When working at TAKKION and any of its sister companies, it’s not just a job; it’s a career. It’s a chance to develop skills and climb the ladder of success until you reach the heights that you’ve always wanted to reach. It’s an opportunity to learn, to grow, and to better yourself, personally and professionally.

That’s exactly what Juan Hernandez has done, and it’s why he was recently named the Operations Manager of a GSS location in Oklahoma.

Juan has been working with GSS’ sister company, Transportation Partners & Logistics, for more than 6 years.

And in those 6 years, he has built a reputation as a reliable, innovative, motivated, hard-working natural born leader.

Before starting with TP&L, Juan worked in the oil field industry, working on various pipelines and compressor stations.

“After that last boom, I just decided I wasn’t going back to the oilfield,” Juan stated. “I was looking for a different path, a different career. And that’s how I started with TP&L. It’s been a long ride, but a really nice and comfortable ride.”

That ride began more than 6 years ago. Juan originally heard about TP&L through a temp employee agency who told him a company needed some general labor workers. He traveled to Garden City, Kansas where he was trained on offloading machine heads and hub trains, tower trains, and blades trains. He started working as a rigger, but then was asked to operate a forklift for a wind project. That was something he proved to excel at.

“I came back to Enid and stayed on the forklift,” Juan stated. “And from there, I went to a lead position; I was leading a crew on offloading trains and components off the trains, loading trucks, and running a crew.”

Following that, he began working as a foreman, helping to “run the yard.” He would be given directions from his superior and would direct his crew to make sure the trucks and trains were loading and offloading on schedule.

Following that, he worked as a foreman and then a site manager, traveling to various sites to ensure the quality of work met the standards of excellence that TP&L is known for.

“I’ve been on the road a lot and I started talking to our regional managers, Ryan and Paul,” Juan said. “I told them I was trying to be home a little more often, so they offered me this position and that’s how I got to where I am today.”

Today, Juan is the Operations Manager for the Enid, Oklahoma GSS site.

“What’s really exciting is that it’s a different work environment,” Juan said. “We’re trying to grow this company down here and, for me, the excitement is getting out there and being the face of the brand, of GSS and building customer relationships. And we’re starting with a small group of employees, but I’m setting a goal for myself that we’re going to expand this site to have 30 employees out here. So it’s exciting for me to challenge myself. I wake up and I say, ‘Okay, today we want to accomplish this.’”

Juan said that he believes the reason he was chosen for this position was because of his drive to succeed.

“One of the things I know about myself is that I’m self-motivated,” he revealed. “To be out there and go from place to place, you’ve gotta be motivated. If you don’t have that drive, you’re not gonna make it.”

But Juan has made it. And he’s excited to help others make it as well. That’s part of being a good boss; investing in your employees and helping them achieve greater things than even you, yourself, have accomplished.

That’s exactly what Juan’s bosses have done for him, and it’s what he does for his employees.

“It’s been a good experience,” he stated. “It’s made me grow a lot. I started as a temp, and to get to where I’m at and look back at what I’ve accomplished with the help of everybody in the company, and all of the trust and support that the company’s given me, it’s a big deal. I know Paul is really proud of me. Paul was the one that brought me up. He saw something in me and he’s the one that pushed me a lot. Even today, I had a conversation with him and he said ‘Keep pushing; give it all you’ve got. And one day, you’re gonna end up being higher than what you ever thought you could be.’”

Juan has climbed the ladder of success that was offered to him at TP&L and, now, GSS. And now that he’s on one of the top rungs, he’s reaching down to help pull others up with him.

And that’s exactly what a good boss, what a good manager, should be doing.

Juan is a good manager. But even more than that, he’s a good man.

Global Specialized Services is saddened, but so proud, to announce the retirement of one of our truck drivers, Floyd Crisp. Floyd has been one of Jim Orr’s (President of GSS) right-hand-men since before GSS even existed, and he has been a staple of the trucking industry for decades.

“I started working with Jim Orr in 1999,” Floyd stated. “I worked with Jim at other companies and then when he started GSS, I came along with him.”

Floyd said that he’s been a truck driver for the last twenty years. He began his career working for Casper Concrete and fell in love with the job. He said he enjoyed the simplicity of it.

“They give us a truck, we pick up a load somewhere and drop it off somewhere else,” he laughed. “The most important thing is to take care of the equipment. Make sure the equipment is in good shape at all times.”

And that’s something that Floyd always did. He took his job seriously and he made sure that no matter what load he was carrying, it was always taken care of.

Customers and other employees always enjoyed seeing Floyd pull into their projects. Floyd’s great attitude and work ethic will be missed, but we want to wish him a long and happy retirement.

