Working with disaster relief agencies is an especially rewarding part of the work we do here at PRT. We provide laundry trailers, shower trailers, decontamination trailers and portable restrooms to 
governments agencies and non-profit organizations to alleviate the lack of critical services that often occurs in the wake of serious natural disasters.
Rent Our Portable Trailers - Laundry, Showers, Restrooms & More!
We often rent our resources out to governments who are preparing for or responding to specific natural disasters within their jurisdictions. But we also work with several organizations who make it their ongoing mission to help with any natural disaster – in any location – whenever they occur. Rent our portable trailers: laundry, showers, restrooms and more! We love the organizations that embrace this challenging yet critical work, and we’d like to take a few minutes today to tell you about one of our favorites – Eight Days of Hope.
An Emergency Trip that Turned into a Lifetime of Service
Based out of Tupelo, MS, Eight Days of Hope is a Christian non-profit organization that executes disaster relief and rebuilding efforts across the United States – wherever help is needed. And the organization has a backstory that is just as amazing as the important work they do.
Originally, Eight Days of Hope was intended to be a one-time visit to the Gulf Coast, with a small handful of people carpooling to assist the cleanup effort after Hurricane Katrina. That was thirteen years ago, and that one-time trip has evolved into an ongoing mission that has touched the lives of tens of thousands of people.
Over the past thirteen years, Eight Days of Hope has recruited and put to work more than 30,000 volunteers. They’ve worked on more than 3,000 homes. Their work has taken them to Iowa, North Carolina, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, West Virginia, New York, Illinois, and more.
How Laundry Trailers Can Help With Disaster Relief
When Eight Days of Hope recently reached out to PRT, they were looking for a portable laundry trailer to add to their fleet of rapid response resources. In dealing with several different natural disasters, the organization has learned that victims often face a number of potentially life-changing decisions in the first week after a disaster occurs.
On their early projects, the leaders of the organization focused on the physical aspects of disaster response: helping victims dig out from the muck that is left behind in the wake of a disaster. But as their experience grew, they recognized how important it is for victims to have access to critical resources like plumbing and laundry while they make the important decisions that have been thrust on them with very little notice.
Having access to laundry services is important for health and sanitation. Flood waters are notoriously dangerous – often contaminated by both chemicals and disease. But laundry services also help to restore the dignity of the victims – offering comfort and normalcy at a time when their lives have been utterly disrupted. This was the driving force behind Eight Days of Hope’s search for a new laundry trailer – and we were more than happy to help them with this important mission.
High-Capacity, Low Maintenance and Built to Last in Tough Conditions
There were three primary requirements to find the right laundry trailer for this application. First, it would need to be a high-capacity unit with the ability to service large numbers of people in a short amount of time. Second, it needed to be extremely mobile and low-maintenance so that it could be easily relocated, re-positioned, and set up for service. And finally, this unit would need to be built with commercial-grade components to stand up to the challenging conditions of a disaster response site.
We found a perfect match with an 8-station laundry trailer from our Comfort Series. This trailer is like a portable laundromat, providing a comfortable and sanitary oasis in the midst of the most challenging conditions. When you step into the trailer, you are greeted by five stackable Samsung washer/dryer sets. And three more stacks span the front wall for a total of eight complete washer/dryer sets. The floorplan also includes two stationary countertops for sorting and folding, and an oversized utility sink for cleaning bulky items.
While eight families at a time might seem like a lot of traffic, this laundry trailer is up to the task. A 100-lb propane tank is mounted externally on the tongue of the trailer – feeding two on demand water heaters and all eight gas-powered clothes dryers. The entire floor is constructed with ¾” Drymax OSB moisture-resistant subflooring. And the unit is kept comfortable – even at maximum capacity – by a roof-mounted 15,000 BTU air conditioner.
Customize Our Disaster Response Units to Meet Your Needs
When disaster strikes anywhere in the contiguous forty-eight states, Eight Days of Hope’s rapid response team is onsite within 48-72 hours. When the organization deploys to a recent disaster, it is critical that team members can easily identify each other and their equipment. To help with this, we applied a custom wrap to the entire trailer to make it match the rest of the organization’s fleet of mobile resources.
And custom wraps are only the tip of the iceberg. We can customize almost every aspect of new mobile response units – from the floorplan and functional infrastructure to the colors, finishes, and materials used in construction. If you have a special requirement that you would like to discuss, let us know – there’s a very good chance we’ll be able to provide whatever customizations you need.
Our inventory of disaster response resources includes laundry trailers, shower trailers, decontamination trailers, and much more. And we have a wide range of flexible financing options to choose from, with something to fit almost every budget. Give us a call at (877) 600-8645 today to learn more.
