A Georgia contractor pursues new opportunities and grows his business as a nearby port expands.
On the morning of a crisp February workday, Wendell “Doys” O’Steen and his two sons dug trenches and moved pipes at the site of a new warehouse being built outside of Savannah, Georgia.
Doys is no stranger to the construction industry. As soon as he graduated college with a civil engineering degree, he started his career in construction. He has spent the last 15 years doing utility work.
Two years ago, he founded Atlantic Contracting Solutions with plans to pass it along to his sons when he’s ready to retire.
“We’re a utility contractor,” Doys says. “We do water, sewer, storm and underground piping from the Savannah metro area down to Brunswick, Georgia.”
Building Warehouses
Ever since the Port of Savannah expanded, the need for warehouses in the area has grown. That’s turned into a boon for Atlantic Contracting Solutions.
Working south of Savannah near Midway, Georgia, Doys and his sons, Owen and Will, installed water, domestic and fire suppression system lines, as well as the sanitary sewer and storm sewer services at a new warehouse.
“We are relatively close to Savannah here,” Doys says. “We have a lot of expansion at the port, and a lot of these warehouses are going up to support the work that they’ve got going on, receiving materials at the port.”
Enter DEVELON
Doys operated many different brands of construction equipment before purchasing his first DEVELON heavy construction equipment.
He heard about the DEVELON brand through a friend who had some contacts with DEVELON and became interested in the equipment. That led to a conversation with a local sales representative from Dynamic Equipment in Savannah.
“I purchased the first two pieces of equipment without doing a demo, just by taking site visits and looking at how the machines were operating,” he says. “We bought a DL250-7 wheel loader and a DX255LC-5 crawler excavator.”
Pairing the DEVELON excavator and wheel loader works well for utility work because of the machines’ size and versatility.
“The DL250-7 is easy to transport, and the fuel efficiency of both machines has proven to be very good,” he says. “At the end of the day, it’s about production and keeping your overhead down.”
Doys and his sons keep the wheel loader busy doing a variety of tasks. The machine is equipped with a quick coupler, making it easy for the operator to change attachments — from a bucket to a pallet fork. They may be lifting and carrying pipes with the pallet fork or moving rocks and soil with a bucket.
“The quick coupler on our wheel loader probably saves us, on average, three hours a day,” he says. “The operations without the quick coupler would really change our production in a negative way.”
Enhanced Visibility
After having operated construction equipment for decades, Doys is well-versed in machinery. He’s pleased with the design of the next-generation DEVELON wheel loaders, particularly the visibility from the cab.
“The visibility from your operating location is really good,” he says. “The way that the cab is laid out and the openness: there aren’t really blind spots that you have to be concerned with. You can see all the way around the machine. Along with the backup screens you have, it makes it a real safe machine to operate.”
Doys goes on to talk about the creature comforts of the -7 Series wheel loader cab.
“With the level of comfort, they're making these things like cars now,” he says. “The cab is sealed well and it’s really quiet. The climate control that’s available in the machines has so far proven to be very comfortable.”
Doys and his sons are particularly fond of the wheel loader controls. Doys says the wheel loader joystick and the buttons that operate the different accessories for the wheel loader have proven to be user-friendly.
‘Playing In the Dirt’
One thing is certain: Doys loves what he does.
“I like playing in the dirt,” he says. “Every hole that you dig is different. You have continuous challenges in trying to keep everything safe, keep your men safe, and controlling water, which is something that we have to do here in the South. We have a lot of groundwater. We don’t have rock, but every situation’s a little bit different. Every time you come to the job, you’ve got new challenges to overcome.”
Find more details about DEVELON crawler excavators and wheel loaders.
Every time you come to the job, you've got new challenges to overcome. "