Page 385 - Peterson 85 Years and Going Strong

We supplied the first round of gear on the job because we met FEMA’s specs and because we’ve built long-term relationships with these contractors.
– Pat Puccinelli, central ordering manager, Cresco
home. The massive cleanup wrapped up four months ahead of schedule after removing over 2.5 million tons of debris and contaminated dirt. One reason was the payload scale technology sev- eral contractors employed at their sites. “This was brand new technology for us,” states Matt Wil- liams, project manager for Sukut, who led the SPSG team. “It was something we came up with after the bid specs were already out. It’s relative- ly accurate—within a couple percent. We worked with Trimble [SITECH] to install scales on four of our excavators so we could better utilize the yields of the trucks.” Goodfellow Bros. had six Next Gen Cat excavators with Cat PayLoad systems, bring- ing the SPSG total to ten onboard scale machines on the Camp Fire project.
Across town, Argonaut was working for FEMA contractor ECC. All twenty-three of their exca- vators on the north side of town were equipped with onboard scales. “Argonaut had the most exca- vator payload systems in Paradise,” explains Chris Mata, SITECH salesman. “Eight excavators had Trimble LOADRITE scales and fifteen new Cat Next Gen excavators had Cat PayLoad systems.” Mata was part of the Peterson-SITECH team who spent several weeks on-site training operators on the new technology since most had never used it before. The team also re-calibrated all the Cat payload systems as well as troubleshoot any sys- tems issues.4
TRUCKLOAD EFFICIENCY
With 550 truckloads going to the landfill every day, onboard scale systems made a huge difference. Accurate payloads helped streamline the reme- diation process both in time and cost-efficiency. Once the machines were properly calibrated and the operators were trained, it was a big plus for the cleanup effort. “Load-control equipment allows operators to load precise tonnage so they know
when to stop,” explains Mata. “They can weigh each bucket-load separately and calculate ton- nage, versus eyeballing it the old-fashioned way, which is less accurate for mixed loads of material like burnt ash, partially burnt debris, and concrete blocks.” Having the ability to zero out the scale when material clings to the bucket is another ben- efit. Without a payload system, efficiencies decline and costs escalate as overweight fines accrue and underweight loads mean more trips to the landfill. The combined efforts of the Peterson-SITECH team decreased lost tonnage by more than five hundred tons per day, which netted out to forty extra truckloads of debris every day. With a legion of trucks capable of carrying anywhere from thir- teen to eighteen tons each, that’s a lot of material.
“We just happened upon this niche market for load control,” explains Mata. “Trimble’s LOAD- RITE technology has been around since 1979. And Caterpillar has used their version successfully on wheel loaders at landfills and mining operations for years. But it’s new to fire remediation.” The in- creased efficiency benefitted both the contractors doing the work and the homeowners who planned to rebuild. “These types of government contracts demand fast turnarounds,” explains Mata, “because the insurance industry imposes a two-year funding window for rebuild starts. The onboard scales real- ly helped operators work smarter to meet and beat the deadline.” The October 23 pull-out date was the real proof.
4 See the full story on pg 268, On the Job with Fred and Wilma.
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