PROJECT PROFILE:
Contractor: Trees, Inc.
Location: Houston, Texas
Equipment Used: Jarraff 4 Wheel Drive All-Terrain
Tree Trimmer & GEO-BOY Brush Cutter Tractor
Specifications: Providing vegetation management
services to 28 states across the nation
 |
| Trees,
Inc. crews handle the vegetation management needs for clients
in 28 states, making it one of the largest tree service companies
in the nation. |
Providing vegetation management services to 28 states across the
nation is no easy task and Trees, Inc., Houston, does it with a
level of professionalism, safety and quality that is difficult
to match. The company started in 1953 as a small family-owned business
with a few crews. Soon the company’s reputation for unparalleled
customer service sparked a trend of continual growth that has led
them to become one of the largest tree service companies in the
nation.
From Coast to Coast, Border to Border
Covering this extensive territory means working with a variety
of growing seasons and trimming cycles. “We have crews
in the Florida Keys and we have crews up in northern Minnesota
so we go from one extreme to the other,” said Trees, Inc.
Vice President George Leszkowicz. According to Leszkowicz, the
trim cycle can range in different areas from three or four months
to 12 years in northern areas.
The cycles within each state can vary a great deal as well. Joe
Sterbenz, a regional manager at Trees, Inc. said, “In southern
Minnesota the cycle is about three to four years and in northern
Minnesota it’s about six, it’s quite a big difference
within a state.”
Working with an expansive territory presents other challenges as
well. Traveling can take a toll on regional managers but it is
necessary to ensure that the crews are meeting the high professional
standards Trees, Inc. has set. “Getting quality people in
each area makes my job easier,” said Sterbenz.
This has been both a challenge and one of the major accomplishments
of the company. “Of course selecting the right people for
the right position is important, but being able to give them the
tools that they need to perform and that they need to get the job
done is equally important. We have a system that has been successful
and we’ve been able to take that business model and transfer
that model to [employees] to give them the best environment to
be successful,” said Leszkowicz.
No Job Too Big, No Job Too Small
One of the advantages to having a large territory and, in turn,
a large crew is that the company is able to tackle jobs of any
size. In total, Trees, Inc. employs more than 2,000 people; 95%
of these are field personnel. For this reason, the company is
able to handle every job that comes its way while maintaining
its focus on both safety and customer service. According to Leszkowicz, “We
don’t consider anything too small, anything too large.
Our culture has been that we’re a small company and we
pay attention to customer needs.”
Trees, Inc. crews are trained and equipped to handle a wide variety
of vegetation management tasks from right-of-way (ROW) maintenance
to emergency storm restoration work. The management structure ensures
that crews approach each job with the highest level of professionalism. “We
have qualified general forepersons who visit the crews in the field
daily or weekly. Then we have a qualified supervisor out in the
field weekly with our people to make sure that quality is being
met,” said Sterbenz.
Trees, Inc. also has the flexibility to move crews and equipment
from state to state to meet deadlines and handle every job effectively. “When
you employ our company you get all 1,800 people backing you up,” said
Leszkowicz.
 |
The
Geo-Boy Brush Cutter Tractor allows Trees, Inc. crews to
clear
right-of-ways in all types of conditions, clearing brush and trees up to
12 inches in diameter. |
Safety First and Foremost
In addition to educating the crews on maintaining professionalism in the field,
much of Trees, Inc.’s training is designed to ensure that every employee
stays true to the company’s motto, “Safety First… No One
Gets Hurt!” “Everything we do is supervised on-the-job training.
We don’t allow an employee to perform a task alone until he is trained
and proficient at that task,” said Sterbenz. This ensures a safe working
environment, not only for the person performing the task, but for other members
of the crew and their customers as well.
This is of the upmost important to Trees, Inc. According to Sterbenz, “Our
first and foremost value is the safety of our employees and our people. It
doesn’t matter how many trees we trim or what we do. Safety is the first
thing when the day starts.” The biggest challenge the company faces
in maintaining a strong safety program is working to make sure that each and
every employee is not only cognizant of safe working practices, but that he
or she remains passionate about performing each job safely even after working
in the field day after day. “All employees tend to get complacent at
times and I think that we, as far as management goes, have to keep up the safety
enthusiasm every day,” said Sterbenz.
The focus on safety carries through to the operation and the selection of
Trees, Inc.’s equipment as well. No crew member is allowed to operate
equipment without first undergoing a complete training process. According to
Sterbenz, many equipment manufacturers are willing to work closely with the
crew to ensure that everyone who will be utilizing the equipment understands
how to operate it properly. “They come over and spend some time out
in the field with us assisting us in the training, to make sure our people
are thoroughly trained,” he said.
