Reading the Crystal Ball

Fluctuating fuel costs and tightening onsite system restrictions are among the challenges pumpers see the industry facing in 2009

With a lagging economy throughout 2008, burgeoning inflation and a tightening credit market, it’s no surprise that pumpers asked to gaze into the future have seen a somewhat dim view ahead. Still, the overall attitude seems to be one of guarded optimism, as pumpers continue to build professionalism in the industry despite a less-than-rosy forecast ahead.

Jim Kelly of Kelly’s Septic Service notices a marked reduction in service territories pumpers can afford to cover. “The areas that people are covering seem to be getting smaller due to general costs,” he says. “They’re not traveling as far due to the costs of business — the wear and tear on the trucks and other things. You’ve got to look at how many dollars per mile it’s costing you to run that truck, so people aren’t traveling as far.”

Kelly suggests some other reasons for the territory shrinkage, which may be mini-trends in themselves. “Part of that has to do with new people popping up in the business. In the state of Wisconsin we’re trying to control that,” he says, referring to the fact that trade professionals have developed standards for their industry that have begun to be enforced at the state level.

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources last year instituted mandatory training of 1,600 hours before pumpers can become professionally licensed. Kelly sits on the board of the Wisconsin Liquid Waste Carriers Association, which influences licensure training requirements and helps deliver pumper education.

“We’ve noticed some issues we’re trying to iron out in the program’s first year,” he says. “The DNR is issuing variances (for training requirements), but those variances are too broad.”

Kelly doesn’t want to stop new people from entering the field, but to make sure those people are held to a high standard of business behavior. “We’re trying to get it on a trend like the plumbers, where you have to have so much experience to get licensed, because, especially in the environmental end, there are a lot of people doing illegal spreading, illegal dumping. And that’s how they can undercut established pumpers doing their work within legal bounds,” he says.

Ardiel Septic Service provides pumping, repairs and camera work to customers near the southwestern shore of Nottawaga Bay. Giles Ardiel is watching a disturbing but inevitable trend in this growing area. “The local and regional governments have decided not to expand on any more housing projects without municipal services, so a lot of our bread and butter will go away,” he says.

How will he and other Ontario pumpers cope with this loss of core business? Ardiel predicts that many will diversify into other related areas as growth in the use of onsite systems halts, holding the market for a while to current levels, before further development and municipal expansion eventually replaces all but the most rural septic systems.

“There are other units that still need to be pumped out, peat moss systems for one. People might also get into (portable restrooms), or maybe expand into other areas,” Ardiel says. For his own business, he expects the most realistic route to take will be expansion into other areas of Ontario away from the lakes and domination by municipal systems.

“I’ll probably educate people (about septic pumping) in other territories and move there. I’m mostly looking away from the shorelines,” he says.

Ardiel realizes that with such a move will come a significant increase in his fuel usage. “That’ll be a challenge,” he says. “I’ll have to pay more attention to scheduling, run full loads, take a larger truck and pack a denser route.” In anticipation of that, he’s looking into the possibility of adopting a digitized dispatching system using industry-specific software.

Steve Powers drives trucks for Archer Septic Systems and Porta Potty. The company fields seven service vehicles in its pumping, installation and portable restroom business, and Powers says the firm definitely feels the pinch of the lagging economy. It started fuel conservation initiatives when prices spiked in 2008 and will maintain those fuel-saving practices in the event high gas prices return soon.

“We’re trying to condense our travel time, not making two or three trips when we could do one with a little extra planning,” he says. The company’s drivers are reminded regularly to use conservation techniques such as avoiding jackrabbit starts, gunning the engine or allowing excessive unnecessary idling.

Powers says one thing fluctuating fuel prices hasn’t affected too much is the company’s trips to offload effluent, since it uses the nearby municipal waste treatment facility for disposal.



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