This story was produced by Caterpillar and published as an interview case study in Earthmoving Equipment Magazine. It has been edited and re-published here by WesTrac in June 2021.
Cody’s dad was not only his inspiration and the one who planted the seed for Cody to follow in his footsteps, but he also taught Cody about what it means to be a high-performing and efficient operator in the earthmoving industry. This turned out to be a valuable lesson which would help pave a solid path moving forward. Guidance is always a great help, but it is good old-fashioned hard work that gets most of us to where we aspire to be.
In 2007, Cody began his journey as a labourer and worked his way up through the ranks, eventually becoming proficient in different machine types (but remaining focused on excavators and graders) and securing supervisory roles with various businesses.
On his journey so far, Cody shares, “In the very early days of Jamieson Civil, we didn’t own any machinery. We had to hire equipment and build ourselves up over time. So, our drive, passion, and ability to problem-solve has allowed us to adapt and evolve into the business we are today.”
With 11 employees and eight pieces of equipment in the fleet, the Caterpillar brand has been an excellent fit for Jamieson Civil & Earthmoving. Asking Cody to drill down on the success of the pairing with Caterpillar, he said:
“We’ve been big Caterpillar® fans from right back when they took the steering wheels out of Graders. They were the first ones to do it, and they did it very well. Our Next Gen Cat® machines help us achieve our targets by utilising things like the built-in 3D GPS. It’s like having a full set of plans right on the screen in front of you in the cab, and we use the payload feature not only for loading highway trucks to the legal weight but also to keep track of excavated volumes and quantities moved; around the site.”
Today in 2021, Jamieson Civil has experienced tremendous growth and development for a business that has been only up and running for six years. With the first three years seeing Jamieson Civil & Earthmoving triple in size and continue an impressive growth rate over the last three years.
When asking Cody about his relationship with Caterpillar, WesTrac and his sales rep Roberto Manna, Cody shared, “The reason we use Caterpillar and WesTrac is a no brainer! Caterpillar are the leaders in innovation and incorporating technology into these well-built machines. The relationship we have with WesTrac is more like a partnership, with sales, service and maintenance, and not to mention Roberto. Roberto is a very good mate who goes outside of sales and machinery, and he’s family now! We go through the good and bad, ups and downs. We have our arguments and dummy spits from time to time, but we have a well-rounded bond with each other that won’t be broken.”
Roberto Manna is a Sydney-based Heavy Construction Sales Representative from WesTrac. He has been a valuable part of Cody’s team for 18 months now and has helped Cody realise his vision with his grey painted Cat 315 Next Gen Excavator which comes standard with the most advanced technology on the market.
Cody’s passion for Cat equipment is obvious, and it only took a slight change in conversation to hear the passion in his voice as he told us about his new Next Gen machines and the features that they used day in, day out.
“We have a machine working out near a road on the edge of this site as we speak. It’s using E-fence to ensure both the machine and operator remains safe. As the business owner, I can trust that technology every day because I know my operators use these systems. After all, they work, and they are quick, easy to set up to ensure everyone goes home in one piece,” said Cody.
Good partnerships are about open communication. After chatting with both Cody and Roberto, the two seem to have no problem with communicating and have a lot in common, along with their passion for the Cat brand. So, when it came time to figure out the suitable configuration for the high-performance Cat Next Gen 315 Excavator, it didn’t take long to realise the machine’s Payload, E-fence, and 3D systems were precisely what Cody needed.
Another option that Cody opted for from WesTrac was FitFleet®. Cody explains, “The FitFleet system is a way for WesTrac and ourselves to monitor the health of our machines. We get phone calls, emails and alerts when there are any issues or faults with the machines and service coming up. It lets us keep our mind on the job while FitFleet watches over us, kind of like a guardian angel.”
When chatting with Roberto about the WesTrac side of the relationship and experience of working with Cody and Jamieson Civil, he shared, “The relationship started through our social media pages and has developed into a great working relationship with Cody being a fantastic advocate for WesTrac and the Cat brand. Cody has always offered his machine to show & demonstrate to potential customers. I believe our working relationship has turned into a friendship."
Roberto continued, “It’s a credit to Cody that he is so embracing of the technology and offerings we have in place, to allow him to focus on what he does best. FitFleet Essentials is an excellent example of this as it gives the customer peace-of-mind that WesTrac is monitoring their machine remotely and enables us to detect problems early, reduce downtime and maximise equipment life, manage budgets, quotes and invoices, monitor and report upon application waste – ensuring our customer's machine is being used at optimum tonnes/litre per hour. As well as offer connectivity to provide machine data accessed through VisionLink and provides analysis of fluid samples.”
There’s a great energy and enthusiasm that exudes from not just Cody but his team. It’s easy to see why Jamieson Civil & Earthmoving has been going from strength-to-strength. His attitude, professionalism, and attention to detail of his Caterpillar machines, work, and business are second-to-none.
