From its beginning in 1985 as an industrial concrete contractor, Wayne Brothers’ philosophy has always been based on the premise that quality begins from the foundation up. Keith Wayne, president of Wayne Brothers, applies this premise to the company’s people and tools that support their service and ability to deliver.
Wayne Brothers Inc., Kannapolis, N.C., celebrated 25 years of business on June 14, 2010. The company has grown over the past quarter century offering grading, utility, commercial concrete and construction services for a variety of venues. These venues go beyond its cornerstone customers to include: medical office building, sports and recreation, parking decks and multi-story residential buildings. Wayne Brothers today employs 164 experienced staff members and is poised for further growth.
In preparation for that growth, Wayne Brothers recently added to its compact equipment fleet, purchasing two Cat 257B2 multi-terrain loaders (MTLs) from Carolina CAT, Charlotte, N. C. The Cat iron and dealer were chosen after Wayne Brothers put together a comprehensive evaluation of three equipment dealers. The process evaluated not only the equipment itself from hydraulics to travel speed, but looked into the dealer field service, product and support teams, shop capabilities, warranties and future trade-in value.
Alan Goodman, asset manager for Wayne Brothers stated, “My background is in telecommunications. So when it came time to add a new multi-terrain loader to our growing fleet, I turned to Jerry Lambert, our shop foreman and Todd Wilson, our dispatcher, to help me perform a comprehensive evaluation. This is a learning experience for me and I wanted to make sure that what we would ultimately recommend to the company owners was the best and most reliable piece of equipment on the market.”
As one of the oldest Caterpillar dealers in the United States, Carolina CAT has been a dedicated business partner of Wayne Brothers for many years, with a relationship based on rentals and some 20 pieces of Cat equipment already in the Wayne Brothers fleet. Mitch Christenbury, territory manager, was responsible for providing Goodman with equipment options and demoed the equipment they thought best suited for the job. He even took the time to bring Jose Acosta, used equipment representative and former shop manager, to Wayne Brothers to present the service side of the equation to Jerry Lambert.
“Accessibility to the workings of the machines was key for Carolina CAT,” said Lambert. “ You can open one panel to get to three filters in a white shirt. I also could tell that Jose could take the machine apart and put it back together, which gave me confidence in the dealer service. Carolina CAT was far ahead of the competition.”
Todd Wilson, dispatcher, Wayne Brothers, was on-hand for the field evaluation in which Carolina CAT and a competitor each took its MTL into a head-to-head competition.
“Our operators experienced a very smooth ride in a Cat MTL. Even those riding as non-operators felt that the ride was smooth. And using the Cat, in terms of a different operating system was no obstacle. This could have been a hurdle for Carolina CAT because the operators must adjust to the different operating tools, but it’s been an easy transition. They loved the machine,” stated Wilson.
Another factor that contributed to Wayne Brothers’ decision to go with the Cat MTL was the machine’s future trade value, which was established by a call to Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers, who said that Cat machines have a higher trade value as a highly recognized brand throughout the world. Carolina CAT also came out on top in terms of price and offered Wayne Brothers a trial period with the machine.
“Carolina CAT went above and beyond what we expected. They offered two low hour machines out of their rental fleet and included a two-year bumper-to-bumper warranty. This warranty is double the length of the warranty of a new machine. Christenbury provided information and followed up without being overwhelming. He has a good rapport internally and has support from Carolina CAT. He helps you buy, he’s not just making a sale and he makes all the pieces work,” said Goodman.
Christenbury feels that the work Carolina CAT did with Wayne Brothers, and with all of the company’s valued customers, is “about doing the right things and bringing the team together.”
And that is the goal of Carolina CAT as they continue to put the customer first and provide the best equipment solutions in western North Carolina. CEG
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