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We Build Success By
Meeting Opportunities, Challenges Head-On
By Leo A. Vecellio, Jr.
President, Chairman and CEO
(1st / 2nd Quarters 2008)
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Leo A.
Vecellio, Jr.
Vecellio Group, Inc. President, Chairman
and CEO |
As I’ve often said, being nimble is essential for
success in road and transportation construction. Every day
presents different challenges, from working around inclement
weather to the never-ending process of coordinating personnel,
equipment and subcontractors to keep a project moving along on
schedule.
That’s why I’m especially proud of progress on
Ranger
North's
$105 million SR-414/Maitland Blvd. Despite the project’s
size and complexity, it is well ahead of schedule.
And while a number of favorable circumstances benefited the job,
it took a great team effort from the top down to take full
advantage of the opportunity. That is nimbleness at its best.
Adjusting to change is even more important when addressing
challenges, such as the cooling economy that has affected many
market sectors. When new construction slows, demand for
aggregates, site development and paving work slows as well.
With less private work to bid on, competition has
increased significantly for public-sector contracts. Even a
small job can draw a dozen or more contractors to the table, all
with pencils sharpened.
While this may lower costs for the project owner, it increases
pressure on the successful bidder, who must perform the work
under what may amount to a very thin profit margin.
But with that pressure comes the motivation to find new ways to
be more productive, to trim a few days off the schedule here, or
add more yards or tonnage to daily production there.
One way we’re addressing this challenge is through our new field
reporting system. We’ve equipped our construction supervisors
with the latest in technology, training and support to not only
save time and paperwork, but provide a better overview of job
progress, as well.
Another example is our recent investment in 41 new tri-axle dump
trucks at Ranger Central and
South, which have a greater payload
capacity for more efficient operation.
The trucks are also outfitted with a range of advanced safety
features, because regardless of all our other gains, increasing
safety is by far the most important improvement we can make
throughout our operations.
This is a year-round effort for our Safety Department and
Supervisors, who ensure the daily safety of our employees and
operations.
And while our emphasis on safety never changes, just about
everything else in this industry does, as we see on a daily
basis.
Being nimble allows us to explore and capitalize on promising
new opportunities — such as launching our new energy division,
expanding our construction operations and surpassing production
estimates on our largest road project ever.
We can also meet even difficult challenges with this same
adaptability, providing our customers with reliable,
high-quality services and products in a timely, cost-effective
and, above all, safe manner.
It’s who we are. It’s what we do. And it’s been crucial to our
success for 70 years, since our very first project in December
1938.
Here’s to many more great decades of service and growth!
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