The Cookeville Public Works and Engineering Department employs sixty people and has more than one-hundred vehicles and equipment to carry out its service for over 200 miles of streets in the city of Cookeville, TN. The department is primarily responsible for providing a safe and clean environment for the local community, this includes tasks such as: brush, leaf, and snow removal; drainage, engineering and road projects; stormwater management; street cleaning; street right-of-way maintenance as well as sidewalk repairs; street signs; and traffic signals. The department also provides weekly curbside garbage collection to over 11,000 households and commercial collection to over 700 businesses and industries.
David McConnell, Cookeville’s Public Works Construction Foreman, has worked for the city for 24 years and was instrumental in building the city’s partnership with Thompson Machinery, the local Cat dealer. David says that there are “Several reasons,” the city decided to purchase Cat equipment from Thompson, such as the location to the dealership and the Cat government incentives. But ultimately, David states, “It just made sense to be close to home. We got the best product for the best price.” The Cookeville Public Works department purchased a New Cat D6K 2XL Dozer and a New Cat 930M Wheel Loader in July 2020. The city also has two older Cat machines: a 24-year-old Cat Road Grader and an older Cat D7D Dozer, both of which – despite their old age – are still going strong.
David went on to say that the New Cat equipment is “just amazing.” He said that some of the guys tend to laugh when comparing the older Cat D7D Dozer to the New Cat D6K2XL Dozer because the difference is just extraordinary. He said that all the guys love how easy it is to use the new Cat machines and all of the added creature comforts in the cab compared to the older machines. David said that “the quality of the New Cat equipment is unmatched.”
David relates the importance of the Cat machines to helping the department get the job done: “We use the Wheel Loader on a daily basis as a material handler for different street projects, and we use the dozer to adjust and move dirt on road projects – especially in the summertime.” He continues, “Most recently, both of the machines came in handy with all of the snow and ice we got back in February. We have a site where the public and the county brings in brush limbs and we have a grinder to turn all of the tree damage into usable mulch. We used both of our New Cat machines about 5 days in a row working lots of hours with lots of men to clean the job site up, and it went smoothly with our New Cat equipment.”
When asked the main reason he recommends Thompson Machinery, David states, “The Cat reputation is unmatched. Plus, the Thompson location is practically on our doorstep for all of our parts and service needs. All of Thompson’s technicians, and my sales rep Chad Morgan, have been a pleasure to work with, every time. Thompson Machinery made it easy for us to get into Cat equipment and we hope to stay there for a long time.”
For more information about the Cookeville Public Works Department, visit https://www.cookeville-tn.gov/226/Public-Works
To find out more about how Thompson Machinery can help your business, call us today at 800-228-3644 or visit TMCat.com/contact-us