Anyone who’s ever used a portable toilet knows how unpleasant they are. Between the stench and the general lack of hygiene, the port-a-john is usually a last resort — and a pretty disgusting one. But if you think that’s bad, imagine being the person who’s got to clean these bad boys up after an outdoor music festival or a few days on a construction site.
Enter Brian Schmidt, co-founder of the portable toilet company Rent A John in Santa Rosa, Calif. He’s been in the business for 17 years, performing daily duties like cleaning and transporting the mobile toilets, and you better believe he’s seen it all.
One has to wonder how someone gets into such a business. A passion for poo? Love for the loo? Not exactly. For Schmidt, port-a-john maintenance is a family business. He started helping his father with the business almost two decades ago, and ended up sticking with it long-term.
And for all the crap he deals with (sorry … we couldn’t resist), Schmidt’s day-to-day is actually pretty typical for a field service guy — answering phones, hitting the road, making deliveries, ordering equipment, dealing with advertising, and most importantly, keeping customers happy.
But, of course, there’s also the not-so-typical stuff … like the hold-your-nose cleanup jobs. First, they’ve got to transfer the waste from the toilet to a tank on a truck. Then, Schmidt says, to get the … stuff from the truck to a holding tank, they use a pressurized tank and vacuum to essentially suck it out. And sometimes, the hose gets clogged up.
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One employee, Schmidt says, “made the mistake of not de-pressurizing the tank and decided to detach one of the high-pressure hoses. It sprayed waste everywhere like a fire hose, covering him, the truck and some of the surroundings with raw sewage. We spent hours cleaning up the mess and had a good laugh afterward.”
And when the sewage isn’t spraying all over the field service employees, it’s spraying all over the port-a-johns themselves. Schmidt said the toilets are often abused in any number of ways, including graffiti, having the walls cut off, and even burning. However, the most common form of abuse is finding poop all over the walls, floor, and seat. Schmidt has collected some horror stories over the years.
“We do a charity event in San Francisco for the homeless, and we typically get our restrooms back with sprayed feces on the wall, like it exploded out of them,” he said.
That’s where the company’s 3000-psi high-power washer and a few gallons of bleach come in handy. A few good blasts of water and other cleaning agents are used to restore the toilets back to respectability (well, acceptability, anyway). But what about the smell during the cleaning process? Is it something cleaners ever get used to?
“Normally, my portable toilets don’t smell,” Schmidt says. “We do our best to prevent that kind of stuff in the first place, but I do find sewage smell very offensive.”
Ultimately, though, being a port-o-potty cleaner can have some positive aspects. Rent A John is a small business, but it keeps busy year-round with general consumers renting the portable toilets once per year during the summer months for parties, weddings, and festivals. Contractors, painters, and landscapers, on the other hand, tend to rent during the spring, summer, and fall months while roofers and septic employees rent during the winter when it rains more often.
While maintaining port-o-potties is undoubtedly one of the dirtiest jobs a field service worker can have, it’s a necessary — not to mention pretty well-paid — gig. In fact, portable toilet cleaners made the top 10 list of highest paid dirty jobs with the average worker earning up to $50,000 annually. Good thing, because no one should take that much crap for low pay.
“This is no doubt a very hard job,” Schmidt says. “You get no respect from most people, you’re driving all the time, which statistically leaves you with a much greater chance of getting into an accident, and you don’t get vacations or down time. There are days I do like it, especially when compared to some of my friends with dead end jobs. This job is always different and interesting.”
This is indeed a very difficult job and they do deserve respect. Cleaning and handling portable loos are really no joke, just by thinking about it. Kudos to those who do this everyday!
Damn, I’m considering a job in this firld. But, I am only being offered $11. an hour. Is it worth it?
Damn, I’m considering a job in this firld. But, I am only being offered $11. an hour. Is it worth it?
Minimum wage is 16.50 an hour so illegal to only pay $11 per hour
11 an hour is a joke my friend. Dont do it
Im gonna be honest, that is great pay to start out and it also depends on the state you live. These other people have no clue what they are talking about. I own a portable restrooms business and its hard to find loyal drivers. So, I usually start out at a base like 10 or 11 (because I love in eastern idaho), but, quickly they move up if they prove themselves. I’ve given a $4 an hour raise in a year and that does not include bounuses or commission. With all that he was making about 18 an hour in his first year and he started at 10 an hour. He proved himself to the job and showed his loyalty.
Exactly , I work for a company based out of Indiana. I’m about a year and a half into the job and I started at 12 , was bumped up to 14 in the first month & now I’m making 17 an hour . Not a shabby gig , also only being 23 , not shabby at all .
Where does one get a job cleaning porta potties? Seriously….
no way.run from it .
I work in this line of buisness I clean repair pump load and unload the units for 14 an hour 80 to 95 hours a week realing in just about 2200 every 2 weeks
No way you are working 80 to 95 hours a week. If so you never sleep. And have no life. I call bullshit.
You realize that 95 hour week means you are working 13-15 per day. You are depressing.
Wow, get over it. I work 20 hour days 7 days a week for a couple of months out of the year. Its depressing you dont know what hard work is.
You know 15 hours a day is not unusual, that sounds like my husband’s schedule, both as a cook AND as an owner.
Alot of people don’t realize the bacteria people who service portables can get or even air born.splash back is a risk lol,but also can be a hazzard in an area where it gets cold and we cant use a water pump for a pressure hose and have to use brine water to prevent freezing water.
I work for a small company in SC. We have 2 route drivers who service well over 500 toilets a week. I am a 120lb female route driver and only make $12.40 per hour after 2 years. The other driver has been with the company for 17 yrs and only $16.50 per hour. I understand he has been there longer but I do the same exact job he does. Including some pick-ups and deliveries with out a lift.
Congratulations, would you kindly help me get that job, am from Kenya
Yeah the drivers make good money to suck the poo out of the Johns and basically spray some chemicals in the John but to me the equipment specialist/yardman does the dirt say for instance they have flip overs and trust me there are plenty poo all over the inside of the John the yardman got to clean load unload for special events prep the Johns and then clean were talking about 300 hundred and something Johns repair and all for 12.00 a hour basically your at the bottom at a porta John company yeah when you look up 10 most dirtiest jobs that pays well they talk about the drivers but not the yardmans
We are truly the forgotten ESENTIAL workers. I have been a service tech in this field for 3 years “off and on”. And through my experience I find that; It’s steady work, pays the bills, and never boring….Because you don’t deal with the same “crap” everyday……LOL