TrenchTech Inc. recently moved a relatively short geographic distance — 25 minutes to be exact — but is finding its new facility a vast improvement over its old home.
The company, which had been leasing a property in Conshohocken, Pa., decided the time was right to own its own property, and found a location in Morrisville, Pa., that fit the bill.
“When we were in Conshohocken our storage yard was a half a mile from our office and our shop was in between. So, we had issues with efficiency — getting things done, information sharing, getting trucks loaded quickly and things of that nature — just because of the delay in getting the information from one point to the other,” said Jay Kerrigan, company president.
“You try to do it electronically and telephonically but a lot of times you need to do it physically. You have to be there to actually see what you’re doing. So the fact that we are consolidated here has made us much more efficient — very quickly.”
Kerrigan believes his customers are already seeing the difference.
“Our response time has always been very good, but it’s better now than it’s ever been. I can literally look out the window and see what I need and know it’s there and get the process started with getting a load … We deliver 95 percent of what we rent so it’s very critical to our customers that we’re able to deliver very quickly. And get there when we say we’re going to get there. When we promise something we strive to meet that promise the best we can and the fact that we’re much more efficient at this location gives us the ability to hit that mark – almost 100 percent of the time.
“We’ve always been pretty conscientious about keeping our rental fleet in good shape, but the conditions that we were working in Conshohocken weren’t conducive to the type of welding that we need to do. It caused some problems for the guys — they had to weld outside, sometimes they had to weld in adverse conditions. Now that we have this facility — and we’re adding the fabrication shop as well — our quality control will be much better. Soon as something comes in and is cleaned and we know there is a problem with it, it goes right into the shop and is repaired right away. Which is important in a lot of ways because it doesn’t slow the customers’ job down when the equipment is operating efficiently and the way it’s supposed to. And also it guarantees the equipment is structurally sound and safe.
“Basically, in a nutshell, we have an increased ability to better respond to folks and keep the equipment in better operating condition. And those are the two keys to our service and quality product,” Kerrigan said.
About the Company
Founded in 1990 in Toms River, N.J., TrenchTech moved to Philadelphia in 1996. In the winter of 2002 it moved to Conshohocken.
“We are strictly a shoring company. We provide systems for supportive excavation on a sale or rental basis,” said Kerrigan.
“We have just about any product that is available in the pre-manufactured shoring industry. From aluminum hydraulic shoring to aluminum panel boxes, larger aluminum trench boxes, steel trench boxes, slide rail systems, stone boxes – pretty much anything available in the pre-manufactured industry we have here. And our rental fleet is worth about $15 million. It’s most likely the largest rental fleet on the east coast in one location.”
TrenchTech primarily handles the mid-Atlantic region, from New York to Virginia, and out to the middle of Pennsylvania.
“We [also] do a lot of business in Maryland, a lot of business in Delaware. We’re really starting to make inroads in New York,” Kerrigan said.
TrenchTech currently has 17 employees, including three people in the field selling and assisting customers with technical issues and a four person administrative staff. The remainder of the employees are drivers and yard personnel and shop personnel
The new facility, located on Old Bristol Pike in Morrisville, is on approximately 15 acres of land. The building is 7,500 sq. ft., 6,800 of which is industrial warehouse. A 6,000 sq. ft. fabrication shop will be built in the next several months.
Looking Ahead
TrenchTech also recently opened a location in Baltimore, located off route I-695, which includes a lay down yard and a warehouse.
“We’re just getting that off the ground,” Kerrigan said, adding that contractors will enjoy the same services as they do at the Pennsylvania location.
For more information, call 215/547-3800 or visit www.shoringsolutions.com.
(This story also can be found on Construction Equipment Guide’s Web site at www.constructionequipmentguide.com.) CEG
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