Ramping up
Although Pro Lawn’s first ventures in crushing were recycling jobs, most of the tonnages the company produces today are tied to quarries.
As Houssain describes it, he met an Ohio aggregate producer with multiple quarries at a dealer event a few years ago. The two struck up a conversation, with Houssain detailing how he owned a portable plant and was open to crushing opportunities.
“He took a chance on us – a big risk,” Houssain says. “I communicated with him [later] and said: ‘Hey, I want to buy a jaw.’ He said: ‘Go ahead, I think you’ll be OK.’”
The same went when Houssain communicated to the producer that he was considering purchasing an impactor.
“He said: ‘OK, that’s fine,’” Houssain says. “Now, we’re doing their quarry work plus their recycle work.”
Pro Lawn provides a variety of other services to this key customer, as well.
“We do their stripping, too,” Houssain says. “I’ve got a stripping crew. We go around and do mass excavation. They let us do those types of jobs. They call us when they need something done, and they don’t worry.”
Pro Lawn was awarded those added jobs because it proved reliable. And reliable help, Houssain says, isn’t necessarily easy to come by.
“[This customer] said the guy we have now is undependable,” Houssain says. “He comes and works a little bit and disappears – and comes back three or four months later. He said: ‘I’ll give you one shot. If you can do it, I’ll give you all the crushing you can imagine.’
“And he backed it up,” Houssain adds.