GBH Enterprises in Southern California offers skilled operators and quality equipment for construction projects. The company, founded in 1996, has experienced steady growth and specializes in road reconstruction. They prioritize customer needs and rely on reliable Link-Belt excavators for efficiency.
Photo courtesy of GBH Enterprises
Another GBH-owned Link-Belt 145 X4 excavator on a job site.
While not all companies are created equal, some are more "not equal" than others.
Consider GBH Enterprises which, by offering its clientele a fleet of productive equipment — and a skilled operator for each machine — keeps the seemingly unending Southern California development humming along.
Slotted into the supplier chain as an "operator-maintained equipment rental company," GBH has filled a gap within the Inland Empire section east of Los Angeles proper. It has done so by meeting the needs of its customers, keeping projects on track and on (or under) budget and offering reliable, productive equipment.
The ABCs of GBH
Photo courtesy of GBH Enterprises
GBH Enterprises founder Brad Hull
Established by Brad Hull in 1996, GBH Enterprises (the moniker stems from the couple Giovanna/Brad Hull) is a culmination of various jobs performed by Hull which piqued his interest in equipment.
"My dad got me my first job as an oiler helper for an engineering contractor," he said. "It was nothing fancy — I used to fuel and grease heavy equipment. Later, after a few years running a business in which I power washed and cleaned other people" equipment, I finally bought my first piece of equipment, a skid-steer loader which I used for breaking concrete and performing small demolition projects.
"While doing those jobs, people would often ask if I had other excavators and backhoes. I kept saying no until I couldn't say no anymore."
GBH's growth was slow but steady, with just Hull and his brother Kyle at the outset.
"I always had the plan to make this an operator-maintained equipment rental company," he said. "So, as I added equipment — a half dozen skid-steers for the first 10 years in business — I got another friend to join us, who would tell his friend, and so on. Essentially, we grew by word of mouth. Today, in addition to a nice lineup of skid-steers and attachments, we also offer a full line of Link-Belt excavators — and an operator to accompany each."
No Exodus
Successful entrepreneur though he is, Hull is fortunate to have established GBH in one of California's most economically booming regions. The Inland Empire, which sits adjacent to coastal Southern California, centers around the cities of San Bernardino and Riverside, bordering Los Angeles County to the east.
Post-pandemic, it has fared far better than the rest of the state and saw more than 22,000 people move to the area in the last year. That has served GBH well, Hull said.
"Unlike many other areas, this region has really seen a lot of steady growth," he said. "As a result, a lot of road reconstruction — which happens to be our specialty — is always taking place. Every major road contractor in this area uses us for the demolition facet of their jobs."
An operator-maintained equipment rental company is one in which a customer comes to the company seeking not just a machine but also a skilled operator to run it on a particular project.
"These companies know that my people can do the job, do it well, and most likely do it faster than their own people," Hull said. "Working with us relieves them of the headache of adding iron to their fleet and dealing with manpower allocation, while, at the same time, keeping projects on track. Over the years, they've come to depend on us for both our productivity and reliability."
Comparison Shopping
Photo courtesy of GBH Enterprises
When it came time to build his larger equipment fleet, those customer demands helped drive Hull's buying decision. He said that, after demonstration sessions, the choice was whittled down to two manufacturers: Link-Belt and another major company. From there, Hull said, the decision was fairly easy.
"After running both brand machines and having a perfect opportunity for comparison, my guys all said the Link-Belt was faster and smoother," he said. "The fact that it was also more affordable didn't hurt either. But what kind of sealed the deal for us was knowing that Bejac Corp. was the dealer. I knew they'd provide solid support after the sale and, in this business, uptime is key."
GBH's commitment to the Link-Belt line was steady, adding new machines as the market dictated. Today, it offers a full range to its customer base, including one 80X4, a pair of 145X4 Spin Ace units, a 355X4S and a new 245X4.
Ace in Place
The company's expertise was on display recently when it was called upon to provide earthmoving support for a project in nearby Chino, Calif. The customer, while one of the region's leading asphalt paving specialists, opts not to own excavators, instead deferring to GBH for those needs.
Photo courtesy of GBH Enterprises
"I've worked with All American Asphalt for a number of years and have been able to provide the machines they need when projects dictate it," Hull said. "In this case, they were extending an existing road and there was a decent amount of earthwork involved. We provided a Link-Belt 145X4 Spin Ace which, positioned properly, loaded trucks faster than a traditional loader could have."
A front-end loader needs to move laterally to grab a bucketful of dirt, raise and position itself to unload and then repeat the process to grab its next load. At the Chino site, by contrast, the Spin Ace swung left or right and quickly, efficiently loaded each truck.
"It's a much more streamlined process, there's no doubt," Hull said.
Hull has grown his excavator fleet in line with the demands of his existing and projected client base. He has strengthened that lineup with a full array of attachments — shears, crunchers, specialty buckets, etc. While he has found success with the 145 X4, which fits most size and productivity demands, the 80X3 has shown itself to be a formidable option, too.
"This is actually the second 80X3, I've owned since upsizing," he said. "Right now, we're using it on an interior demo project. Using a hydraulic thumb, we're able to break through the concrete, grab the rebar and pull it out using the thumb. The 80 has all the hydraulics needed to run a shear, a breaker, a rotational bucket, almost anything. It's an extremely versatile unit for us."
GBH bought the 80X3 with the offset boom option which, Hull said, has often paid dividends.
"The machine's ability to rotate 130 degrees from left to right allows my guys to dig in tight areas such as directly up against building foundations and in places other machines can't," he said. "A little while back, it was tearing down block walls in Fontana one day, then, a day later, excavating for new footings to move the walls back 20 feet. That machine is becoming one of the more in-demand units in the fleet."
Need for Speed
Every machine in the GBH's excavator lineup fills a specific need, whether in terms of size, adaptability, speed, etc. With that in mind, the true workhorse of the GBH inventory — the machine that literally and figuratively does the "heavy lifting" — would have to be its Link-Belt 355X4S. According to Hull, the combination of power that belies its sub-79,000 lb. weight and its zero-tail swing design make it indispensable.
"And the 355 is fast — probably 30 percent faster than any comparable machine," he said. "If my guys, for some reason, have to operate a different brand machine, they say it feels like they're working in slow motion. That unit was recently removing 16-inch concrete slabs at John Wayne Airport runway in Orange County, an activity that can be a challenging lift for some machines. But, because the 355's built-in lifting mode provides a hefty power boost just when it's needed, those slabs were no problem."
Given the success they've had and the development that continues around them, Hull said he sees no sign of slowing down.
"In fact, in the short-term, we're probably going to end up adding another 80X3 because it's proven such a popular machine," he said. "We're getting more and more calls for it to the point where I've had to juggle jobs just to make it available. We've been very fortunate. We have a great group of people; we get the best performance imaginable from our equipment; and we enjoy an outstanding level of support from Bejac."
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