Published December 2007

Family Pride and a Great Ride

By Scottie Dayton (page 24)

A show-stopping vacuum truck and strong family work ethic spell success for Bill Roy Septic.

Bill Roy Sr. of Bill Roy Septic Services in Monroe, Conn., attributes family for the success of his septic pumping company. He learned the business from his dad, and found in Ellen, his wife of 35 years, a willing partner.

Bill Roy Jr.’s love of big machines helped the company expand into onsite installations and commercial truck shows. The 1996 Kenworth W900L with 4,200-gallon steel waste tank is a trophy winner when not drumming up business as it travels the major state highways.

Roy Sr.’s independent, innovative spirit led to the company being the first in the county to have a vacuum truck, then first with a jetter. When he saw potential for business growth, Roy started Newtown Septic in Newtown and bought the septic pumping customers from Louterbach Septic in Westport.

Today, with approval from the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection, Roy has introduced a pilot onsite program that could change Connecticut’s septic code.

Family-run business

When Roy, 55, started his septic company in 1973, it was the sixth one in the county. “I saw from the beginning, while working with my dad, that there was lots of business and I loved what I did,” he says. “That’s what convinced me to branch out on my own.” Roy was driving a 1972 Ford cabover vacuum truck with 2,000-gallon steel tank and the first real vacuum pump in the county. A shelf behind the driver’s seat enabled then 2-year-old Billy to accompany him. “He went everywhere with me, and napped on that shelf with his blanket, pillow, and Pooh Bear,” Roy recalls.

Roy’s young partner is now a 28-year-old married man who responds to 75 percent of the service calls, troubleshoots, and installs on average one concrete galley system or conventional system with leachfield per week. (Similar to a dry well, a galley system has a precast bottomless galley with crushed stone on the sides.)

Competition in Fairfield County, which covers 626 square miles, has expanded to 20 companies, but only two others are as large as Bill Roy’s Septic Services. “Our customer base grew to 23,000 because of my family, and we treat them like an extension of our family,” Roy says. “People like dealing with family-owned companies. They know that we’re all working toward the same reward, and the faces don’t change every month.

“I’ve never been expensive and I have a big heart for everything and everybody,” Roy continues. “Even if I didn’t have any money, I never would sell something that didn’t work. If I were a scared homeowner with a backed up septic, I’d want to know the truth. Being honest and using a factual approach does a lot to calm and reassure upset customers.”

Bill Roy’s Septic Services covers a 50-mile radius from Monroe and is 80 percent residential and 20 percent commercial. Roy and eight drivers pump grease traps at schools, caterers and restaurants throughout Connecticut, but residential work is just in Fairfield County. Roy and Irene Morrison run the office. Roy and his son are licensed pumpers, installers and septic inspectors.

Quicker than you can say …

Roy’s key to staying ahead of the competition is having the fastest response time to emergencies. To achieve that, he divided Fairfield County into eight sections, and each driver is responsible for one of them. When a panic call comes in, the service tech in that area responds.

The company advertises in local phone books and uses mailer coupons, but its most successful advertising tool is the 1996 Kenworth. The brilliant yellow vehicle with outrageous lettering, hot-rod flames on the hood and chrome wheels goes all over the state. Locomotive horns and more than 100 exterior LED lights announce its arrival. Roy Jr. customized the interior by adding hardwood floors, a flat screen TV in place of the glove compartment, a PlayStation game system and tinted windows.

The Kenworth is the only septic truck showing alongside other types of tankers in frequent truck show competitions. Roy Jr. and commercial driver John Trez start cleaning and polishing their entry Thursday night and don’t finish until 6 a.m. Sunday morning, then drive straight to a show. So far this year, the truck took first place at the All-Truck Nationals in Epping, N.H., and the Diesel Nationals in Englishtown, N.J.

“We use the truck every day and it has gotten us a lot of customers,” says Roy Sr. “People see it going up and down the major highways so often that they think I own a whole fleet of them. They remember the truck and call me when they have a problem.” The Kenworth, with the Roys throwing Tootsie Rolls out the windows, also participated in the 2006 Newtown Labor Day parade.

Roy Sr. works with Mike Andert from Andert Inc. in Eastford, Conn., customizing the tank on each truck to ensure components are neat and readily available. The hoses wrap around a horseshoe bracket on the back of the tanks instead of lying on each side of it. Trays are positioned so drivers can see inside and easily find the proper tools. Since the trucks operate all year, Roy was one of the first to install heated valves.

“I went from owning one truck to seven pumpers — mostly Macks — a tractor trailer with a vacuum tank on the back, two Terralift machines, and the Kenworth,” says Roy, who subcontracts his jetting and snaking jobs in exchange for all the contractor’s pumping work. The onsite business has three Takeuchi excavators, a low-bed trailer, and one flatbed trailer to transport the machines. Vehicles are serviced in one of four bays in Roy’s 40- by 60-foot shop with office.

Pumping has always been fun for Roy, and he sees his son reaching that stage now. Roy Jr.’s conscientious nature and willingness to assume business responsibilities enabled Roy Sr. and his wife to vacation in Florida this February.

The direction of the company is changing, too. Roy is beginning to do less pumping, enabling his son to expand the excavation side. A changing of the guard has begun, but customers will always see a family in charge of Bill Roy’s Septic Services.