Moore Contracting Co.

Niche Industry

When Moore Contracting Co. set up business, they established an edge in the paving field.

Twelve years ago, Mike Moore started Moore Contracting and developed a niche in the paving industry in the Ft. Smith, Arkansas area. As development in Ft. Smith continued, and Northwest Arkansas boomed, Moore Contracting grew through strong support of their Ft. Smith client base in that area and in northwest Arkansas.

Today, Moore Contracting Company, Inc., has secured a core group of about a dozen developers with the job calendar filled two months out. “We sought to set up a niche because it makes the work more manageable,” says Moore, president of the company. “Though some days it takes more luck than skill to accommodate everybody!”

Moore Contracting’s 15 employees work a 70-mile radius from headquarters that includes the Fort Smith, Fayetteville and Springdale markets. Terryl Harrison is the company’s general superintendent and oversees field operations, Moore’s wife, Lynnette, serves as vice president and his sister, Gena Pressley, is the office manager. Much of their paving work involves subdivision streets, commercial parking lots, city and county streets. “We stay in our niche,” explains Moore. “We don’t do state work. There are local contractors who are geared for that. Generally, contractors here are not going after the same work. That’s why we maintain a close relationship with our core clients.”

Production Workhorse
After working with various paving machines through the years, Moore Contracting acquired a new Cat® AP-655C Asphalt Paver, a 174-horsepower unit featuring a rubber track undercarriage and an electric Extend-A-Mat 8-16 B Screed. The paver complements the rest of their Caterpillar® fleet which includes a 140G Motor Grader, CB-334D Double Drum Vibratory Compactor, a CS-433E Single Drum Vibratory Compactor and a 420D backhoe loader.

The AP-655C has proven to be a production workhorse, says Moore. “We love the AP-655C. The way we view it is that we can do such a variety of work with the machine. It’s heavy enough that it’s not pushed around by dump trucks, but small enough to get into tight places. With the extensions, we can pave 20-feet wide on streets and parking lots when we need to and can bring them in and squeeze down to an eight-foot width where we have to.”

Moore adds that transportation is key since many of their jobs tend to be one-day projects. The AP-655C adds up to a legal load and can be loaded on a lowboy in tandem with the CS 334D compactor for efficient transport to the next job.

The electric screed, he points out, also lends itself to efficiency. “Our old pavers had diesel burners and we never had any problems with that, but when you have a flame on a machine, someone needs to be watching. There is one less concern with an electric screed. It frees that person up to do something else productive.”

The Right Light Touch
Moore has long been a staunch supporter of rubber track undercarriages for paving machines. The wide, long footprint of the rubber track tends to minimize movement of a fresh mat, and reduces damage that compactors must later roll out.

“The travel speed with rubber tracks is faster,” notes Moore. “We do a lot of parking lots and so our operators have to do a lot of backing up. We may back up as much as we’re going forward. Rubber tracks have greater mobility, and because they have a higher travel speed, that adds up to more productivity in a day.”

The Moore crews show up on site with bright, clean machines. Typically, machines in the fleet are traded about every three years. “We don’t let our equipment get old,” says Moore. “One reason is that we want to do all we can to avoid any catastrophic breakdowns. Everything we own is on warranty and if it is out of warranty, we’ll soon trade it.”

With a packed schedule, there is no time for downtime. To that end, Moore relies on service and support from Riggs Cat. Not only do they have a close relationship with Jason McDonald and Brett Avalos of Riggs Cat, but they maintain close ties with Riggs’ Paving Specialist, Vince Sutton. “We’ve just never had any major trouble with our Caterpillar machines,” Moore says. “When we acquired our first AP-655C, Vince was out on the site helping us dial it in and has continued to support us with our second AP655C.

“We do a lot of jobs, and a lot of them are one-day projects, so we have got to maintain our schedule. You just don’t have problems with Cat equipment. We’ve gotta use that paving train everyday and it just doesn’t break down.”

“You just don’t have problems with Cat equipment. We’ve gotta use that paving train everyday and it just doesn’t break down.”

— Mike Moore,
Moore Contracting Company, Inc.,
Pocola, Okla.

Company Profile
Moore Contracting Company, Inc., Pocola, Okla.
Principals: Mike Moore, president;
Terryl Harrison, general superintendent
Applications: asphalt paving, aggregate, chip and seal
Featured Cat Fleet: AP-655C Asphalt Paver, CB-334D Double Drum Vibratory Compactor, CS-433E Single Drum Vibratory Compactor, 140G Motor Grader
Local Cat Dealer: Riggs Cat