Business Expansion and Retention (BEAR) Press Release
When Landon Jacobson started his business, it was because he was upset by the way customers were being treated by the company he worked for. So, for the last 17 years, he has tried hard to always make things right with the people he and his staff serve.
“I was working in a shop as a lead mechanic in 2002 and a customer came to me and said that his organization was overcharged on a repair I had done based on an estimate that was approved to perform the work,” said Jacobson as he sat in his shop office. “So, I took it up with management and they eventually reduced the charge. But then, a short time later, that same customer called me with a complaint about a repair on another machine we had worked on. This time the overcharge was double from what it was before. I could see what was going on and I didn’t like it. It was the day before Thanksgiving but I still went in and told them I could not work like that with customers so I quit.”
While he was loading up his tool box that day to take it home, another client, the largest one the shop had, pulled in and asked him what he was doing. He explained the situation to the customer and he told Jacobson that he was there to talk over a similar matter on a transmission that had been repaired in the shop. He was upset over the charge, which had been billed as a new unit instead of a rebuild.
“He told me to go and unload my toolbox at his company shop,” explained Jacobson. “The guy then pulled out some cash and handed it to me and told me to enjoy Thanksgiving and to come and talk to him on Monday.”
The next week, he was hired as a mechanic in the company’s shop. Within a month, a number of customers Jacobson had worked with at his previous employment came to the private shop and asked him to work on their equipment. The owner agreed to let Jacobson work on outside projects in the shop, but he told Landon that he had to give “the first 12 hours of the day to work for me.”
The days were long but Jacobson did that for some time and more business kept coming his way. Finally, after the first of the year, realizing he had something really going, he approached his bank and they worked with him to find someone who had a building so he could move out on his own.
“This building had been a mining equipment company and it was empty,” said Jacobson. “Jack Laeutaud and I met and he bought the building and added these offices on to it so I could move in here. I then incorporated my business as of March 1, 2003 and began running this business as it is today.”
In the early days of his business, he was able to obtain a grant from the Southeastern Utah Small Business Investment Fund (SEUSBIF) for $10,000 that helped him to buy some equipment and tools he really needed. Those funds drove him to pick up more business, which allowed him to hire more help in the shop at the time.
The business also operates two heavy duty wreckers, which are often seen around the area either towing in large rigs in need of repair or helping out at accidents where semi trucks are involved.
Over the years, many people have relied on Landon’s Diesel to repair their machines and his customer base has increased. However, over the last few months, he has seen not only a decline in business, but his receivables have mushroomed with many people telling him they are having a hard time paying because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It has been a little tough, but we are working to get through it,” he said.
Research on the trucking business, and in particular the truck service business, shows that this kind of problem is significant in many places around the country.
Presently, his business employs 10 people, which includes mechanics, office staff and a wrecker operator. While the company repairs all kinds of equipment and trucks, the firm is a Kenworth Dealer as well. Consequently, its biggest customers are coal haulers, with Savage Trucking being the largest client.
But even with the downturn, Jacobson said that some things remain the same. His philosophy is founded on his experience from when he began his business and he intends to stick with it.
“From day one, we have done what we say we will do for the price that we said we will do it for. We still do that and we want to make our customers happy with the work we do,” he concluded.