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An Underground Success Story

During Mustang’s 50th Anniversary celebration in 2002, On Your Own magazine featured customers that had shared "memory lane" with us for much of that half century. We’re starting off 2003 at the other end of the spectrum – a customer who is brand new to Caterpillar and to Mustang.

Ben Borrego is a third generation plumber. His grand-father was a craftsman, a plumber from the "old school." Ben worked first for his grandfather, then later for his father. "Between my dad and my grandfather," says Ben, "I’ve probably got 50 or 60 years worth of training from two of the absolute best contractors out there. The technology has changed, but the basic principles of plumbing remain the same: pipe goes downhill, has to be straight and has to look nice. I also learned, to be successful, you get started when it’s dark and you don’t quit until after dark."

Over the years, Ben has done both above and below ground utility work. His father worked on the industrial side, including Marriott motels, upscale nursing homes, medical/dental clinics, even slaughterhouses. Eleven years ago, when Ben started his own company, he opted for the commercial side of the business and called the firm Underground Commercial Plumbing. Most of the company’s work has been around the Houston area, but Ben’s jobs have taken him to West Texas and as far away as Phoenix.

Underground Commercial Plumbing also does road boring. They recently completed a 318-foot (12 inch diameter) pipeline under I-45 just south of Conroe.

A New Mustang Customer

Up until several months ago, Ben had not been involved with Mustang or Caterpillar. It was then he decided it was time to buy two new machines for a project he had recently been awarded. He shopped around and agreed to buy from a local dealer who had quoted him a really good price. "I needed the equipment right away," Ben remembers, "so I gave them a very large down payment to be sure they’d get right on it. For some reason, they became non-responsive – couldn’t tell me when I would get the equipment or even if the deal was going through. Naturally I became frustrated. I had already sent my rental equipment back and had lost a week’s worth of work. The fellow I was doing the job for suggested I call Mark Hamlin, an equipment sales rep at Mustang. He had known Mark when they were operators together."

When Hamlin got the call, he invited Ben over that same day to look at and test-drive the equipment he was interested in. A deal was struck and the next morning the Caterpillar D5G LGP tractor was delivered to the jobsite; the Cat 420D backhoe loader followed a day later. According to Ben, "I offered to give Mark a down payment on that first visit. He said, ‘Let’s get you working again. We’ll do the paperwork later.’ I can’t tell you what an impression that made on me."

The "Mud Spider"

A month later, Ben had just started on Lexington Woods subdivision, an 11-acre utility and site prep job in Spring. The area had received 20 inches of rain over a three-week period and was basically a quagmire. "I needed a small loader that could move materials quickly around the jobsite," says Ben. "I was thinking about a four-wheel-drive skid steer, but Brent Snapp, my Mustang small machine rep, said he had a better idea. He brought out a Cat 247 multi-terrain loader the next day. Naturally, it was raining."

Ben was skeptical of this skid steer on tracks: "I didn’t think it would work and purposely ran it out into the muddiest part of the project. I couldn’t get it stuck. Even though it weighs some 6600 pounds, it seemed to glide over the wet spots – spots we couldn’t even walk through – even when it was fully loaded. I bought it on the spot."

Sensing I was skeptical as well during my jobsite visit, Ben jumped in the 247 and ran it into the detention pond built at the back of the project. True to his word, the machine seemed to skim over the muck – "like a spider," he said.

Ben has high praise for his Mustang sales reps, Hamlin and Snapp: "One thing that really impressed me about these two guys, they could answer any questions I had about the machines. I haven’t found that to be true with some of their competitors. AND, if I need them, they respond right away."

A Small, Loyal Employee Group

Ben’s wife Kimberley, with help from their eight-year-old daughter Bailey, manages the company’s office in Willis, TX (50 miles north of Houston). Underground Commercial Plumbing has six other employees. With the exception of Kimberley, everybody is an operator (yes, even Bailey), and has been with Ben at least eight years. Ben’s main foreman is Waldo Longoria, a 12-year veteran of the company.

Ben prides himself on keeping his crews working – rain or shine. He laughs, "If you don’t know how to work in the rain in Houston, you’re not going to make any money. I’m so proud of my guys," Ben adds. "It’s hard to find operators that will work in this weather. They are what makes my company look good. Of course I couldn’t do it without my wife running the office. She makes it possible for me to be out here where I need to be."

According to Ben Borrego, the secret of success for a small contractor is hard work, long hours and resisting the urge to get bigger when a large project is offered to you. "I don’t want to commit to something I’m not sure I can finish," he says. The right equipment is also an important part of that success. Underground Commercial Plumbing, in a large part due to the addition of the Cat 247, will finish the Lexington Woods project a month ahead of schedule.

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