Reliable equipment
Because Hallett Dock handles so many products, it's important for the company to have several pieces of equipment that are capable of keeping up with the fast pace that comes with loading and unloading vessels, unloading rail cars and loading trucks.
"It's important that we have machinery that lasts and can keep up with our needs," Jago affirmed. "We're moving thousands of tons of material every day, and our customers rely on us to do it as quickly as possible. We can't afford downtime, so it's necessary to have machinery that doesn't break down."
For loading and unloading, Hallett Dock relies on Komatsu wheel loaders purchased from Road Machinery & Supplies' Duluth branch through Sale Representative Jim Gunderson. Hallett Dock owns two WA500s and four WA600s that run almost nonstop. It also owns an older Komatsu dozer it uses for a variety of tasks.
"The company was one of the first in the area to buy Komatsu equipment," Jago noted. "That was in the late '80s, and it was a leap of faith because it had run other brands for a long time. The Komatsus worked very well, and we've continued to buy them. We let the operators compare equipment the last time we were looking to buy, and Komatsu came out the clear winner.
Clyde Jago, Superintendent
Stephen Sykes, Controller
Kara Raymond, Office Manager
"What we really like is that the equipment lasts," he added. "We try to keep machinery around as long as it's productive and not costing us more in maintenance than it's worth. Our Komatsu equipment allows us to do that. We take good care of it with routine service and maintenance. We've really had no major issues."
Hallett Dock handles routine maintenance on its machinery, using Road Machinery as needed for service work. "We've developed a very good relationship with Jim Gunderson and the team at Road Machinery over the years," Jago said. "They've been very good about meeting our needs and getting to us quickly if we need them. Road Machinery is really good about having parts on hand, and if they don't have something in stock they can get it to us the next day."
Doing more with less
Due to the resolution of the Stryker Bay Superfund site, Hallett Dock was recently encouraged to consolidate its operations, going from four docks to two: Dock No. 5 in Duluth and Dock No. 8 in Superior, Wis. The loss of space hasn't slowed the company down.
Instead, the reduction in total acreage to store commodities has allowed Hallett Dock to streamline its operations and make improvements to boost efficiency. The company has installed state-of-the-art rail car unloading facilities, along with dust collection systems, purchased Boston Yards from BNSF, and installed a 250 x 700 concrete, bulk-storage pad at Dock No. 5. In addition, new, 2.2-million-gallon, liquid-storage tanks and an automated scale were built at Dock No. 8 in Superior, Wis.
"We believe the change is good," claimed Fryberger. "It will actually mean an expansion of our services. We've always been very flexible and willing to work with customers to find solutions to their transportation and storage needs. It's a management philosophy we've adopted and developed over the years. That hasn't changed just because we consolidated a portion of our facilities. We're still in the business of serving customers and finding ways to get their materials from one point to another to meet their schedules."
(L-R) President Jerry Fryberger, Superintendent Clyde Jago and Larry "Bear" Demenge stand beside one of Hallett Dock's WA500-3 wheel loaders, which the company uses to move and load materials.
