorite at this year’s Pumper & Cleaner Environmental Expo. Built for Johnny Lewis and his wife, Rachel, owners of Lewis Equipment Rental in Noblesville, Ind., the pink color was in honor of Lewis’ mother who passed away from cancer the first day of the show.

“My mom passed of brain cancer, and I had family members pass of breast cancer,” Lewis says of his decision to start the Pink Pots franchise and foundation. “Honestly, our whole family is plagued with cancer, from my dad passing at the early age of 36 with colon cancer; my grandfather, lung cancer; my mom with brain cancer; my grandma, breast cancer.”

Wanting to do his part to combat the disease, Lewis says proceeds from Pink Pots franchises will be used to assist families affected by cancer.

Locations have been established in North Carolina, Colorado, and Illinois, with a fourth possibly in Kansas City, Mo. “I really want to concentrate on helping people who need help,” Lewis says. “I was extremely touched when people called me, like from the show, and said, ‘Your truck looks really nice. I couldn’t even get up close to see it, there were so many people.’ ”

Lewis says the stainless steel truck was built for longevity and ease of use. “I like the way they designed it,” he says. “And the quality of the pieces.”

Dan Marek, plant manager for Best Enterprises, says he and his associates talked to approximately 250 people at the Expo about the service vehicle. “I know I talked to about 50 to 60 people and there were five of us there,” he says. “Every time I looked, there were people around the truck. I don’t know how many pictures were taken, not by us, but by people who would come and stand by the truck. They would get in the cab and take pictures. There was an awful lot of activity and buzz around that truck. We even had our competitors come over and look at it.”

The Pink Pots truck has a low-pressure DC-electric MTH water pump (40 psi) with stainless steel head and low-pressure hose reel on the rear. It has bottom and top water fills, a hydraulically driven Masport vacuum pump delivering 165 cfm and a stainless steel secondary sensor that shuts off the PTO when waste rises above the sight glass for added pump protection.

“It’s a third safety so you don’t get trash in your vacuum pump,” Marek says. “As soon as you drain the secondary, the PTO comes back on.”

Mounted on a 19,500-pound GVW Isuzu chassis, the vehicle has a 1,100-gallon (800 waste/300 freshwater) stainless steel tank with 20-inch manway, two sight glasses in the rear and stainless steel two-restroom carrier with protective bumper. The main hoses are wrapped in stainless steel braid.

“People were asking about the restroom carrier. How heavy it was. It’s about 175 pounds,” Marek says. “We put 5/16 stainless springs on the back to help lift it. That takes off about 80 pounds.”

Marek says everything on the truck is LED lighting except for the strobe light. “It has three DOT lights at the top and DOT lights on the bottom.”

The truck has a 4-inch waste dump in the rear, two 24- by 30- by 19-inch aluminum workboxes and a 36- by 30- by 21-inch workbox on the passenger side. 800/288-2378; www.bestenterprises.net.