We celebrate the continued dedication and hard work of septic service contractors by revisiting companies profiled 10 years ago in Pumper magazine. Check out the original story on the Ron’s Porta Jons septic pumping and portable restroom company we featured in the January 2003 issue: “Room to Grow.” 

Ten years ago Ron Brooker recognized room for Ron’s Porta Jons to grow by adding storage containers to his rental offerings. These days, big opportunities are about 80 miles away from the Marietta, Ohio, shop in the gas and oil fields of the Marcellus and Utica shales. 

But, after being in the business for 22 years, Brooker knows it’s important to be diversified, so he continually pushes to find new customers in all areas including construction, municipalities and events. His staff has grown from six to 10, and he has nearly doubled his portable restrooms from 440 to 800. He significantly upgraded his equipment and built a new shop and offices in 2011 to continue to serve an 80- to 100-mile radius in southeastern Ohio and north central West Virginia. 

Serving oil & gas 

“About two years ago we started in the oilfields,” Brooker says. “They are good customers. We pump wastewater three days a week, service restrooms once a week and deliver water. We offer 24-hour service and get up in the middle of the night and go when we are needed.” 

With oil production expected to boom for at least another 20 to 25 years, Brooker looks forward to continuing work. 

“I will probably buy a couple more trucks to keep up, or start running a night shift,” he says. 

The oilfield business is one of the reasons Brooker gave his son, Anthony, the job as safety director along with his other duties delivering and servicing restrooms. 

“Safety is one of the biggest issues,” Brooker says, and Anthony’s OSHA training allows him to train other employees at monthly meetings to meet the standards required by oilfield and other clients. 

Public & private service 

After a few quiet years, construction is also picking up. While about 70 percent of the business is portable restroom rentals, employees are getting busier pumping septic and grease traps. 

They also provide services to several small communities, pumping lift stations and grinder pumps. Employees are on call in case of emergencies such as sewer line breaks.

“We’ve been out there as much as 80 to 90 hours at a time, handling emergencies,” Brooker says. 

Ron’s Porta Jons can also be found at large factories and corporations such as Dupont and Shell Chemical. 

But Brooker never overlooks any opportunities — big or small. 

“I watch for things happening and talk to people. I go out and look for work. If they’re not there, I’ll leave a business card on their equipment,” he says. 

Upgrading equipment 

Good service and clean restrooms are a couple of things that haven’t changed in a decade. Though it may take more gas and labor, restrooms are never stored and delivered on service trucks. 

“When they show up the restrooms are clean,” Brooker says, because employees always deliver restrooms on flatbeds. 

The fleet includes a 2001 International with a 24-foot bed, a 2005 Hino with a 16-foot flatbed and a 2001 Dodge with a 12-foot flatbed. 

New service trucks help keep everything clean, too. 

“We have bigger trucks with pressure washers instead of little 12-volt pumps,” Brooker says. He has three trucks: a 2012 Hino, 2003 International and 2001 International with Best Enterprises, Inc., 1,100-gallon waste/400-gallon freshwater stainless tanks with Conde vacuum pumps (Westmoor Ltd.). For septic pumping, he has a 2007 Mack truck with a 3,000-gallon steel Ibex Industries tank with a Witting pump (Gardner Denver). 

The 800 portable restrooms include mostly PolyJohn Enterprises standard units for construction and oilfield sites. But Brooker has expanded to offer “whatever the customer wants” with Full Flush, Special Event, High Rise Construction, ADA Accessible and Shower Units. 

He also has Olympic Fiberglass Industries, Inc., restrooms and recently purchased used PolyPortables restrooms. 

Besides the 20-foot storage containers he purchased a decade ago, Brooker has added a few 40-foot containers. He notes rental demand has dropped off as more construction companies are purchasing their own containers. 

Entertainment 

With an assortment of restrooms to choose from, Ron’s Porta Jons is able to serve any event. Ten years ago, they were booked for 16 events annually, and the number has increased since then. 

“We picked up a West Virginia arts and crafts festival and a couple of bluegrass festivals and county fairs,” Brooker says. “We have a big July event, Summer Bash, in West Virginia, where they sell 10,000 tickets at $100 apiece. We have 80 units there and keep two trucks there to clean the toilets. I told them that the best thing to do is let me bring trucks in there right away and eliminate any service problems. If you service it right away you have happy people.” 

And happy people means happy clients who hire you back. 

Positive attitude/open mind 

Attitude about good service is something that hasn’t changed at Ron’s Porta Jons.

Employees know Brooker’s high standards for cleanliness and that they can’t let grumpy customers get to them. 

“I tell them, ‘Be pleasant and work with customers. Don’t let it run your day. Let it run off your back like water on a duck,’” Brooker says. 

As a manager — who still drives truck when needed — there are always new things to learn about. 

For example, he has a regular contract to provide and service restrooms for workers doing maintenance work at coal power plants. Instead of parking the truck inside to pump restrooms on different levels, he purchased a 60-gallon ProVac to take up and down the elevator, service the restrooms and pump into a truck outside. 

Brooker’s workers and maintenance crews are all much happier with the system. “You always have to keep an open mind,” he says. 

No one knows what opportunities will come up in the next decade.