If you have been in portable sanitation for a while, you have met CRO Software. It was one of the first tools built for route-based rental work, and many of the operators who use it have used it for years. Today it is sold by RapidWorks, whose site also lists software for concrete pumping, crane rental, hydrovac and hauling. That changes the question an operator should ask from "is CRO good" to "is a multi-industry platform the right home for my book".
Everything about CRO below comes from the RapidWorks website. The compare page links each page and the date we read it.
What RapidWorks says CRO does
The CRO for portables page describes routing, drag-and-drop dispatching, unit tracking, a driver app with photos and signatures, invoices generated from completed field work, a customer portal, and QuickBooks sync for Online and Desktop. That is a full list, and it is the same list every tool in the industry claims. The useful work is finding out how each item behaves with your data.
Price: a custom quote
The RapidWorks pricing page asks you to contact their team for a custom quote. The first step on their site is a free 15-minute discovery call, then a demo. Contract terms and setup time are not listed on their pricing page.
A custom quote is not a bad sign. It is a sign that you need to go in with your own numbers: trucks, drivers, office users, units, and the growth you expect. Ask for the quote at today's size and at next year's.
The multi-industry question
RapidWorks sells to portable restrooms, roll-off, septic and FOG alongside concrete pumping and crane rental. There is nothing wrong with a company serving several trades, but it shapes the roadmap. When the next release is about crane rental scheduling, portable toilet billing waits.
Ask what shipped for portables in the last twelve months. A vendor built only for this industry should be able to name a dozen things. PortaPro's help center is public; the changelog is the feature list.
What to test on any alternative
Three things, in a trial on your own data, before any contract:
- A full day of routing. Not a sample route; your real Tuesday, every truck, with the disposal site hours and the tank size in the plan. Read how a route should be planned around the tank to know what you are looking for.
- One billing cycle. A unit placed mid-cycle, a customer with four sites, and the report at the end that shows what billed and what did not.
- The QuickBooks round trip. Send an invoice, record a payment, void something, and look at what your accountant sees.
What PortaPro does on each
PortaPro's price is on the website and it is month to month. The 14-day trial runs on your own account before any sales call, and a guided 30 to 60 day trial is available after a demo. Every site's rental cycle is checked nightly for anything that should have billed and did not. For QuickBooks Desktop, PortaPro connects through the Web Connector, and the same sync covers Online, Xero and FreshBooks.
The row-by-row page puts each of those next to what RapidWorks publishes, with sources. Bring both to the discovery call.
