When the September issue of Pumper rolls around, I always look forward to reading the contractor profile stories about businesses that work with the big, powerful rigs to perform hydroexcavation and industrial vacuum loading. Every year it seems like pumpers are finding new and exciting ways to utilize these super-sized work trucks. They discover performance capabilities that solve a vexing construction or cleaning challenge and build revenue that helps pay for their next truck.

First, these contractors see the potential for capable combination
trucks and invest in one. Then they break away from the comfort of traditional pumping work and harness heavy-duty technologies to build new revenue and hire new crews. These companies represent the great American business dream. We might be exporting jobs, but the U.S. remains a powerful innovator, engineering these trucks to do necessary work more efficiently and safely.

Our featured contractors in this issue offer a compelling foundation for the growth of hydroexcavation and industrial vacuum loading specialties. They are proof positive that jetting with water and using a high-power blower to collect materials is establishing a foothold in the world of moving earth and waste by more traditional means. As more companies discover options beyond the excavator bucket and dump truck for conveying materials, an even brighter future will emerge for these contractors.

SOUTHERN HYDRO VAC

Consider the story of Tim Coleman, partner in Rosewell, Ga.-based Southern Hydro Vac, the company featured in our cover story (The Power to Succeed). Coleman describes to writer Scottie Dayton a growth pattern for his business that would be the envy of most pumpers. Revenues for the company grew from $1 million in 2004 to $5.2 million in 2011.

"Two things have made our reputation," Coleman says. "The capabilities of those trucks and my employees, who are responsible for all our repeat business." The company's early growth was in serving an expansion project at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, but quickly took on utility and municipal work, chiefly in Georgia and Alabama.

With each success, Coleman said new construction-related clients would come forward with ever-more-difficult challenges. The company and its machines responded.

GOLIATH HYDRO-VAC

It's a similar tale in Minnesota, where a decade ago Brandt Volk started Goliath Hydro-Vac with his wife, Rachelle. Selling his Harley-Davidson motorcycle and other personal possessions to buy a hydroexcavation rig, Volk hit his Minneapolis-St. Paul region hard for work. The gamble has paid off, Volk tells writer David Steinkraus in the story (Giant Results).

"I think it's getting to be more and more the future," Volk says. "It's educating the customer, and once the customer is educated they go, 'Hey, let's get that vac truck back in here.' "

Since selling off his motorcycle, Volk has continually taken on new work and now runs five combination trucks and a specialty pumping truck, keeping a crew of nine busy with a wide variety of work, from comprehensive power plant maintenance to tornado and fire cleanup. With each job completed efficiently for customers, Volk sees nothing but a bright future for his specialty work.

HOW ABOUT YOUR SUCCESS STORY?

We love to tell stories about how pumpers reach beyond their core business to grow bigger and serve customers better. If you have a success story to tell, I want to hear from you. Drop me a line at editor@pumper.com.