A Salute to a Linder Customer: Carolina’s Contracting, LLC

Starting a business together seemed like a pipe dream for best friends Louis Matthews and Jay Sistrunk. However, in 2013 the two found themselves in a position to form their own construction firm, Carolina’s Contracting, LLC. Today, the Charlotte company handles a variety of services for residential and commercial projects in the surrounding metro area.

“Louis was in this line of work for 30 years, and I was on the homebuilding end for nearly 20 years,” offered Sistrunk. “We had worked together on several previous jobs, and then were able to partner about six years ago. Our backgrounds give us different perspectives on the business and are a strength of the company.”

The partnership has thrived as the operation has grown to nearly 100 employees. Carolina’s Contracting provides erosion control, mass grading, fine grading, wet utilities and paving installation on its land-development projects. Roughly 60 to 70 percent of its business focuses on residential townhomes and subdivisions, with the remaining portion devoted to commercial jobsites. The firm also works closely with a growing agricultural supply company.

“Our ideal project is about 300,000 yards,” added Matthews. “Typically, this means we’ll have about eight projects of varying sizes going at a given time. That blend allows us to stay busy but flexible.”

While moving dirt is the main objective at Carolina’s Contracting, ensuring that customers’ needs come first is the company’s mantra.

“Our clients were originally investing more in single-family dwellings; however, that focus has changed,” noted Sistrunk. “We’re getting more involved with multifamily and other commercial projects. We’ll go where the business takes us. Customers trust us to do what we say and then some. We want them to know we have their best interests at heart.”

Embracing technology

One of the reasons Carolina’s Contracting consistently delivers for customers is its fleet, one of the most technologically advanced in the area. With the help of Linder Industrial Machinery and Sales Rep Bill Cross, Carolina’s Contracting boasts 10 Komatsu intelligent Machine Control D51PXi and D61PXi dozers and a PC490LCi excavator.

“I come from the old-school way of grading and using stakes,” said Matthews. “I tried GPS equipment in the early 2000s, but it was complicated and cumbersome, and it turned me off to the idea for a while. When Linder came to us with Komatsu intelligent Machine Control in 2018, we gave it another shot. It was amazing; the rest is history.”

The semi-automatic, integrated-GPS technology shines for Carolina’s Contracting on projects like The Reserve at Canyon Hills – a 225-acre, 700-lot single family community where the company has been performing site development for the last three years.

“Currently, we’re moving 4,000 to 5,000 yards of dirt per day,” explained General Manager Scott Jones. “We’ve been running two mass-grading crews and two full-production pipe crews to meet the five-year deadline. By the end of the project, we will have moved more than 1 million yards of dirt.”

Having an intelligent Machine Control fleet serves as an advantage for Carolina’s Contracting.

“The PC490LCi has been a huge asset on the project,” said Jones. “The operator knows exactly where the pads are and where he needs to dig or avoid. It keeps us from overdigging. We use it to load trucks as well.

“We use the D51PXi for fine grading, cutting swales between house pads and grading curb lines,” Jones continued. “This was one of the wettest winters on record, and the D51PXi was still able to work in the muddy conditions.”

Results like those are the reason that Komatsu has earned a place in Carolina’s Contracting’s fleet and helps shape the company’s mindset.

“Komatsu intelligent Machine Control equipment saves time on production,” stated Jones. “Because designs are more stringent, it really takes equipment with GPS to deliver the product that engineers, customers and owners want. We have peace of mind knowing there’s no need to micromanage the dirt being moved because we have technology taking care of that aspect for us.”

The innovative machinery won over one of the company’s initial skeptics.

“The technology has been painless to integrate,” noted Matthews. “We have invested greatly in it, and we get compliments all of the time on our work because of it. We have really bought into this way of grading. We are looking forward to the day where we can see what every piece of intelligent equipment is doing remotely.”

Perfect pairing

As Carolina’s Contracting continues to grow and modernize its fleet, Linder has played a major role in helping the company stay ahead of the curve. The partnership has been an important one, and Matthews sees that as an ongoing trend.

“As we continue to expand and use more technology, we see (GPS) as an integral part of our business,” noted Matthews. “A lot of the other equipment manufacturers are playing catch up when it comes to GPS. We’ve teamed up with Linder and Komatsu because they’ve designed their equipment to be very reliable, and that’s a big deal to us.”

“The service from Linder and Bill has been excellent as well,” added Jones. “The few issues we do encounter are addressed quickly. Bill really does a good job of following up to make sure that we’re well taken care of from the maintenance and service side.”

The company also turns to Linder and Cross to help build and maintain its fleet, which includes standard excavators ranging from a PC210LC to a PC490LC, a WA270 wheel loader and a Kleemann screen to separate material at jobsites.

Carolina’s Contracting utilizes the Komatsu CARE program, a complimentary three-year or 2,000-hour routine maintenance service. With the KOMTRAX remote monitoring system, the company can track maintenance intervals as well as fuel efficiency, idle time and more.

“Komatsu equipment has been great through my whole career,” stated Matthews. “Based on the fuel savings, durability and cycle times, and what we’re able to do with it in general, it’s been great. We look forward to Komatsu meeting our needs in the future.”

Increasing efficiency

Both Sistrunk and Matthews are happy with the size of their company, but that doesn’t mean they are content. Their focus now is to find ways to further improve efficiency.

“We’re trying to refine what we have and make it more well-oiled,” said Sistrunk. “Throwing bodies at a project or more into the mix is not the answer. I believe we can be more efficient and productive, which is what we’ve emphasized lately.”

“Carolina’s Contracting will continue to be around for the long-haul,” added Matthews. “We’re excited about the possibility of revamping the road systems throughout the area. We hope to be a part of that and maintain a stable company that will flourish through the good times and the bad.”