Portable Toilets Come with Supreme Dependability

There’s no denying that The Throne Depot has embraced toilet humor, and it seems to be working for them. They affectionately refer to their delivery trucks as “Poop 1,” “Poop 2,” right on through all 14 of their vehicles.

Being number one in the “number two” business means their 1,600 toilets are always in high demand, particularly from their target industries: construction, home improvement and special events.

Familiar challenges

Like all delivery fleets, they faced the challenges of keeping good drivers, maximizing their time and meeting customer service targets.

“One of our challenges is finding enough capable drivers, because we want a good job to be done and we keep growing,” explains Mike Cormier, co-owner at The Throne Depot.

Providing drivers clear directions to their next job also proved difficult at times.

“One truck went 45 miles to the wrong town, in the wrong direction, and that took our truck out of service for a Friday afternoon for hours and hours,” relates Steve Brodeur, co-owner at The Throne Depot. “We had to look at it and say there's a better way.”

A “hand-in-hand” partnership

That better way came in the form of Verizon Connect Reveal, a solution that became essential to activities across the entire business.

Brodeur further explains, “It’s part of our system, part of our company. Reveal is up on everybody's computer all day long […] It works hand in hand with everything we do all day.” Especially important is the ability Reveal provides to accurately pinpoint locations for timely and efficient delivery and pick-up, helping them maintain their reputation as the top provider.

In terms of keeping those drivers, who are so critical to The Throne Depot’s success, headed in the right direction, dispatcher Jessica Auger says it was easy to incorporate the software into her routine. “With the Live Map, I’m able to see where all the drivers are at all times.”

The ability to know at a glance the status of each job and location of each driver lends itself especially well to the last-minute and emergency requests that come in.

Auger says, “We get a lot of service calls throughout the day, so I can see where the drivers are exactly to see who's closest to get to that service.”

Some might expect that adopting a whole new way of managing a business and making it an integral part of each workday in this way could be problematic, but a smooth implementation was big part of The Throne Depot’s experience with Reveal.

“They were friendly, easy to get along with, answered our questions,” explains Cormier. “The technicians that came out did a great job on the installs. Everything that we've wanted out of it, they've done.”

Ease-of-use and practicality are particularly critical when introducing new software that is supposed to help you run your business. The Throne Depot’s back office staff have found Reveal to meet those requirements.

“It's really easy to use Reveal,” notes dispatcher Auger. “I learned it fairly quickly.”

Simplifying the driver’s day

Drivers are also seeing a lot of benefit from Reveal. Installed on their tablets, the solution gives them clear directions and helps them to be more efficient with their time.

“Routes are organized much better for us,” explains Andrew Sarcione, one of The Throne Depot’s lead drivers. “We can be much more efficient on where we go and how we get there.”

It’s also meant less unnecessary time on phone calls and more action, with completed jobs and current locations automatically being communicated with the back office.

“They know whether I'm done, if I'm halfway done,” comments Ramon Santiago, another lead driver. “I don't even have to call and tell them, because they already know.”

Increased efficiency, better ROI

Enabling the back office and drivers to all work from the same up-to-date data means better management overall where jobs are completed more efficiently, and that’s making a real difference to The Throne Depot’s success.

For Brodeur, the connection between Reveal and increased profitability is clear.

“It's all about reducing the drivers’ time on the road, and the less time I have my driver behind the wheel, that all results in less wear and tear, less diesel, less overtime, things like that that. That is all ROI, return on investment.”

Cormier couldn’t agree more. “Efficiency adds dollars to our bottom line.”