Maxus Excavating Gains Onsite Fueling Advantages with 920-Gallon Fuel Trailer that Requires no CDL or Hazmat Endorsement to Own/Operate
By Niki Patterson, western regional sales manager, Thunder Creek Equipment
“We get the job done.” That’s what Maxus Excavating promises to its customers. Based in Colorado Springs, CO, the company has become a trusted underground utility and excavation contractor since Owner and President David Nicolalde started the business in 2019. He and his team pride themselves on being hardworking, knowledgeable, and providing solutions to their customers underground and earthmoving needs.
“Our primary customer base is commercial. We do a lot of work for gas stations and strip malls, and even some smaller projects,” said Nicolalde. “I would say that earthmoving is probably 30 percent of our business and underground utilities work makes up the rest.”
Maxus Excavating has an extensive fleet of equipment, including excavators, bulldozers, backhoe loaders, rollers, and graders that require regular onsite refueling, a process that until last year had been tedious and inefficient. Managing, fueling, and maintaining a fleet of equipment across multiple, decentralized jobsites had made it difficult to coordinate fueling in a way that maximized time, labor and resources.
“We used to have a Ford F350 truck with three 110-gallon tanks on it. It would take hours on each job site to go around fueling equipment and then driving back to the fuel station to pick up more,” Nicolalde explained. “I finally decided, this is not working.”
Searching for a way to optimize labor, time, and resources around his fuel operations, Nicolalde recalled Thunder Creek. He had seen their No HAZMAT Fuel & Service Trailer (MTT) on YouTube and at CONEXPO/CON-AGG but had wondered if it was worth the money just to refuel equipment. He finally made the decision to invest after seeing the trailer while driving by a local dealership. He contacted Four Rivers Equipment and made the leap with the purchase of a MTT 920 model — and it’s one that has paid off in more ways than expected.
Numerous Cost-Reducing Benefits
For Maxus Excavating, the biggest benefit the MTT 920 provides is faster, more efficient fueling. It has the capacity to carry 920 gallons of diesel fuel, with the option of 100 gallons of diesel exhaust fluid (DEF) and comes standard with a 35-foot-long auto-retracting hose reel with an auto-trip nozzle.
The ability to have a mobile fueling solution on the jobsite has reduced the company’s previous fueling time from six to seven hours daily to two hours.
“It's just way faster. We start that motor up and start pumping fuel and get it done,” said Nicolalde. “Plus, it’s a whole bunch of headaches off our shoulders when we don’t have to make two or three runs to the fuel station to fill up all this equipment.”
According to Nicolalde, having the MTT 920 has also provided cost savings to Maxus Excavating since they are able to purchase diesel in bulk.
“We’re saving at least 15 to 20 cents a gallon on bulk fuel. We have a really big tank at our shop and it's about 3,000 gallons, so it'll load this trailer up about three times,” he explained “Normally we try to time it to where the tank's empty and then we just pull the trailer there and fill it up.”
Nicolalde is also saving on labor costs because of the MTT 920’s design. The trailer has a common manifold that connects eight individual 115-gallon tanks to a commercial grade pumping system, which mitigates the need for drivers to carry a HAZMAT endorsement or commercial driver’s license (CDL). Any team member with a safe driving record can tow the MTT 920.
“The no HAZMAT license requirement is extremely important. I don't want to have to get a HAZMAT license or try to find someone with one, which would cost more,” he said. “With this trailer, it doesn't matter who it is, they can just jump on it and pick it up. HAZMAT insurance is not cheap. Any avenue you can find to save money is going to help in the long run, that way you can be more competitive in your bidding.”
Nicolalde also appreciates the ease of towing the MTT 920 and its robust construction.
“When I first saw the trailer, I thought this is well built. There’s no screwing around. It’s very well built with heavy axles,” he said.
Nicolalde believes the MTT 920 is the ideal trailer for them, and he would recommend it to other excavating companies.
“For the size of equipment that we have and how much fuel we run through, this is perfect size. I would definitely say it's worth every penny,” he explained. “I mean hauling around nearly a thousand gallons of fuel. It’s pretty awesome. You won't have any problems fueling stuff up for sure.”
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