Page 181 - Peterson 85 Years and Going Strong

In paving it has to be a partnership.
That’s why we do business with Peterson.
– Rich Poppoff, equipment superintendent, DeSilva-Gates
of the industry. You’ve got to keep up. So we rely on Peterson to help us keep up with the changing times.”
Today, with fourteen computers onboard a new Cat paver and three operators to run it, training is essential. “Whenever we sell a paver, we always in- clude mechanic training as a part of the package,” says Hodson. “We don’t look at it as taking busi- ness away from us. If we’re training a customer’s mechanics, it helps them better diagnose what’s wrong to help us help them. We still get called in but more for our knowledge. Since their guys can identify part numbers and other details, we only have to make one trip instead of two or three.”
TEAMWORK
“Pavers are different than any other Cat machine because it makes an end product,” says Johnson. “With an asphalt paver, you’re feeding material into the front and a roadway is coming out the back. There’s a lot of things that have to go right and a lot to pay attention to. That’s why you have two operators on the back, each with his own computer, making sure that the process is going smoothly. The tolerances are very tight. The thick- ness has to be right. The widths have to be right. They can’t be putting any bumps in the mat. So there’s a lot going on. It’s a full team effort.”
Kolander agrees. “In paving, you’re laying down a permanent product. If you miss something, you can’t go back and regrade it the next day like you can with grading work. It’s more permanent. It doesn’t matter to the traveling public how great the sub-grade is, or how fast you completed the contract. Or that you saved the state a bucketful of money or did a fantastic job. All that matters is the finished product. So if the road is bumpy, everybody notices. And everyone’s a critic. Your wife and kids. Everyone. But when you drive on a freeway you paved and your family says, ‘Hey, this ride is nice,’ there’s a great sense of pride and sat-
isfaction in that, which goes beyond the industry awards and accolades we’ve earned over the years.”
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