126 The Next Hundred Years We bought a few more used Macks and a couple of lowboy trailers and devised a plan to turn this into full-time work. In 2007, former Livingston Associates employee Jeramie “JR” Reifenstein became the frst dispatcher, working in tandem with the P&CG asset manager. We made equipment moves not only for our construction operations, but also for emergency projects for the utility companies. This kept our own projects on schedule and freed us to respond to emergencies. JR worked 55 to 60 hours a week to keep operations afoat and growing. We added stake bodies, dump trucks, tag trailers, and pickups to service every logistical need. We still haul smaller items this way—such as plate tampers, walk-behind saws, compressors, concrete forms, trench shoring, lumber, pipe, and road plates. We never said no. Each time the phone rang, we were determined to take care of the customer, fgure out how to accomplish what they were asking for, and build a cooperative relationship. To this day, if the customer needs it delivered, they can count on us to get it there. Some of our small delivery customers are ADMAR Construction Equipment & Supplies, United Rentals, and Anderson Equipment. Emergencies When it comes to emergency storm response, Heavy Haul shines. Licensed to drive tankers, drivers Bobby Strassner, Paul Conner, and Michael Pragle perform large-scale refueling operations using LA trucks. They fuel up at the customer’s terminal before heading into the heart of the disaster area to refuel the customer’s bucket trucks, pickups, and heavy equipment. This keeps restoration workers on the front lines instead of in gas station lines, greatly shortening power outages for the community. 10-4 Communication between the drivers and dispatchers in the early years was done via CB radio, which sent signals from a radio tower in Bristol, N.Y. All company vehicles had radios installed. Employees were given a call sign or were referred to by their truck number, and the dispatcher’s call sign was “Base.” Everyone in the company was connected to home base and could easily communicate their needs in those days before cell phones were popular. Upper management had radios in their ofces, and they kept abreast of all the feld activity by listening to the everyday dialogue. The FCC also had the ability to monitor conversations, and many times employees were reminded to refrain from using profanity across the airwaves—which was sometimes challenging in the construction environment. Livingston Associates’ tanker trucks in the Scottsville yard await the next storm-related power outage. A John Deere 844K front end loader is ready to be delivered to the customer’s jobsite.
