At the job site where land is being cleared to make way for a new-home development in Durham, Jason Thomason knows he can rest easy in regards to at least two of the machines he uses.
Thomason is the equipment manager of Triton Sitework Development in Raleigh. He is responsible for the machines his company is employing to help develop Jordan at Southpoint, a 100-acre-plus site that will one day encompass more than 200 homes.
Triton’s crews have already worked on the development for more than eight months and expect to finish their work in early 2015.
Dozers, excavators and other equipment made by Komatsu, Hitachi, Volvo and John Deere are moving about 5,000 to 6,000 cu. yds. (3,823 to 4,587 cu m) of dirt and rock per day in an effort to smooth out the hills and valleys on the land — but not without a huge assist from the Bell articulated dump trucks in Triton’s fleet.
Bell Trucks Earn a New Fan
Thomason is a big believer in Bell trucks and has been tremendously impressed by their performance and reliability.
And he can thank Hills Machinery in Raleigh for helping him decide on the right truck for the kind of work that Triton does.
“I’ll tell you, these Bell trucks have really performed great,” Thomason said. “We have two that we are using on this project and six in our fleet: five 30-ton trucks and one 35-ton. At Jordan at Southpoint, we are using a pair of the 30-ton trucks.”
He said that the latest generation Bell B30E models that Triton is working with on the Durham project utilize the environmentally-friendly Tier IV diesel-engine technology, which Thomason characterized as a “new step” for his firm.
In addition, the new Bell trucks employ diesel exhaust fluid (DEF), which is designed to help diesel engines reduce their nitrogen oxide emissions and lower their carbon footprint.
“So far they have performed flawlessly,” Thomason said. “You know, everyone is a little bit hesitant about the final Tier IV engines and how they will do, but we haven’t had any problems with them at all. Any issues that do arise, though, are taken care of quickly by Hills.”
Triton Benefits
From Working With Hills
He has found that working with Larry Hudson, his Hills Machinery account manager at the Raleigh location, has been extremely rewarding for Triton.
“Hills has just been outstanding,” Thomason said. “There has not been one time that I have called about a problem with a truck that Larry Hudson at Hills has not followed up with me to let me know what’s going on, whether they have got it fixed or they are going to have to order a part. I always know where we stand at the end of the day. They never leave me guessing.”
That is good news for Hills Machinery, which is still working to establish its presence in the Triangle market. Although a fixture in other parts of North and South Carolina for years, the full-service dealership just opened the Raleigh store in July 2013.
Besides Bell articulated trucks, Hills’s primary product line also consists of Case construction equipment, Mauldin paving products, Terex Finlay and Eager Beaver trailers.
Triton Experiencing
Tremendous Growth
For Triton Sitework’s part, the firm has experienced remarkable growth in the last year, led by partners David Garret and Oscar House.
This is reflected by the fact that the company now owns 64 pieces of equipment and rents approximately another 60, according to Thomason.
“We rent so that we can float with the economy and with the weather, if need be,” Thomason said. “In the winter if it is harsh or wet, we’re not locked into those rental pieces; we can turn every one of them in at any time. We have some that we rent short-term and some on long-term rent-to-own.”
Thomason said that the company currently has more than 20 projects under contract, with the Durham single-family-home development being the type of work that is its specialty. In addition to single-family residential, Triton also has worked on townhomes, apartments, commercial, military and institutional projects.
Jordan at Southpoint has been a pretty standard job for Triton, he said, where the firm typically provides a turnkey site work package including (but not limited to) clearing, earthwork, utilities, stone, curb and paving.
This story also appears on Truck and Trailer Guide.
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