my white collar in for a blue color in 2008 during
hurricane Ike, which hit the Texas Gulf Coast. With a large
fleet of equipment and manpower, we were deployed by
FEMA to assist in the League City area. After six weeks,
we had made a large difference in the local community
– hauling the debris to the appropriate places day after
day, moving thousands of cubic yards. The results: the
homeowners and businesses were able to rebuild in a
much faster way.
But I soon learned I had all the wrong equipment to make
the best use of my crews’ time. We started studying what
equipment worked the best, with the most production and
the least amount of manpower.
We learned the “double grapple loader truck” was the way
to go. However, we could not see any setup the way we
wanted them. So, we started designing and building our
own.
The result was a design that has the most productivity
and the least amount of manpower needed to make the
most impact on any project. We have been able to save
the county, communities, businesses and individuals
thousands of dollars, all because we have cut the labor and
effort. A job that would take a full crew several days with
excessive amount of equipment and labor cost only takes a
few hours with our specialized equipment.
PCT: If you weren’t doing this, what would you be doing?
SL: Probably doing a job looking for retirement, unhappy
and disgusted with corporate America. Rather, I chose a
path less traveled to help build a future for my son and his
family one day. That’s way more rewarding for me than a
retirement at a corporation.
PCT: What is the funniest or most interesting thing you’ve
ever encountered on the job?
SL: In 2012, we were deployed to help clean up after
Hurricane Sandy. As you have seen on TV, it was a major
disaster with a large amount of debris piled up everywhere.
We were deployed to Sea Side Heights, New Jersey – one
of the hardest hit areas other than Long Island. The people
of Sea Side Heights were so grateful for the help and
assistance we provided to help them recover.
Keep in mind, the FEMA contract paid by the cubic yards
hauled.
We were cleaning up one of the beach properties an
elderly woman owned. She came out covered in sand,
trying her best to rid the interior of her house from it. She
brought us tea, cupcakes and was so appreciative of what
we had just accomplished for her.
She made the comment, “I hope you guys are getting
paid to haul all this off.” One of my guys spoke up and
said, “Yes Ma’am, we’re getting paid $9 per yard,” which
was good money. The elderly lady said, “Cheap-ass
government, they’re only paying you $9 for every house
and yard you clean up! How many do you have to do a
day to make a living, pay your help and run your large
equipment?” We explained in more detail and all just
laughed, which we needed at the time.
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Mitch Bedinger
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