Bringin’ on the Big Guns

Pumping contractors discuss the benefits of adding industrial vacuum loading rigs to their arsenal of money-making machinery

OK, admit it: One of the biggest reasons you got into septic pumping in the first place was that you like to drive big rigs and play with the really big toys, right? Good. Now that we have that out of the way, it explains half the thrill of making a deal on the show floor for a huge new industrial vacuum truck. Because you know you want one.

But hey, it’s not just about loving the size and the power. These vehicles are serious profit machines in the right hands. Still, they’re not a cheap date, and that kind of investment can be a big risk, unless you know how to leverage a jumbo piece of equipment to bring in added revenue.

The lure of bigger jobs, bigger paychecks and bigger rides never go away. That’s why, for so many pumpers, industrial vacuum rigs are never far from their thoughts. But is this big-rig fixation shared by all?

Let’s talk to a few pumpers about their own opinions:

Plummer’s Septic Tank Inc. has diversified quite a bit since its founding in 1957. It now serves the Grand Rapids area of east-central Michigan with septic pumping, portable restrooms, grease trap, sewer and drain cleaning, and roll-off container rentals. Technician Dan Plummer says the company’s industrial vacuum truck has helped the business weather the recessionary climate by growing previously smaller parts of the company.

“It’s opened the door, because we can now do bigger jobs,” he says. The company performs hydroexcavating with its Wastequip/Cusco TurboVac truck. Plummer gives the example of a really stubborn septic tank or a grease trap from a big bakery. The crew will get the really hard stuff out with the industrial truck, then finish up with a vacuum truck.

“Also, when we clean our own holding tank — like the ones we dump our own septic into — when those fill up, we don’t have to hire somebody else to come clean it out. We can do it ourselves. It saves us time and money because we’re more self-sufficient now.”

Dan’s brother, Rick Plummer, adds that not only has the industrial rig allowed the company to land new customers, but also to pitch existing customers for additional work they weren’t able to do before.

“We find it easier to keep our current customers more satisfied because we can now offer them a wider variety of services,” he says. “It’s always easier in a customer’s mind if they only have to think of one name. We’ve learned to kind of duplicate Walmart by offering one-stop shopping. It makes it a lot easier and less stressful on the customer.”

Rogers & Sons Inc. has been a player in this southeastern Atlanta suburb’s septic pumping industry since 1968. And frankly, it just isn’t pretty anymore, say driver/technicians Robert Carthage and Ray Black. The market’s crowded and with city sewer being extended to more and more homes and businesses, septic just isn’t where it’s at for the company.

Management could see the trend 15 years ago, so in 1995, the company bought its first Vac-Con rig. Rogers & Sons went after the first of its high-pressure jetting and sewer vacuuming contracts. “There was a downturn in septic pumping,” Black explains. “We’re trying to get out of that now.”

So the company diversified into drain-cleaning and industrial jetting with that first big rig. Ten years later, the company bought another one, this time configured for the dry side of industrial loading and hydroexcavation work.

“It’s something new,” says Carthage. “We’re trying to keep up with what’s happening in our market.”

“Absolutely,” Black chimes in. “It’s the only thing we’re using right now. It’s bigger, with more pull power and more capacity. We’re servicing mostly county and municipal sewers with it, and some lift stations.”

Hacker Plumbing & Drilling Inc. offers septic pumping, installation and cleaning of lateral drain lines to residential customers about 150 miles east of St. Louis. Driver Sklar Keller says his company hasn’t considered purchasing an industrial vacuum truck and probably won’t be doing so any time soon.

“The city has one, and doing residential work, we don’t have the need to buy one. The work we do for the city — mainly repairs — only takes our pumper truck,” he says.

He allows that there’s the possibility the company may refocus at some time in the future in a way that might make a big vacuum rig attractive, but he doesn’t see that happening in the current economy.



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