“They do an excellent job of providing us with the
machines and the support we need to be successful
in what has become a very competitive industry,” said
Manatt. “We consider RMS to be one of our partners
in this business and we know we can count on our
territory manager Delane Wolter and RMS president
Mike Sill II to be there for us when we need them.”
“RMS has an excellent equipment inventory, which is good for us when we need to rent a machine on short notice,” said Equipment Manager Hollis Emerson. “They also respond quickly to any support needs we have.”
Wendling’s fleet includes seven Komatsu wheel loaders (two WA600s and five WA450s), a Komatsu PC200LC-6 hydraulic excavator and a 44-ton Komatsu HD325 rigid-frame haul truck.
ABOVE: Randy Rowan uses a
Tamrock Pantera 1100 rock
drill to drill blast holes at
Wendling’s Robins quarry.
RIGHT: Veteran drill operators
Randy Fisher, left, and Randy
Rowan stand next to the
Tamrock Pantera 1100 drill
that Wendling Quarries added
to its equipment fleet this past
March. Fisher and Rowan
have many years of
experience operating drills
and both joined the Wendling
team in 1990.
“We’ve had excellent production, reliability and longevity from our Komatsu machines,” said Emerson. “Some of the loaders are more than ten years old and have more than 15,000 hours on them and they’re still running and producing every day with original engines and transmissions.”
“We’ve also been very impressed with the Komatsu excavator,” added Manatt. “We have a hammer on it and it’s been very productive. I’d say it’s exceeded our expectations and outperforms competitive units we have. It’s really opened our eyes to the quality of Komatsu excavators.”
Wendling also has a Tamrock Panterra 1100 rock drill and four Load King trailers from RMS—as well as four Dresser 560 wheel loaders that date back to the early 1970s and which Emerson says “still produce for us on a daily basis.”
Future looks bright
While there are plenty of challenges to overcome in the short-term future, Manatt says he’s optimistic about where the company is headed. “The main problems we face have to do with funding. But we all know there’s a lot of infrastructure work that needs to be done, and eventually, the money to pay for it will have to be found.”
In the meantime, Wendling Quarries has positioned itself to be ready to provide the aggregate that the construction industry needs when that time comes. “Something we’ve really concentrated on over the last four or five years is becoming much more technologically advanced and progressive as a company,” said Manatt. “We’ve invested heavily in computers and computer training for our people because we always want to be on the cutting edge and we really feel like we’re setting the bar for our industry at this time in terms of innovation.”
And while Wendling Quarries is already highly diversified, Manatt says the company will continue to look for ways to expand the business in the future. “We have internal committees working on market research and product development, looking for any niches we may be able to fill. So, continued growth is definitely part of our plan—and with the talent and energy that we have throughout our workforce—I’m very optimistic that we’ll be able to achieve it.”