Team Bios
Mike Baucom (TUSCALOOSA)
Mike Baucom began his career as a diesel mechanic before moving to the role of a shop manager. In 1992, he took a position at Hydro-Vac before assuming a General Manager position. In 2001, he opened a Hydro-Vac location in Tuscaloosa, Alabama where he was CVP- Eastern Division Manager and minority shareholder. The company was sold in 2015, and Mike joined Vacuum Truck Rentals in 2014 managing rentals and sales in northern Alabama.
Donald Calhoun (SULFUR, LA)
Donald brings more than 32 years of experience in the vacuum truck and heavy equipment industry. He began his career as a mechanic’s assistant and expanded his industry skills as a sales representative for parts and used equipment before transitioning into a role to train others on the operation of vacuum trucks. He continued to develop his role to include General Manager and Regional Manager positions.
In 2020 Donald joined Vacuum Truck Rentals and served the Deer Park, TX area before transitioning to the Branch Manager role of our office in Sulphur, LA.
Joe Dismukes (SOUTH ALABAMA)
Joe Dismukes has been in the industrial cleaning business for more than 30 years. He was born and raised in Mobile, Alabama and received a business degree from Faulkner State. In 1990, he opened Industrial Cleaning Contractors where he employed 85 people before selling the business in 2015. He has also worked in the hydroblast and vacuum services field. He joined Vacuum Truck Rentals in 2019 and the branch manager of the Mobile area office. In his spare time, he enjoys hunting, scuba diving and deep sea fishing. He is married with two children.
Blake Dixon (CORPUS CHRISTI)
After earning his bachelor’s degree in business marketing from Texas A&M University, Blake Dixon started his career in the vacuum truck industry washing trucks before transitioning into the parts department. He then transitioned to an Operations Manager role in the plastics industry before joining Vacuum Truck Rentals in 2020. In his spare time, he enjoys fishing and chasing waterfowl in the Corpus Christi area.
Glenn Eichler (FLORIDA)
Glenn brings more than 22 years in the vacuum truck and equipment industry and is the General Manager of Lakeland, Florida branch. He started his career in his family’s construction firm before becoming a regional sales manager for a solid waste body manufacture. He later joined the vacuum truck industry as sales manager for Cusco Fabricators before becoming a small business proprietor. He joined Vacuum Truck Rentals in 2016 to open and manage the Florida location.
In his spare time, Glenn enjoys spending time with his wife and two sons traveling to their ice hockey tournaments and football games, salt water fishing, ice hockey, skiing and sport shooting.
Kevin Mitchell (GONZALES, LA)
Kevin Mitchell has been in the vacuum truck industry for over 20 years. He brings experience in the operation and mechanical side of the vacuum equipment. He started his career with Pro Serve, INC as a vacuum truck tech and moved his way up to operator supervisor. He also spent several years working at Master Vac Industrial Services as an operator supervisor. At both these companies, he gained on the job experience on vacuum truck operation and on-site management. In 2009, he transitioned from Vacuum field work to starting his career at Vacuum Truck Rental as a mechanic and moved his way up to service manager and has currently taken the position of branch manager at the Gonzales, LA Branch. On his off-time Kevin enjoys spending time with his family, hunting, and fishing.
Les Ingram (SOUTH CAROLINA AND VIRGINIA)
With over 26 years of Industrial Cleaning Experience including sales, management and operations, Les Ingram manages both the Virginia and South Carolina branches of Vacuum Truck Rentals. He is deeply committed to bringing the customer the best product for their needs and taking care of them from start to finish whether it’s the nuclear, fossil, chemical and/or environmental services industry. He holds certifications ranging from safety to environmental and equipment.
Les joined Vacuum Truck Rentals in 2008 and when he’s not managing two offices, he enjoys camping with his family, hunting and fishing.
