Page 359 - Peterson 85 Years and Going Strong

Peterson was really a top-notch organization for us when it came to getting all the parts here. I could call them 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and they were there
to help.
– Scott Shockman, equipment manager, Kiewit Infrastructure West Co.
had equipment coming in fast from all over the country. Plus, all the new pieces Kiewit bought from Peterson. “There was not really any time to beef up our [parts] inventory because we didn’t even know what equipment was going to be there when it first kicked off,” says Taylor. “When Kiewit started asking for inventory, we were amazed at all the new equipment showing up be- cause it was extremely difficult for us, as a dealer, to get new equipment.” Once equipment began arriving at the dam, Peterson’s product support front man, Dave Nipar, was able to start doing in- spections to see what parts they would need in the future. It was a massive initial effort to get all that measured and cataloged and set up for ease of parts ordering going forward. Nipar’s efforts smoothed the way. “The track parts flowed through there the entire time because they were going through un- dercarriages like crazy. Same with G.E.T. [ground engaging tools] because of the rocky conditions. But once we got it all sorted out and knew what they needed—after that first season—things set- tled down a bit.”
“Peterson was really a top-notch organization for us when it came to getting all the parts here,” says Shockman. “When something breaks, it needs to get fixed as soon as possible and they understood that. A lot of times I’d call at 8 p.m. to order parts and I needed them now. They would hire a courier service to pick up the parts and drive them up here in the middle of the night, straight to the job. That’s what stands out in my mind—getting us whatever we needed and being supportive in every way. I could call them 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and they were there to help.”
Whelan had a similar experience. “When Cat wasn’t able to supply parts on a normal order basis, we had to rely heavily on Milt [Taylor] and Dave [Nipar] to take backroad routes to get us the parts we needed. There were cutting edges on backorder. Duo-cone seals were on national hold, so we had to have other means of getting to the front of the line. Peterson supported us well. Whether it was
Peterson onsite service during Oroville Dam spillway project
robbing something off one of their own machines or doing whatever they could to get it out of the factory, they did whatever it took to get us the parts we needed.” By the end of the contract in November 2019, Peterson’s parts department in Chico had processed over 30,000 line items for the project. The Oroville spillway project made 2017 and 2018 two of the Chico store’s busiest product support years on record.
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