1. W
hen 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 CAT
PartnershipBuiltonTrustandCommitment
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