Construction Equipment Guide
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Mon July 29, 2019 - Southeast Edition #16
Caterpillar dealers across the country are in the midst of hosting 2019 Global Operator Challenge events to find their territory's best equipment operator and send them to the regional finals in Clayton, N.C., this October. The ultimate goal is of course advancing to the next level and competing against operators from around the world at the Cat Global Finals at ConExpo in Las Vegas, Nev., in 2020.
On July 18, it was Thompson Tractor's time to conduct their Northern Alabama competition in Cullman, Ala. The competition was held just off the I-65 ramp at Exit 299 on a 10-acre piece of property owned by Scotty Hooper of S&L Leasing & Excavating that is central to several of Thompson's facilities in the northern portion of the state. Hooper is a 40-plus year customer and friend of many in the Thompson Tractor organization, as well as a regular buyer of Caterpillar equipment. He said he was happy to help out and lend his piece of land for the event, pointing out that he owns the same machines that are being used in this competition.
David Hicks of David Hicks Construction, Hayden, Ala., competed in this challenge and admitted he hadn't been in an operator competition since one held by Thompson Tractor back in the late 1990s. He conceded that the machines have come a long way with a whole lot more comfort and a whole lot more technology for performance, as well as being a whole lot more operator-friendly.
"All I own is Cat equipment and Thompson Tractor has really taken care of me," Hicks added.
"As a matter of fact, my dad worked for them some time ago and that's where I got my love for Cat machines. I think I'm up to 21 machines in my fleet now and my highway trucks run Cat engines as well."
More than 70 highly skilled and "seasoned" operators registered for this challenge, and as the Alabama summer heat went up, so did the level of the competition. When all was said and done, the overall winners of the Thompson Tractor Central & North Alabama Operator Challenge were: 1st place Jonathan Hagood; 2nd place Jonathan Poole; and 3rd place Kelly Childers. CEG