Phil Maichle (DEER PARK, TEXAS)
Phil has over 40 years of experience in the industrial services market. He began his career as a Start Up Engineer and Project Manager with Stone & Webster Engineering where he oversaw construction design verification and preoperational testing of all systems in the nuclear power generation sector in accordance 10 CFR part 50 regulations and the fossil fuel sector. He also provided project management for long term plant outages, overseeing third party contractors as well as plant personnel. His relationship with worldwide utilities gave him the opportunity to provide third party services to them as an independent contractor providing numerous services in outage/ turnaround activities specializing in industrial vacuum and hydro blasting services in the power generation, petrochemical, marine, pulp & paper industries to name a few. After leaving the contracting industry he began selling and renting heavy equipment as a manufacturer’s representative. Phil finally found his calling in the rental business and began renting strictly industrial equipment. His experience utilizing this equipment gives him the ability to be a resource for information to customers and work with them as a team member as well as a vendor.
Phil has been with Vacuum Truck Rentals since 2001 and is a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME).
Sterling Machell (MARYLAND, MASSACHUSETTS AND NEW JERSEY)
Sterling Machell has 44 years of experience in operations and sales. Before the vacuum truck industry, Sterling worked in the Mining Industry, Explosives Sales, Equipment Sales and ran his own business for 15 years. He has been in the vacuum truck world for the last 12 years before joining Vacuum Truck Rentals in 2024 where he is the branch manager for our Northeast offices including Maryland, New Jersey, and Massachusetts. Customer relations has always been a priority through out his career.
Sterling spent 37 years in TX and the last 7 years in the northeast where he is from. In his spare time he enjoys spending time with his family, grand children, and his fiancé Beth. Sterling also likes to spend weekends at his cabin in the Poconos during the Summer.
Eric Wilson (ILLINOIS)
Eric Wilson brings more than 25 years of experience to Vacuum Truck Rentals. He began his career in the industrial field as a superintendent for an industrial maintenance and cleaning company. He was later promoted to regional manager then to VP of Operations managing 13 states with multiple locations. He oversaw strategic accounts as well as assets and logistics. He spent two years leading an in-house skills assessment and training program in vacuum truck and high-pressure water blasting for over 400 employees.
In 2020 Eric joined the Vacuum Truck Rentals team as the Branch Manager of our Roxana, IL office. Eric also owns a farm where he raises beef cattle. He also enjoys hunting and fishing with his children and serves the youth in his community through his church.
Eric "Moose" Nantais (Indiana)
Moose brings 28 years in the industry spending the first 13 years as a supervisor, trainer and specialist covering emergency response across the U.S. while maintaining industrial services in the Midwest. Moose then moved to the rental industry for 8 years as a regional manager suppling Frac Tanks, Pumps and Bypass solutions where he was responsible for large corporate accounts with special focus on Refineries, terminals, and pipelines.
After this Moose spent another 6 years in the industrial business developing a field service program focused on tank cleaning in terminals and chemical plants. He also developed a demolition group that worked across the US with the focus on plant closures demo and remediation.
In 2022 Moose joined VTR as the branch manager of our Indiana office. Moose is married with two daughters and has two Labs that all enjoy spending the weekends on the lake.
Robert Knotts (Washington, WV)
Robert Knotts has worked in the equipment service industry for over 20 years. He started off as a Wheeled Vehicle Mechanic in the US Army. As he advanced through the ranks holding several different leadership positions while ending his military career as Company Motor Sargent. After his service, he took a position as a Field Service Technician with a leading Vacuum Truck Manufacturer. While with this manufacturer, he worked his way up to Corporate Parts & Service Manager. From there he moved on to new challenges as an Operations Manager of a nationally recognized vacuum equipment dealership specialized in vacuum truck repairs.
In 2024 Robert joined Vacuum Truck Rentals as the Branch Manager of the Washington, WV office.
Keith Veros (Michigan)
Keith Veros began his career as a laborer with a local plumbing contractor. Following his introduction to the industry Keith has supported customers across the country as an equipment demonstrator/trainer, regional sales rep, product specialist, and operations manager. In 2023 Keith joined Vacuum Truck Rentals as the Service Manager of the Michigan branch and then transitioned to Branch Manager in 2024. Along with industrial experience on vacuum equipment, Keith spent many years focused on televising equipment & software for mainline, lateral and manhole inspections.