In February, Cleveland Brothers delivered a Peterson BT40 blower truck to erosion control specialists Varsity Inc. of Swoyersville, Luzerne County, Pa. The truck is the first of its kind sold in northeast Pennsylvania.

Al Nocerine, Varsity’s project manager, said, “The new truck fills the 24- and 32-inch erosion control ’socks’ that the DEP now requires for erosion control and hydroseeding at drilling sites.”

Varsity is a certified Filtrexx supplier. Filtrexx FilterSoxx erosion control socks are biodegradable tubes that can be filled with a variety of organic materials including wood chips, mulch and compost.

“The ’socks’ can be placed along a river bank, or you can put them along the highway.” Nocerine said. “The application can be used anywhere. This Peterson truck gives us the ability to go 550 feet.”

Varsity chose a Peterson truck for two reasons: Its walking floor and its hose reel. With remote control operations, only two people are needed to run the truck, and an automatic reel on the back of the truck manages the hose. Planks on the truck floor “walk” and shift the load, preventing the bridging that can happen in V blowers.

“It actually walks the product to the back. It walks the product to the front,” Nocerine said. “It’s pretty amazing. After a day at the end of the hose, you’re kind of tired,” Nocerine said. “You don’t want to drag 500 feet of hose.”

Varsity once used a Peterson truck rented from Cleveland Brothers to install a third-floor roof garden on a Hudson River apartment building.

Cleveland Brothers, which sells Peterson machines, brought reliable service and an extensive parts network to the deal, Nocerine said.

“I’ve known our rep, Jeff Connolly, for a long time,” he said. “Cleveland Brothers is great to deal with, and the service is wonderful. When the truck was delivered, Cleveland Brothers service spent half a day learning the truck. They said this will be something we’ll work together on.”

With the Peterson blower truck, Varsity is positioned to win contracts reclaiming drilling sites to DEP specifications — and getting the job done right the first time.

Nocerine said, “We figured this was a great business to get into on the ground floor.”

This story also appears on Truck and Trailer Guide.

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