Jettco can do it all. Already known for their heavy hauling capabilities, landscaping, road construction, and excavation work, gravel services are being re-added under the company umbrella.
After leaving the oil hauling industry in early 2024, Jettco owner and president Chris Douglas is hoping his latest pivot will open a whole new world of possibility.
Keeping busy with different oilfield jobs in the time since such as well abandonments and reclamations, Jettco is also making steps to get back in the gravel business, all thanks to the family farm located near the Alberta border at Mantario.
Making a Change
The nearly 60-year-old business owner would be the first one to call himself crazy for a such a major change at this time of his life.
In the oil hauling business since the early 2010’s, Douglas has been a first-hand witness to the industry beginning to dwindle around the area. With low prices and reduced demand for trucks over the past few years, Jettco’s most recent fleet of more than ten semis and seventeen oil trailers was no longer a viable way to turn a profit.
“Getting to the point where we couldn’t make a go of it anymore.” said Douglas, whose operation once consisted of over 20 trucks and 30 trailers. “I decided that I would make a change.”
The main jobs for Jettco now include winch truck work, whether it be doing rig moves, or moving other heavy equipment. The excavation equipment is being utilized in the well abandonment business for lease site reclamation and remediation. Staying in the digging space, Jettco is happy to do smaller jobs like making a dugout at the farm or making space for weeping tile at home.
The transition hasn’t been without its challenges, but for Douglas, it comes down to one thing.
“I kind of enjoy what I am doing again.”
Back to the Pit
Douglas says his “heart has always been in the dirt”.
With the business back on some solid footing, and a loader, crusher, and screener already on the company books, getting the gravel pit going jumped to the forefront of things for Jettco.
Perhaps the hardest part of making gravel is having access to a quality pit. This is Jettco’s second attempt at the gravel business, after renting a pit north of Kindersley many years back.
With the location, you might as well call it 'generational gravel’.
“We joke about how we have organic gravel, but in some ways it's not a joke. We are making gravel on our family farm that my grandfather homesteaded.” said Douglas. “My 99-year-old father walked out in the field, and said ‘dig a hole right here’. It’s turned into a pretty good pit.”
The screened rock coming out of the pit could be used for a wide range of projects, same as the various sizes of crushed rock.
“Instead of a crushed product, it’s much nicer to walk on because it doesn’t have sharp edges. Nice for yards, nice for around your house.” said Douglas, adding more of the products they offer. “Of course we have all the related gravel products... We are crushing also, we have base gravel, and we have rock from 3/8 inch all the way up to 2 ½ inch.”
A full-time gravel business has always been in Douglas’ heart since purchasing the crushing and screening equipment about 16 years ago. Unlike the last time around, however, they have the source material covered.
“The biggest problem being in this business is the pit... where it is and how good it is.” he said, with an eye to the future. “This one is looking pretty good. I think this could possibly be a generational business for us, if it all works.”
A New Start
Douglas is a firm believer that you “shouldn’t get into a business you don’t want to do yourself”, and he self admittedly broke that rule with oil hauling.
“It is hard on you, essentially going to work every day doing something you don’t terribly enjoy. My favourite thing is to run equipment, that’s what I have always wanted to do and enjoy doing.”
He wants to use his vast array of equipment to help in any way possible. Having equipment is one thing, but knowing how to do the job is another.
“A lot of running equipment isn’t just simply that... I was lucky early on to partner up with a good grader guy, and a good dirt guy who is still in business on his own. He taught me a lot, and now I can turn and teach somebody new how to build a road, how to dig a hole, a dugout. It sounds easy, but there is a lot to it about how you do the job.”
Seeing a gap in some of the services Jettco is now offering, Douglas feels like it’s a perfect time to step in.
“I am hoping that this can turn into something my kids can do, and we can do this for a very long time. I have purchased some newer equipment in this venture, so that stuff can last for 15-20 years if you treat it right.”
