Hydroexcavators help a Texas contractor open up a new profit center with existing customers.
When Cornell Solutions, LLC decided to enter a new market and provide hydroexcavation services in the Eagle Ford shale play in South Texas, the company took a bigger-is-better approach and leased eight Vactor HXX hydroexcavating trucks.
The result? Greater efficiency and a profitable new revenue stream for the Edinburg, Texas-based company, which primarily specializes in pressure-control services.
The eight trucks, leased from Jack Doheny Supplies Inc., feature 12-cubic-yard debris tanks and optional 1,300-gallon water tanks (200 gallons larger than the standard capacity), mounted on Kenworth truck chassis. A CAT PUMPS triplex-piston water pump produces up to 20 gpm at 2,500 psi, and a Hibon tri-lobe blower generates vacuum power of 5,250 cfm (maximum of 28 inches Hg). A 7-foot hydraulic, extendable boom rotates 320 degrees, and coupled with 21 feet of 8-inch-diameter hose, offers up to a 22-foot reach from the truck’s centerline. The Vactor HXX also includes a 900,000 Btu water heater and a wireless remote that controls the boom, vacuum and water-control functions.
In 2011, a customer asked Cornell to consider adding hydroexcavating services to perform excavating work for pipelines in the Eagle Ford play. The expansion made sense for Cornell because hydroexcavating dovetailed well with the company’s existing services. Moreover, it operates a facility in Kennedy with enough land to store eight trucks, as well as a readily available, high-pressure water supply, says Carlos Garza, one of the company’s owners.
“We had to have a way to fill up the trucks quickly and efficiently,” Garza explains. “We can fill up our trucks in about 20 minutes. Otherwise, we’d have to drive somewhere to do that … and that takes up time and eats up mileage.
Leasing the trucks made more sense than buying them, Garza notes, not necessarily because it was cheaper, but because the company prefers to invest capital in its core business. In addition, hydroexcavating trucks have a shorter life cycle than other equipment, and technological advances occur rapidly, he says.
“Our trucks aren’t running on only highways — they’re off-road quite a bit on ranch roads,” he points out. “And if you compare a 5-year-old hydroexcavator to today’s trucks, there are a lot more bells and whistles and extra capacity.”
The trucks’ larger water-carrying and debris capacities were big factors in going with Vactor (a subsidiary of Federal Signal Corp.). The trucks Cornell used initially featured 10-cubic-yard debris tanks and 1,100-gallon water tanks, Garza says.
“That may not seem like much, but it’s a big deal if you can’t finish a job with an 1,100-gallon tank, and a 1,300-gallon tank would’ve done it,” he says. “In a business that bills out by the hour, the capability to stay out in the field a little longer is critical.
“Sometimes we have to send out a 2,000-gallon water transfer truck to replenish the water supplies,” he continues, noting that more often than not, water isn’t readily available out in the field. “But with these larger water tanks, sometimes we don’t need to send along a water truck. It’s always better if you don’t have to go back to your source of water to replenish because it saves time and fuel. Time is money, absolutely. If you have to come back somewhere for water, that’s time you can’t bill.”
Hydroexcavators also offer safer, non-destructive operation than traditional means of excavation because they employ a high-pressure water stream to dig soil, which is then vacuumed up into the debris tank. Moreover, hydroexcavating is less invasive; Garza points out that his crews have been able to dig as deep as 14 feet within just a 4-foot-square excavation — something a backhoe just can’t do.
Overall, Garza says it’s important for his company to stay current with new machinery and technology because they reduce downtime and improve productivity. He also believes the Vactors help improve customer retention, because offering more than one service helps develop a stronger bond with customers.
“These Vactors have become a very nice profit center,” Garza says. “We’ve got about 21 employees handling the hydroexcavators, so we’ve been able to take a side business and turn it into a profitable division within our company, and employ people making a very good salary. And we service our customer better. Overall, it’s a win-win situation.”
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