Matt Poole’s Total Dry Hire, built on Kobelco
Quality, reliability and service are three reasons a Sydney rental operator chose to build his business with Kobelco.
Value for money is also at the top of the list for Mat Poole, whose southern Sydney company Total Dry Hire (TDH) has been renting equipment to the construction industry across Sydney for the last four years.
”Kobelco excavators are very powerful, they dig well, they work well and they tend not to break down. I can’t fault them,” Mat said.
Kobelco was not the only machinery company Mat spoke to when he started his business but it was the only one that listened and understood his plan. It’s helped TDH grow to an operation with 12 excavators and many of these are Kobelco’s ranging from 1.5 to 48 tonnes. TDH services a range of clients from local builders and plumbers to large-scale civil construction operations building roads and airports.
Before hatching the plan for TDH, Mat was working in marine drilling but many of his friends were working in the civil construction industry. As they complained about the lack of good quality, full safety-spec excavators in the dry hire market, he realised he was looking at a promising business opportunity.
“Coming from the oil and gas industry, there was a much higher level of safety, so I could see that standard flowing through to the rest of the industry and that gave me a head start. I bought brand new machines that offered the highest level of safety just as the transformation was happening in the construction area. The machines with the extra safety features are perfect for jobs with risky, uneven terrain.
“One of the biggest reasons for me, in terms of buying from my local authorised Kobelco dealer, Sydney Trucks and Machinery Centre (STMC) is the sales staff. The service is excellent and they went through everything with me, the different machines, the prices and what else they could offer, and that’s where it all kicked off.”
The features on Kobelco excavators stood out to Mat as the most efficient and safest machines on the market. STMC were also able to add additional items requested such as, height and slew limiters, emergency stop buttons, double auto locking hitches, handrails and UHF radios to ensure compliance on all sites.
“They were so easy to deal with. They knew what I wanted; they could supply and fit it all at a really good price.”
Mat cites availability as one of Kobelco’s advantages. He says the company ‘gets’ the fact that when there is a big contract happening, you need the machine ready to go within your time frame, not the supplier’s.
He says his clients have discovered that Kobelco builds impressive machines that are very reliable and extremely fuel-efficient. With some hire periods stretching out to six or nine months, clients are giving positive feedback on the fuel savings of the Kobelco machinery compared to many of its rivals.
“They understand how important it is for me to get that machine back out the door, so I’m very happy. I’m very confident this business will keep growing and I know I’ll be staying with Kobelco.”
