Conco Companies, which was founded in Missouri in 1947 as a ready-mix concrete company, acquired two quarries when it purchased Garrett Construction Co. in 1958. This created Conco Quarries, which is now a subsidiary of Ash Grove Cement.
“Over the last seven decades Conco has grown from a small operation with just seven employees and four trucks to almost 200 staff members and close to 100 delivery trucks,” says Chris Upp, vice president and general manager of the quarry division at Conco Companies, in a press release. “Despite the large-scale growth of the company, we are still very much a family business, and we pride ourselves on maintaining close relationships with our customers through excellent service.”
As part of an ongoing equipment renewal program, Conco recently purchased a 72-ton TR70 rigid hauler from Terex Trucks’ Midwest dealer GW Van Keppel, which is being used to haul crushed limestone from the face to the crusher. The company decided the dump truck was a perfect fit for its operation due to the machine’s haulage capacity, which exceeded that of its existing machines by 30-tons.
“The reputation of Terex Trucks’ rigid frame trucks precedes itself and it’s great to have a respected company such as Conco putting our machines to the test,” says Dan Meara, regional sales manager at Terex Trucks, in a press release. “When we got the call from GW Van Keppel that Conco was keen to put one of our trucks to work in its Willard facility we knew the TR70 would fit right in, and we worked together to create a competitive offer. Once the deal was done, we did two days of training with operators on site at the quarry and the machine has been delivering since.”
The TR70 features a Detroit Diesel MTU-2000TA 12-cylinder 24-liter engine with 760 horsepower; a high capacity body with exhaust heating to limit carry-back and increase productivity; a 15-degree sloping tail chute for good retention and controlled dumping into the crusher; and effective gearing coupled with optimum weight distribution so it can move more material using less fuel in less time. Its haul cycles are short thanks to smooth acceleration.
“The truck is a welcome addition to the operation we run at our Willard facility,” Upp adds in the press release. “We provide vital services to our community here at Conco. We have many high priority customers, so everything we crush, we sell, meaning downtime simply isn’t an option. Our expectations for the TR70 were big and it’s done well to help increase productivity. Going into this transaction we were a first-time Terex Trucks customer, but based on our early analysis, we believe this truck will give us solid, long-term performance.”