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Mar 1, 2008 12:00 PM, By Charles E Wilson

Even in the face of a slowing economy, managers at National Tank Services Inc (NTS) remain optimistic. They firmly believe that the company will achieve a projected 25% growth rate this year and in coming years.

The tank wash and maintenance service provider is following an aggressive schedule to open new facilities and renovate and expand existing locations. Upgrade objectives include adding more efficient tank cleaning equipment, expanding vehicle maintenance capabilities, and creating a more customer-friendly environment.

“We have a growth plan, and we are working it,” says Travis O'Banion, director of washrack and environmental services for Trimac Transportation, the NTS parent company. “We believe that even in a down market, we can hit our growth targets.

“We're moving forward on new wash racks in 2008, and we plan to add cleaning capacity at existing tank wash facilities. We're also looking at the feasibility of adding tank cleaning at NTS locations that currently provide only vehicle maintenance service.”

North American network

NTS currently runs 27 facilities in the United States. Of those, 15 offer tank cleaning and vehicle maintenance. The others provide just vehicle and tank maintenance. The US facilities are in Alabama, California, Colorado, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, and Wyoming.

NTS also works with Trimac operations in Canada. That includes sister division National Tank Cleaning Services (NTCS), which runs tank cleaning racks in Mississauga, Ontario, and Montreal, Quebec. Along with those two locations, Trimac has nine wash rack and maintenance shop facilities spread across Canada in Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, and Newfoundland. Another nine Canadian locations offer just vehicle maintenance.

All of this gives NTS the ability to market what management believes is the largest tank cleaning and maintenance network across North America. “We can provide our customers with tank cleaning and vehicle maintenance services in most major markets in North America,” O'Banion says.

System wide, NTS cleans about 5,000 tank trailers a month, with the business split about 50/50 between Trimac and other cargo tank owners. “Our goal is for other customers to account for around 70% of our tank cleaning business,” O'Banion says. “We're making progress on that, and we are working hard to boost productivity throughout our system.”

Young but aggressive

NTS was launched about two-and-a-half years ago as part of a Trimac strategy to enhance commercial tank cleaning and shop capabilities. Management also made it clear from the outset that they expected NTS to stand on its own as a profit center.