“As Floyd stated, I have had the pleasure to work with Floyd for over 20 years. In those 20+ years, Floyd has driven over 2 million miles without a major incident. It has been a great honor to work with a man that has the work ethics that Floyd has. To my knowledge, Floyd was never late for a pickup or delivery and wore the GSS brand with pride. Thank you for all that you have done for the GSS family and enjoy your retirement. You will be greatly missed!”

– Jim Orr

Global Specialized Services is proud to announce that we were awarded the opportunity to provide the transportation for the second half of a project located in central Montana. This project will be our first major project of the year, and it is scheduled to be completed in the first quarter of 2022.

This comes after GSS already worked on the first half of the project in 2021.

“At the end of the year, around November or December, the bid proposal came out and we were able to make a bid for the second half of this project,” said Dylan Wisroth, Operations Manager at GSS. “During the week of Christmas, as the year was coming to an end, we were given the award to go ahead and start planning our preparation for it. With the first part of this project, we weren’t the only company that contributed to it. There were so many components coming in at such a high volume, and there were multiple companies working on it. So, getting the award on the second part of it was honestly humbling. It was nice to know that we’re doing things right and that the customer felt that we were the right people for the job.”

At GSS, oversize and overweight loads are our specialty, and all of our drivers are experienced and extensively trained to safely transport all sorts of different cargo. This project consists of transporting 16 complete wind turbines to central Montana. It’s a big project, and it’s one that requires a lot of planning and logistics management.

“There’s a lot of time spent planning this project,” Wisroth stated. “Going into Montana in the winter, we knew we were going to come up against quite a few different obstacles and we wanted to ensure that we respect Montana and do it right. We’re also getting everybody spaced out and making sure that it’s communicated across all different levels with our different drivers. We’ve got 38 drivers moving on the road right now, just for this project alone.”

Before sending his drivers on the project, Wisroth made sure he knew the route forward and backward. He completed a route survey and drove the routes himself.

“I physically went up to Montana with the customer,” he said. “We ran 2,000 miles in two days to run routes. I was driving ‘til the wheels came off, but that kind of frontend work is what it takes to be really successful on a project of this size. Most of the routes have over 750 miles of transit, which is a very long haul that has many different turns and so many different obstacles that can happen along the way.”

That is the type of commitment that got GSS the bid, but it wasn’t the only thing that landed them the job.

“I think it came down to not only our relationship with the customer, but our relationship we have with Montana in general and the DOT (Department of Transportation) in this specific project,” Wisroth said. “There are not a lot of wind farms in Montana, so the relationship is kind of new when it comes to wind customers and the energy sector. So, I think that a big reason why we got the job is because we have such a great rapport. We get involved at the very front end of a project and, in the middle, they know that they can call us if there would ever be any issues.”

This project is a big project; one that’s employing roughly 120 people just on the GSS side. That doesn’t include pilot cars, site employees, and more. Driving this amount of wind turbines to Montana in winter is not an easy task, but it’s one that GSS is more than capable of taking on.

“I think it goes without saying, but we have a can-do-attitude,” Wisroth stated. “We’re very solution based. There’s not a problem that can come up that we’re not going to find a solution for. Instead of saying ‘I can’t do it,’ we just figure out a way to make things happen, safely and efficiently. It’s also the flexibility aspect. We’re always ready. Somebody could call us tomorrow and say they have another project and need us to start next week, and we would start the planning and hit the ground running to make it happen. We find solutions and I think that’s a big driver for why GSS gets the projects we do.”

With the recent purchase of a second Demag AC220-5, GSS is able to now serve twice the amount of customers is Wyoming, North Dakota, Oklahoma, and various other surrounding states. With 7 sections of boom and a 245-ton lifting capacity, this crane is able to lift more weight at a longer reach, making it the solution to just about any job. Having a maximum tip height of 255′, this is one of the longest main booms on a 5-axle crane. This all-terrain crane is able to travel over the road to any job at any given distance. Aside from its large capacity, this crane has a compact design and all-wheel steering allowing it to maneuverer into tight spaces, all while still being able to reach incredible distances.

The AC220-5 has been on numerous wireline, coil tubing, frac operations, and wind farm jobs, and has proven itself to be an extremely reliable crane. It has also lifted gearboxes, cable reels, coolers, lact units, A/C Units, vessels, transformers, drilling rig doghouses, and much more. It is without a doubt that this crane will continue to raise the bar and exceed any expectations. We are proud to serve our customers and take pride in having the necessary equipment in order to get the job done safely and efficiently.