PortaPottyBossPro Blog — Driver & Tech App

Placement Notes: Putting Every Portable Toilet Where the Customer Wanted It

Few calls are as annoying as "your driver put the toilet in the wrong place." The customer is unhappy, the unit has to be moved, and a truck has to go back out for a job that should have been done right the first time. Most of those calls come from placement that lived in someone's memory instead of on the job.

What Placement Notes Are

The card already shows the units, as covered in Unit Type, Quantity and Unit Numbers on Every Porta Potty Job Card. Placement notes are the plain-English description of where those units go on the site, or where they already sit. They show under the address on the office lists and on the tech's phone, right next to the unit type, quantity and unit numbers.

Good placement notes answer the questions a tech would otherwise call the office about:

• Which side of the building or lot
• How far from the street, the trailer, the entrance or the work area
• What surface: on the gravel pad, not on the grass, not on the new sidewalk
• What to stay clear of: the drive lane, the dumpster, the septic field, the neighbor's property line
• Which way the door faces

Delivery Placement

On delivery day, placement notes are the instructions. The customer told the office where they wanted the units when they booked. That information has to reach the tech in the truck. "Set two Standards and one Hand Wash Station on the gravel pad behind the job trailer, doors facing the trailer, keep the drive lane clear for concrete trucks."

A tech with that note sets the units right the first time. A tech without it picks a spot that seems reasonable, and reasonable to a tech is not always reasonable to the super.

Ask the right questions when the order comes in and the note writes itself. Where do your crews work most of the day? Where can a pump truck reach with the hose? Is there a level spot? Is anything going to be poured, paved or landscaped in the next few weeks? A customer who answers those questions at booking almost never calls back asking for a move.

Service Placement

On service days, placement notes help the tech find units that are not where they used to be. Construction crews move units. Event staff push them around. A note like "Units usually along the east fence, crew moves them toward the active building" saves ten minutes of walking a site.

When units have moved for good, the tech should update the office so the note reflects reality. The next tech should not have to rediscover it.

Writing Notes That Work

The best placement notes read like directions you would give a new hire standing next to you. Short, specific, and in the order the tech will need them.

Bad: "Near building."

Better: "Behind building B, north side, on the concrete next to the electrical box."

Avoid notes that only make sense to whoever wrote them, like "same spot as last time." If last time is the point, say where that was. For more on notes that outlive the person who wrote them, see Writing Notes the Next Porta Potty Tech Can Actually Use.

Back It Up With a Photo

A placement note says where. A photo proves it. When the tech sets units on delivery, a photo from the app shows exactly where they ended up. If the customer later says the unit was set in the wrong place, the office can look at the photo and the note together.

Often the photo shows the units were placed exactly where the note said, and the crew moved them later. That turns a "your driver messed up" call into a "here is where we set them, want us to move them?" call, which is a much better conversation.

When the Customer Changes Their Mind

Customers move units all the time, and they often ask the office to have the tech do it. When that happens, update the placement note on the job before the tech's next visit. If the change comes in mid-route, the office can add it to the job and call or text the tech.

Two-way texting with the customer from the office helps here. The customer texts "can you move it closer to the gate," the office confirms, and the note gets updated before the truck arrives.

The Short Version

Write placement as directions, keep it on the job, and back it up with a photo. For more on what the tech sees on every card, visit the PortaPottyBossPro driver and tech app page.