Page 263 - Peterson 85 Years and Going Strong
P. 263

 David Larsson/general manager of BuildingPoint Pacific
the end results, measured in productivity and effi- ciency. It’s about moving dirt smarter.”
K & E EXCAVATING: HIGH-TECH PIONEERS
Today, K & E owns over 190 pieces of Cat equip- ment and 75 percent of that is outfitted with GPS machine control. By running an integrated fleet, they have earned a reputation for excellence and raised the bar several notches in the process. “I
knew Kerry and Eric back when they were work- ing for other people,” says Peterson salesman Don Chandler. “They started K & E with a D4 and a dump truck, doing small residential dig-outs back in 1998. They’ve grown it by being adventurous and not afraid to be the first one to jump into something new first, like the GPS technology.”
During the economic downturn of 2008–09, the cousins realized they needed to take on bigger jobs to survive—jobs outside their element. “We made 15 percent on our first big state job—a $10 million site job,” says Kerry. “And we didn’t even really know what we were doing.” From there they moved into giant civil jobs, bridges and highway contracts, blasting solid rock and widening roads on mountainsides. In the last several years, Chan- dler has helped K & E upsize their fleet to keep up with these mammoth projects. In 2015, they bought a fully loaded Cat D8T to replace the D7Es they were tearing apart on their Bly Moun- tain job. “They were breaking their machines be- cause they weren’t in dirt anymore. It wasn’t a Cat quality issue. They just needed the right machine and the right bucket for the job,” says Chandler. Since then, K & E has gone big with a fleet of
CAT AND TRIMBLE TEAM UP
In April 2002, Caterpillar and Trimble formed a joint venture, Caterpillar Trim- ble Controls Technologies LLC, to develop the next generation of machine-control products for heavy equipment. Together the two giants build systems that use site-design data and accurate positioning technology to automatically control the way machines reshape the landscape. The historic alliance gave Peterson an addi- tional nudge toward buying the Trimble dealership in December 2009.
    K & E’s 374D excavator with 3D GPS machine control near Eddyville, Oregon in 2013
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