Douglas isn’t afraid to think outside the box with his equipment. Outside of the regular excavation and trucking work, they have also been using some of the remediation equipment to haul contaminant. Jettco even has a combo vac at their disposal, Douglas sharing its latest job.
“Haven’t used it for a lot of things over the years, but it has been working the past few days as a fire watch at a pasture...
“I do have a lot of different things in the truck world. Still have some fluid trucks available if work becomes available. Looking at helping local guys hauling frac water. We still have quite a few trucks.”
What can Jettco offer you?
Downsizing from some 100 pieces of equipment, the Jettco fleet still has all types of machines to get work done around west-central Saskatchewan, not completely retracting from the roots.
“In the trucking world, like I said before we have winch trucks so we can move heavy equipment. We have heavy equipment trailers and can move anything skidded. Gravel trucks of course, so we can move dirt and soil.”
With a team of workers ready to get behind the controls, Douglas listed one scenario in town where people might want to give Jettco a call.
“Some of the jobs I think about, we talk about people getting water in their basements in Kindersley. I hear some of the quotes of what people say it’s going to cost for weeping tile, to do that kind of work. To me I think it’s crazy, but I think I can come and do some of that work for a lot less money. I would come in at a certain price, say this is what it will be, agree on it and we do it.”
Anyone who hires Jettco is looking at a company that can likely facilitate the supplies, labour, and clean-up that runs up costs in the first place.
“Anytime you can do everything yourself, you can always cut down on costs.”
Back to the gravel pit, another recent example here in 2024 has Douglas thinking Jettco fits the bill perfectly.
“This year has been a good eye opener because we’ve had so much rain. You hear people all the time getting upset about how muddy their yards are... If you can get a good solid layer of gravel on your roads and your driveway, get a barrier in there, then all the sudden you have no mud, and it’s just like driving on a good gravel road.”
With the ability to get rock down to a specific size and consistency, Douglas wants potential customers to know the product is flexible.
“We are doing smaller volumes, so if a customer needs something specific, we can make it. Change the screens around, do some things to make different products,” said Douglas. “Whereas when you get a $2 million crusher that’s coming to work for three weeks in a pit, they aren’t willing to make seven different products. We can change on the go, make whatever we need, and stockpile it.”
Locally Sourced Savings
Digging at the family farm isn’t only saving Douglas money, but Jettco customers too.
The locally sourced gravel is another way that Jettco is helping their customers cut costs, as in some cases gravel products are being trucked into the area from multiple hours away.
"Gravel has become very expensive in our area, and it’s mostly because the pits are very far away. (There is) lots of trucking, and trucking gets more expensive every year, so of course (the price) is going up.
“Our product is coming from 70 kilometres away, which is closer than a lot of people, so we can carry that cost forward to the customer in a sense. Have a cheaper product for them, while still being a decent return for us.”
The other bonus relating to their location is the fact that it expands the customer base. With the pit sitting in the southwest part of the region, their service bubble expands even more.
“The pit is closer to the Empress, Mantario area. As far as the gravel products, anything in that Leader, Eatonia, Glidden, Marengo, Smiley, we are actually closer to a lot of that stuff.
The costs go down with proximity to the pit, as Douglas explained the cost isn’t just for the price for gravel, but also how far they must take it.
“We have had some jobs in the Eatonia area where it has been very reasonable for them.”
A Family Company
Mentioning a few times that he hopes to pass on the family business, that fact was cemented somewhere back around 2008. Jettco is named for Douglas’ three sons, even if the former sticks out more than the latter.
“Of course, we always want to do something for our kids, so this company we named Jettco. Jett is my youngest, Cooper is my middle child, and Cody is my oldest, so we came up with ‘Jettco’ because’ CoJett’ just didn’t sound right... Jettco kind of rolls off the tongue, and I am hoping that they will be involved in this business in the future.”
The three boys are roughly ten years apart each — a happy accident — giving three decades worth of possibilities to the Jettco name.
“Maybe we can turn this company into something when I am gone.”
Contact Chris at 463-7897, or by emailing president@jettco.ca
