80
A new customized trailer
allows Ewing Trucking
& Construction to pass
through the Eisenhower
Tunnel, avoiding
longer, steeper and
curvier routes.
W
ith just a single truck and
help from his two sons,
Bill Ewing had what it took
to start Ewing Trucking & Construction
in 1981. Ewing and his family began
performing projects throughout
Colorado, specializing in private
residential excavation, municipal projects
and mobilization for companies such as
LaFarge and Martin Marietta.
Today, transporting bulky mining
equipment, excavators, large loaders
and heavy dozers – both for their own
company and others – is a daily routine
for Ewing Trucking & Construction.
Actually, this part of the business is
booming.
It’s not uncommon for the company to
be hauling large Caterpillar 988G loaders
or Cat 470 excavators from town to town
in the area surrounding the company’s
home base in Edwards, CO. Until recently,
the company did most of its equipment
hauling with a 55-ton lowboy and a
51-ton Talbert trailer. With the two
trailers, a number of trucks, expertise in
SITE REPORT
TRANSPORT
clearance to get the largest equipment
through the Eisenhower Tunnel,
enough capacity to handle the weight of
customers’ largest, heaviest equipment,
and the length and width to accommodate
the ever-expanding equipment.
After years of using popular heavy-
haul trailer brands, Bart Ewing said
he had become partial to the Talbert
brand because of precision engineering
that leads to advantages such as greater
durability and lifting capacities.
Brand loyalty
Talbert engineers its trailers with four
hydraulic cylinders rather than two,
so they have greater capacities than
competitive trailers, according to Ewing.
This hydraulic system also minimizes the
need for frequent load adjustments.
“The lifting capacity on the Talbert
trailer doesn’t even compare to the other
trailer,” Ewing said. “Plus, I’ve witnessed
and know how other trailers hold up in
comparison to Talbert trailers. We didn’t
want to stray from the Talbert name.”
Ewing visited Brian Conley, sales
manager at Jim Hawk Truck Trailers in
Denver, who sold a 51-ton Talbert lowboy
to Ewing Trucking & Construction 12
years earlier. Ewing was unsure of what
type of Talbert trailer would be best,
but described what he was looking for:
durability, reliability, low deck height,
high capacity, wide and long.
Conley recognized quickly this wasn’t
going to be just any in-stock, off-the-shelf
trailer. Ewing Trucking & Construction
needed specialization. Ewing and Conley
specced a 55-ton drop-sided trailer with
Low rider
hauling and 25 employees, the specialized
transportation branch of the Ewing
business was unstoppable. Except for one
thing – the Eisenhower Tunnel.
The Eisenhower Tunnel, located on
I-70 just 60 miles from Ewing Trucking
& Construction’s headquarters, is a sore
spot for drivers hauling oversized loads.
The 13-foot, 11-inch passageway is far
too restrictive to pass through with a
trailer loaded with large equipment. And,
unfortunately, it is a tedious route around
the tunnel. The alternative, old U.S.
Highway 6 over Loveland Pass, is curvier,
longer and steeper. On top of it being
more challenging driving, the route takes
an extra 30 minutes and requires pilot
cars for oversized loads.
After three decades of growth within
the company’s Mobilization Division
and escalating frustrations from the
Eisenhower Tunnel, Bart Ewing, who now
owns Ewing Trucking & Construction,
decided that it was time to invest in a
third heavy-haul trailer. He set out to
find a trailer that could provide enough
ACT
MARCH 2014
Ewing Trucking & Construction hauls large
CAT 988G loaders and 470 excavators in
towns surrounding Edwards, CO.
The Eisenhower Tunnel, located on I-70 just
60 miles from Ewing Trucking & Construction,
has a 13-foot, 11-inch passageway.
