How America’s largest EPA contractor stays ahead of downtime and expense
Brad Stemper, product manager, CASE Construction Equipment

Imagine maintaining 300 pieces of rolling stock plus 200 pieces of equipment spread across the entire United States, U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. That’s the challenge Tim Bland, assistant operations manager at Environmental Restoration, LLC, faces every day. For 20 years, Bland and his staff have provided emergency response services, site remediation, government services, industrial cleaning to various commercial, state and federal clients. With 600 employees working from 23 offices across the country, Environmental Restoration is the largest EPA contractor in the United States.

CASE Construction Equipment and heavy equipment dealer Century Equipment donated the use of a compact track loader to Team Rubicon for Operation Wind River Spirit, a flood mitigation project that protected vulnerable residents from anticipated spring flooding in Fremont County, Wyoming.

The operation came at the request of the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho nations, as well as the American Red Cross, as the region experienced a record snowpack that melted quickly and caused rivers in the region rise.

Not many successful businessmen plot their career accurately in fifth grade. Chris Bonacker knew exactly what he wanted to do. Now, at 32, he is right where he wants to be—running his own excavating firm. “I’m just trying to live the American Dream,” he says, “and provide for my family, doing what I love to do.”  After working in excavation in his late teens and early twenties, Bonacker founded C. Bonacker Excavating in Eureka, Missouri last July. He concentrates mostly on residential work, from digging foundations to finish grading.

“I always knew I wanted to have my own thing. I took the leap, and so far, everything’s been going good,” says Bonacker. “I’ve been blessed to be in all different aspects, from demolition to doing the excavation of the foundations, finish grading, and pipe work and drainage. I have a knack for helping custom builders…to help them oversee from start to finish on a custom home. I can help them line things with the landscapers or help the concrete guys make sure all elevations are working — to make the best product we can provide.”

CASE Construction Equipment has designated Luby Equipment Services, headquartered in Fenton, Missouri, as a CASE Precision Construction Certified Dealer. The certification signifies that Luby Equipment has completed the official training, conducted by CASE, to guarantee that the dealer is capable of expertly selling, supporting and servicing precision construction solutions — from off-machine construction tools up to 2D and 3D systems.

Each dealer that completes the program must meet a number of criteria, including employing full-time specialists, trained technicians and parts support.

CASE Construction Equipment has awarded the $25,000 Dire States Equipment Grant to Surrey, North Dakota for much-needed road drainage revitalization and flood control projects throughout the city. Due to years of sudden urban planning and insufficient funding, several drainage-ways have filled with years of sediment, restricting natural run-off of storm water and yearly snowmelt. There are also several roads that require drainage ditches to be installed to prevent flooding.

The poor drainage has wreaked havoc on roadways throughout Surrey—costing large portions of the city’s yearly budget to maintain. In addition to flooding and infrastructure damage, the drainage issues have caused several areas in town to collect and pool standing water, creating a public health concern.

CASE Construction Equipment has announced the grand prize winner of its inaugural CASE Kickstart Contest, a business development contest in which landscaping contractors can win a suite of prizes designed to take their company to the next level.

Out of over 350 entries, Austin Kirby — owner of KirbAppeal Lawn & Landscape, LLC of Oxford, Alabama — was selected as the grand prize winner, and will be taking home the following package:

One lucky landscape contractor will win a suite of prizes from CASE Construction Equipment through the Kickstart Contest, a landscape business development contest. The grand prize winner — announced Monday, April 9 — will receive a six-month free equipment lease, professional consultation from landscape contracting industry expert Jeffrey Scott, $3,500 Parts & Service Reward Card and other premium prizes.

All submissions were compiled online at CaseCE.com/Kickstart. Contractors were asked to answer questions about their operation, including some of the best business advice they’ve ever received.  We’ve distilled some of the best business tips from more than 350 entries into bite-sized chunks you can easily scan and apply to your business.

CASE Construction Equipment has developed a universal machine control option for its production class M Series dozers (1150M, 1650M and 2050M) that makes each machine factory compatible with all major suppliers of machine control technology, including Topcon, Trimble, and CASE precision partner Leica Geosystems, within a single “universal machine control” option.

CASE universal machine control provides a universal harness for blade guidance systems, universal machine brackets and mounts, and universal jumpers to integrate any industry solution into each dozer. This allows CASE dozers to be deployed, straight from the dealer, into any fleet-wide precision or machine control solution an owner/operator/contractor may deploy on their worksites. It also helps improve retained and resale value, as that CASE dozer will be compatible with any solution during resale into its 2^nd or 3^rd operational lifespan.

We spend time preparing our equipment for snow removal and other cold weather work in late fall or early winter, but what steps do we take to get our equipment ready to transition back into dirt work in the spring? From checking and changing fluids, examining hoses and attachments, to doing a thorough cleaning and ensuring that all salt is cleaned from the machine – having a transition plan from season-to-season helps ensure the long-term performance and value of your equipment.

Clean-Up, Grease Up
Get each machine into a warm bay or other dry place and give it a thorough cleaning and inspection. Look for signs of wear or damage, any leaks, or any other anomaly that might indicate a problem. Thawing and freezing cycles and the presence of water can wreak havoc on greasing systems… make sure each grease point is serviced as recommended in the owner’s manual.

CASE Construction Equipment has named Michel Marchand as vice president for North America, replacing Scott Harris who has taken a similar role at CASE IH. Marchand, who previously served as the regional sales director for Canada, will now oversee all CASE Construction operations in North America.

“He has both comprehensive knowledge of the construction equipment business and a passion for the CASE brand,” says Leandro Lecheta, chief operating officer — NAFTA, CNH Industrial. “Throughout his career, Michel has consistently developed strong partnerships with our dealers in order to maximize growth and seize all the opportunities that the market has to offer.”