John, left, and Trey Jenkins take delivery of the 2014 Contractors Dream Package.When John Jenkins, of John F. Jenkins Contracting, Hot Springs, Arkansas, saw the Equipment World booth at this year’s ConExpo, he was already familiar with the Contractor’s Dream Package, now in its 12th year. So he put his name in the hopper, but didn’t think it would amount to anything.
Fortunately for John, his name was pulled to receive the entire package, including a Ford Super Duty chassis cab truck, a Landoll LT 1020 tilt trailer, a Ditch Witch RT 12 walk-behind trencher, a set of Rubbertrax rubber machine tracks and Alternamats ground protection mats, all valued at about $80,000.
John F. Jenkins Contracting began after World War II, when John’s father, also named John, and uncle started a logging business with two used G. I. half-track trucks in California. “A used truck dealer gave them the trucks and told them to put them to work and they could pay him back when they could,” recalls Jenkins. The two logged in the Redwood Forest until 1960, after which they returned to their home state of Arkansas.
In Arkansas, the two started another company with two trucks and two Cat D7 dozers, doing land clearing and dozer work. After selling out, John’s father formed his own firm and started hauling asphalt, sand and gravel. John joined his father in 1974. “I sold my car and boat to get the money for a down payment on a dump truck,” he recalls. His father retired in 1984 and passed in 1985.
In 2007, John’s son, John “Trey” Jenkins III, joined the company after graduating with a degree in construction management from the University of Arkansas. Together, the two head a company that is involved in site preparation and storm drainage, roads and subdivisions, custom grading and synthetic turf fields, along with doing what they started out doing, hauling sand and gravel. The company also operates a small rock quarry under a separate corporation.
John clearly has his eyes on the future: “Our first grandchild, John Fletcher Jenkins IV, was born Nov. 14 and hopefully he will be ready to step in and continue the tradition.” But, then, he’s willing to wait a few years.
Equipment World would like to thank the sponsors of the 2014 Contractors Dream Package: Ford Trucks, Ditch Witch, Landoll, Alternamats and Rubbertrax.