“We want to make sure we are doing everything possible to ensure that
our customers’ crews understand how to operate the equipment safely,
so we make it a point to be a part of the training process. It’s always
been great training the Trees, Inc. crews because it’s very important
to them that everyone fully understands the safe operation of each machine,” said
Heidi Boyum, president of equipment manufacturer Jarraff Industries, St. Peter,
Minn..
Trees, Inc. uses lift trucks, mowers, Geo-Boy Brush Cutters (Jarraff Industries),
mechanical trimmers, Jarraff All-Terrain Tree Trimmers (Jarraff Industries),
chippers, buckets and more. “There is a lot of work that goes into clearing
a right-of-way manually. The use of equipment cuts that manpower down. Doing
it mechanically takes away a lot of the hands-on labor that would need to be
done if we didn’t have the machine available, in turn, this reduces the
exposure to tripping, climbing and tool hazards,” said Sterbenz.
Beyond the general safety benefits the equipment offers, Trees, Inc. also
considers the specific benefits of each piece of equipment. Manufacturers continue
to make new developments in an effort to provide a safer machine.
“Training is just one aspect of the importance we place on safety. We
also incorporate specially-designed features into our equipment to improve
safety as well. The Geo-Boy, for instance, offers improved visibility with
full Lexan, No Mar windows, a rearview camera, and floodlights mounted in both
the front and rear of the machine. The ergonomically designed cab is pressurized
to keep dust and debris from entering the cab during operation. This helps
maintain a clean, safe and comfortable working environment for the operator,” said
Boyum.
According to Sterbenz, some units offer more in the way of safety than others.
When mowing ROWs, the type of cutter head is a consideration. “The flail
head that’s on some brush cutters doesn’t throw the debris. It’s
a very nice head. It does a clean job,” said Sterbenz. Leszkowicz added, “I
think that’s a key component because of the danger of things flying out.
We’re talking hundreds of feet and 10- to 20-pound pieces of wood, so
that safety feature really helps.”
 |
The
use of equipment, such as brush cutters, decreases the amount of
hands-on labor Trees, Inc. crews perform, reducing the potential for accidents. |
The Mechanical Benefits
The safety benefits of the equipment Trees, Inc. utilizes is just the tip of
the iceberg. The company relies on its arsenal to improve productivity, increase
efficiency and minimize costs. “Equipment definitely plays a big role
in our industry in making sure that we have the right tools out there to provide
a cost-effective product for our customers. Using a piece of equipment is a
lot more cost-effective than having ground labor do it manually,” said
Sterbenz. For instance, “It makes sense to bring a mower in that can
go out and do 15/20 spans of work in a day rather than having a ground crew
do the work.”
Trees, Inc. pre-screens each project and geographical location to determine
what equipment is needed to complete the job. “With the variety of machines
we have available, it’s helped increase the efficiency and productivity
of our crews. And being able to have the diversity in our fleet, we can provide
the right piece of equipment at the right time with the right people,” said
Leszkowicz.
Mowers, in particular, prove their worth when reclaiming right-of-ways that
haven’t been maintained for 15 or 20 years. “To go in and hand
cut, chip and remove all that brush, crews would be there for a long period
of time. Having a mower with a flail-type head is definitely a savior. We can
go right down the right-of-way with one person in the machine… It’s
safer and a lot more cost effective.”
Maintaining a fleet large enough to cover Trees, Inc.’s expansive territory
is yet another unique challenge that the company faces. “We’ve
developed a support team to keep the equipment running in top shape,” said
Leszkowicz. Sterbenz added, “Our crew forepersons are taught from day
one on how to do the daily maintenance cycle. Then I have an equipment person
for our region that is in charge of oil changes, the hours and things of that
nature. He ensures that the oils and the fluids are getting changed in the
timeframe required by the owner’s manual.”
From time to time the company has to rely on the manufacturers to assist with
maintenance. With units all over the country, this assistance is often given
over the phone, but some companies are able to send technicians to the field,
if necessary. According to Sterbenz, “They are there at a moment’s
notice for a phone call. They have offered to send field technicians out to
help us in case we have an issue, and they are always there need to answer
a question.”
Continual Growth
Trees, Inc.’s pattern of growth that started with the inception of the
company more than 50 years ago shows no signs of being strangled by the recent
economic downturn. “We actually just added a new major account last
week,” said Leszkowicz, “We have filled the market with people
like Joe Sterbenz, and we have been able to continually grow.”
The structure of the company has also been integral to nurturing the growth
of the company. “We went through a period of time a few years ago, where
we did a little reorganization. Now that we have established some areas as
centers of operation, we are able to support the entire operation better,” said
Leszkowicz.
Tackling
Tree Service from Coast to Coast
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