When Marty Robertson and Gary Humphreys, Manag-ing Partners, bought Vista Sand in 2011 they knew

there were a couple of things they need-ed to take care of in order to grow their business, replace the worn out mixed fleet they inherited in the purchase and have someone manage it for them. The solution was hiring Ron Lee, Director of Mining and Fleet Assets, in 2013 and creating a partnership with an equip-ment dealer who could maintain the equipment at minimal downtime.

Lee evaluated the equipment and rec-ommended to the partners to allow him to create an equipment cycling process: purchase new equipment from a local dealer, trade the equipment and purchase

more equipment all while working with the dealer to keep meticulous service and repair records. According to Lee, he was establishing a reputation for Vista Sand as a company that takes care of its equip-ment and to extract more value through trade-in or used equipment sales. While it would cost more upfront, long-term ownership would be much less. Based on Lee’s 20 years of earthmoving expe-rience, he recommended Cat® as the nat-ural choice. “We have faith, based upon years of experience, in Cat products, the dealer and supply network,” said Lee. “It didn’t take long before the company was convinced that HOLT CAT was the right partner for Vista Sand.”

According to Lee, HOLT CAT was able to sell the inherited fleet and even sold some of the equipment overseas. By re-ducing the fleet, the company was able to purchase all new Cat equipment and have it exclusively serviced by HOLT. Vis-ta Sand currently has two fulltime HOLT CAT resident technicians that handle most repairs on-site. If a unit requires shop service, it is shipped to the nearest HOLT CAT facility where repairs will be made by a Cat trained and certified tech-nician, in a contamination controlled en-vironment, using OEM parts backed by Cat with HOLT CAT quality. “While other

brands may have had a lower initial pur-chase price, Cat equipment, purchased through HOLT CAT, has consistently over time provided Vista Sand with the lowest operating cost,” said Lee. He explains further how HOLT CAT parts and service helps keep their equipment running, reducing downtime. “HOLT asked us what parts we needed regularly stocked and ordered them regardless of added cost in increased inventory levels for them.”

Vista Sand is located one hour south of Fort Worth, in Granbury, Texas, and is ranked as an industry leader in indus-trial silica sand solution for oil and gas fracturing and building products. To-day, the company owns 35 Cat machines to include dozers, trucks, motor grad-ers, excavators, wheel loaders and skid steer loaders. The machines perform many tasks such as hauling and blend-ing sand, road reclamation, construction and maintenance. “Cat equipment and HOLT’s support gives us a competitive edge. Our availability in material is 18% to 20% higher than it would be without our partnership with HOLT,” said Lee.

When asked how HOLT CAT compares to other equipment dealers, Lee said “That’s a simple answer! There is no comparison when you look at the prod-

uct they offer and the level of dealer sup-port we consistently receive from HOLT CAT.” According to Lee, the company has never worked with a dealer where the entire dealership from sales to service to technical support, seems to be all fully committed to Vista Sand’s business. “The HOLT team will do whatever it takes to keep us up and running,” said Lee. “I have worked with many Cat dealers in the past 20 years, but have never met a dealer whose sales department stays as involved in the service side as HOLT CAT does.” Vista Sand needed to find a part-

ner that could help them with their plans for substantial growth and they found that partner in HOLT CAT and this has been acknowledged all the way to the top. Lee adds, “We could not have gotten where we are today without HOLT CAT.”

Lee explains how HOLT is not only a partner but also a friend and consul-tant. “Our relationship is not just about equipment. It is a true partnership,” said Lee. He adds that he has called Michael Grimm, Vice President of Machine Sales, Sean Lothery, regional sales manager and Joe Anselmi, Account Sales Repre-

sentative from HOLT CAT, on many occa-sions to discuss things far beyond equip-ment. HOLT CAT does not sell Vista Sand equipment they do not need. Lee shares, “It’s like having an equipment consultant to guide us on equipment that better fits our operation Why not utilize HOLT’s experience and knowledge to share ideas. I am dealing with one area in one state, while HOLT deals with a much larger area with similar customers.” Before Vis-ta Sand partnered with HOLT CAT, they had some reservations about putting all of their trust in a single equipment deal-er. “But the partnership we have with HOLT CAT on trade-ins, consignments, residence techs, parts and service has been phenomenal,” said Lee.

Anselmi explains another key connec-tion, “Our partnership goes both ways, and Vista Sand has a lot of things in com-mon with HOLT CAT. We both have a set of values that we take very seriously that empowers employees to drive organiza-tional success and excellence in serving their customers.” Cecelia Brinke, Direc-tor of Human Resources at Vista Sand explained the Vista Sand values state-ment is relatively new, will be soon com-municated throughout the company and was derived from the company name, “VISTA stands for Vision, Integrity, Safe-

ty, Teamwork and Accountability. Brin-ke further adds, “It’s important to have a mission statement because employees need to know what our values are so that each department and individual can apply these principles when doing busi-ness.” HOLT CAT conducts business in a similar fashion and has five core values: Ethical - By doing the right thing, Success -By consistently achieving targeted goals, Excellence -By continually getting better, Commitment - By being here to stay and Dynamic - By pursuing strategic oppor-tunities.

Brinke added, Vista Sand is part of the community and is very conscious of their responsibility whether it is from an envi-ronmental, regulatory or precautionary aspect, or in doing the right thing with safety being a top priority. The company is proud that they have won two safety awards in the past two years. Vista Sand received the National Mining Association Sentinels of Safety Award, a prestigious industry award, presented to managing partner Humphreys in 2015 and won for its outstanding safety record (184,867 employee hours worked without a lost workday inquiry) in the “Large Bank or Pit category.” The company also received the Mine Safety Health Administration Award (MSHA).

It’s also important for Vista Sand to give back to the community. “We try to hire local people and within the sur-rounding counties. We train people to do their job whether it is driving haul trucks, operating equipment or adminis-trative. We are always looking to hire new and energetic talent for our plant and are partnering with the military and other mines to promote opportunities in our area,” said Brinke.

For more information or to see current job openings go to VistaSand.net or HOLT CAT at holtcat.com

Vista Sand and HOLT CATPartnership Built on Trust and Commitment

By Sabine Fritz, Marketing Manager HOLT CAT® San Antonio, Texas

Ron Lee-Director of Mining and Fleet Assets

Gary Humphreys Managing Partner

February 2016 Texas Contractor 1918 Texas Contractor February 2016