PortaPottyBossPro Blog — Driver & Tech App

Unit Type, Quantity and Unit Numbers on Every Porta Potty Job Card

On a busy job site there can be six portable toilets lined up along a fence, and only four of them are yours. On a festival grounds there can be forty units and three hand wash stations spread across a field. The tech needs to know, before they get out of the truck, exactly what they are there to service.

What the Card Shows

Once navigation gets the tech to the site, as described in The Navigation Button: One Tap From the Job Card to the Next Porta Potty Site, the job card tells them what to look for. Under the address, every card shows the units on that job:

• Unit type: Standard, Deluxe Flushing, ADA Accessible, High-Rise / Crane, Hand Wash Station or Restroom Trailer
• Quantity of each type
• Unit numbers for the units on that site
• Placement notes describing where they are

The same unit lines show on the Waiting List and Scheduled List in the office, so the dispatcher and the tech are looking at the same information.

Unit Numbers Stop the Wrong-Unit Problem

Unit numbers are the simplest fix for one of the most annoying problems in this business: servicing the wrong unit. When two companies have units on the same construction site, a tech without unit numbers is guessing. Guess wrong and you have pumped a competitor's unit for free while your own customer's unit sits full.

With the unit numbers on the card, the tech matches the number on the door to the number on the phone. It also matters on pickup day. If the contractor had units 112, 113 and 147 and is ending the rental on 147 only, the tech pulls the right one.

Unit Type Changes the Stop

A Standard unit and a Restroom Trailer are not the same stop. A Deluxe Flushing unit needs its fresh water tank filled. A Hand Wash Station needs water, soap and towels. An ADA Accessible unit needs a level spot and clear access. A High-Rise / Crane unit means a stop on a building site where the unit may be up on a floor or waiting to be lifted.

When the type is on the card, the tech loads the right supplies before leaving the yard and plans the time at the stop. Restroom trailers and ADA units get their own guide: Restroom Trailers, ADA Units and Hand Wash Stations on the Tech's Job Card.

Quantity Sets the Time on Site

Two units is a quick stop. Twelve is a real chunk of the day. Seeing the quantity on each card helps the tech pace the route and helps the dispatcher build a fair day. It also catches mistakes: if the card says four Standards and the tech finds three, something has happened, and the office needs to know.

When the count on site does not match the card, the tech should note it on the job and take a photo. A missing unit might have been moved by the crew, stolen, or tipped behind a stack of lumber. Either way, the office hears about it today, not when the rental ends.

The opposite happens too. Sometimes the tech finds five units where the card says four, because the customer borrowed one from another site or a neighbor rented one from someone else. Matching numbers on the door to numbers on the card sorts that out in a minute. If an extra unit with your number turns up, the office can bill it or move it to the right site before the invoice goes out wrong.

Keeping the Unit Lines Accurate

The card is only as good as the office's records. A few habits help:

• Enter unit numbers at delivery, not later from memory
• When a customer adds or drops a unit, update the job right away
• If the tech swaps a unit in the field, have them note the new number so the office can update the site
• Use placement notes to say which number is where when there are several units on one site

Accurate unit lines also make billing cleaner. Rental tracking keeps the delivered date, picked-up date, days included and a per-day rate after that, so extra rental days show up on the invoice automatically.

On the Phone, Not in a Binder

Plenty of companies keep unit numbers in a binder at the yard or a spreadsheet the owner updates on Sundays. That works until the tech is on site and the binder is back at the yard. Putting the unit lines on the job card means the information is with the person who needs it, at the moment they need it.

The Short Version

Type, quantity, unit numbers and placement on every card, the same on the office lists and on the phone. For the rest of the tech's view, see the PortaPottyBossPro driver and tech app page.