Page 68 - Peterson 85 Years and Going Strong

CORE VALUE: CUSTOMER FIRST
RUBY PIPELINE
It was the day after Thanksgiving 2009, somewhere east of Klamath Falls, Oregon. Peterson field tech Jason Dolan was strapped to the deck of a Cat 345, hanging off the side of a mountain. He’d arrived on- site an hour earlier for instructions.
“Where’s the machine you want me to fix?”
Jason Dolan
The job boss, Beau Cartwright, walked him up to the top of a hill and pointed down. The crippled excavator sat two thousand feet below on a sharp incline—a yellow speck in the distance.
You’re kidding.
“Load your tools into this excavator bucket here,” said Cartwright. “Then hop on and we’ll give you a ride down.”
“Thanks, but I think I’ll walk,” said Dolan. Nobody had mentioned anything about hanging off the side of a mountain at such a steep grade. What the heck had he gotten himself into? After loading up his tools, Dolan hoofed it downhill, sidestepping and sliding the length of seven football fields. Fortunately, they had turned the machine upright before they’d left for Thanksgiving two days ago. It was tied down with guidelines so it wouldn’t tip over again or slide down the hill. Climbing up onto the machine’s deck, Dolan strapped himself into a safety harness and reached for the engine cover. It was time to get the thing running again.
The crippled 345 was part of a fleet of machines clear- ing land for the Ruby Pipeline project—a $3 billion,
66 | PETERSON: 85 YEARS AND GOING STRONG