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.
[hr top]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.
[hr top]Safety First and Foremost
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.
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.”
[hr top]The Mechanical Benefits
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 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.”
[hr top]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.
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