Equipment World Digital Magazine
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/953148
High stakes casino HD Truck & Tractor officially incorporated in 2001. In 2003, the company got its first big break when it won a $4.6 million site-work contract for the L'auberge Casino and Resort. The job was worth more than double the company's annual revenue at the time, and the general contractor had reservations. "All the local guys said it couldn't be done," says Hiram Jr. "There was no bottom, nothing hard until you got down 35 or 40 feet. It had been a dredge disposal site. You had to mat your way in, and the system we were using to build the road had never been tried before. Geogrids were brand new." On Hiram Jr.'s first visit, the general superintendent, Raymond Craig, wouldn't even look him in the eye. The first words out of his mouth were: "Son, what makes you think you can pull this off?" Taking the job was a gutsy call. And the GC wanted the road built and site graded in just 35 days. "I told him I would personally make it happen," says Hiram Jr. The company threw everything it had into it, includ- ing buying several new pieces of equipment and renting what it needed but couldn't afford. "We did so much renting that Cat gave us a full-time mechanic out there," Hiram says. HD Truck & Tractor completed the project and then got another $6 million from the GC for additional projects related to the site. Hiram and Craig remain friends to this day and talk frequently. "They have become our biggest ally," says Hiram. After high school, younger son Justin studied civil engi- neering in college and worked summers in the business. He also interned with the GC from the casino project to learn more about the backend and business processes of big construction companies. After graduation, Justin came back to work full time in the family business and set up the office to create a stronger balance sheet and put the company on a firm financial foundation. 11th hour solutions The company's next big break came on a $6 million DOT road job. As with the casino, the company's first DOT job came with risks, this time financial. The bond- ing companies would not let HD Truck & Tractor bond anything bigger than a $2 million job, even though the company had $4 million to $5 million in revenue. "I made a point of meeting with the bonding agent and the bonding sureties to pick their brain and find out what they wanted," says Justin. "Everything looked promising, but on the morning of the bid, we were informed that we would not be getting the bid bond." The family was distraught, but Justin got his bonding agent on the phone to find out what it would take. At the 11th hour, they worked out a deal – a cashier's check in lieu of a bid bond if they would grant HD Truck and Tractor the performance bond and the payment bond. "We brought the cashier's check to the bid opening, and we were the low bidder," Justin says. "That was ex- tremely risky, but it ended up being the turning point for us. Now our bonding capability is one of our strongest assets. We have never been denied since." Jumping into GPS HD Truck & Tractor also became an early adaptor of GPS machine control. Justin's civil engineering classes showed him the technology's potential, but the motivation came from a jobsite. One sweltering Louisiana day, Justin looked out at eight acres of terrain and the 5,000 grade stakes he was expected to pound into the ground and thought: "There has to be a better way." In 2006, a lot of the big contractors were struggling with the technology. But Justin took it upon himself to learn the details and how to digitize plans so he could control that aspect of the job. Today the company does all of its jobs with GPS. It has four complete systems for its dozers and excavators. Hiram Jr. estimates work is completed 40 percent faster with GPS machine control. Labor challenges In addition to the two sons, Hiram Sr. and Jeanette's two daughters work in the business. Jena is the comptroller and safety officer. She has structured the company safety program so that everybody has at least OSHA 10-hour training. Supervisors have OSHA 30 and CPR training. And Jena went through the OSHA 500 instructor course March 2018 | EquipmentWorld.com 60 contractor of the year finalist | continued Justin took time to get an engi- neering degree and interned with a big contractor. He spearheaded the company's foray into GPS earthmoving. Jena works as the comptroller and also serves as the company safety officer and OSHA instructor.