Published June 2008

The Big Rig

By Mary Shafer (page 84)

Successful contractors tell how vacuum or combination trucks helped them open doors to projects beyond those they bought the equipment for

View this article in the E-Zine

There’s no question that an industrial vacuum loading rig is a major investment for a cleaning contractor. By the time the buying decision is made, most have significant work lined up to keep the new truck busy.

However, some make their purchase on faith that other jobs will come once potential customers know the new cleaning muscle is onboard. But does it actually work that way once the truck is in the yard? Three contractors shared their experiences.

Ryan’s began as Modern Sewer Cleaning and still does that work, but the company has now launched Ryan’s Municipal Services as a new business unit offering municipal and industrial cleaning, hydroblasting and hydroexcavating.

The company was targeting municipal markets when it bought a combination truck because its jetting work had already won some contracts that made the purchase financially viable. But there was another reason to buy the truck.

“We were beginning to have some issues with confined-space entry,” says Steve Ryan Sr. “We’d been doing some work for the City of Grand Rapids, but with the combination truck, we’re now serving as a subcontracted department of public works for Ada Township. We’re doing work now for about 50 cities in Michigan.”

After 43 years, the firm gets most of its work on referral, but the new truck definitely opened some doors. “We use it for water main repairs, using hydroexcavating to expose the mains rather than having to locate all the other utilities,” says Ryan.

In an emergency, that time saved is important. The truck’s functionality alone has helped Ryan’s win many jobs it otherwise would have missed. “That part of our business has been growing by working with other smaller communities around Grand Rapids,” Ryan says. “They like it because with one call we can both vacuum out any wet debris and expose their pipes for repair work. They appreciate that.”

Having an industrial vacuum truck has definitely opened the market for MJM Sanitary Ltd., which performs industrial cleaning, municipal sanitary sewer cleaning, sanitary waste holding tank pumping, and waste hauling for customers in southeast Wisconsin.

“We originally bought the vacuum truck to handle the sanitary liquid waste,” recalls Kevin Haefs, vice president. “When I came on, I brought in the industrial work. Now we’ve branched out.”

MJM’s industrial vacuum truck allowed the firm to get permitted for solid waste hauling. “Now we can handle more sludge and other industrial waste,” Haefs says. “It has given us a broader vision about a way to make it easier to make a living. We’re also now handling more oils and coolants, nothing hazardous.”

Haefs sees the vacuum truck as an investment in the company’s future and a sound strategic move. “With the truck, we’re looking to expand more into industrial,” he says. “More cities are laying more city pipe in areas once served by septic systems and taking over their own cleaning jobs, so we wanted to diversify. We’re trying to keep it half-and-half, so in case one slows down, we have the other one for a backup. But we’re definitely going to be getting more customers with it.”

Grand Bend Sanitation has been in business for 35 years, providing septic and holding tank installation, pumping, inspection and repair, sewer line location, inspection and flushing, and drain cleaning in Ontario just north of Lake Erie.

Two years ago, owners Andy and Cheryl O’Brien launched the new division, O’Brien Environmental. The business handles sanitary and storm sewer cleaning, catch basin and car wash pumping, hydroexcavating, and utility locating.

The O’Briens originally bought their combination truck for sewer flushing. “Then we got into hydroexcavation and sewer pump station work,” O’Brien recalls. They got those jobs mostly through word-of-mouth but also distributed business cards and flyers, letting potential customers know of their new equipment and its capabilities.

“In doing septic tank work, we had already been performing sewer flushing on a small scale for the municipalities,” O’Brien says. “They would call us for emergency work, but they were hiring the big guys to do the bigger jobs.” It frustrated O’Brien to know his company was losing jobs to other firms for lack of equipment.

“Once we got the vacuum truck and were on a job, we were already there, so getting the bigger projects became just an extension of something we were already doing,” O’Brien says. So, besides widening the firm’s capabilities, the big rig helped make the business more efficient.

Logistically, O’Brien became the default vendor just by being on the spot when a customer realized that a project’s scope had to grow. That saves cold calling and other sales and marketing efforts and helps create more productive — and billable — hours.