English
50-plus years of excavating expertise
Winter 2015
Even at 72 years old, George Allard cannot pull himself away from an excavator. His love for and fascination with the heavy construction equipment traces back to the 1960s when Allard founded his excavation company in Montreal, Quebec.
G. Allard Excavation was established in 1965 by this young entrepreneur with a passion for operating heavy equipment and the blue collar, gritty work needed to succeed in the high-productivity excavation industry.
“Today, we do everything from large civil engineering projects to office buildings and smaller jobs such as residential projects,” says Christian Allard, 42, who now runs the daily operations and construction portion for his father’s business.
The family-first mantra has been one of the major components of success for G. Allard Excavation. Not only has Christian transitioned his role after 25 years as an operator, but over the years, a number of other family members have also come on board.
Building a 50-year foundation
With his son taking on a larger role, George has been able to transition his focus to the shop; the founder supervises the garage and maintenance operations, as well as the materials production. Even after 50 years of work, he still finds a warm seat waiting in the machine that excavates the sand at the company sandpit. Christian’s brother Sylvan also finds a home behind the controls, serving as the company’s key operator for most excavating jobs.
With several Allard family members and other employees demonstrating proficiency as operators spending long hours in the cab, the company has gravitated to excavators that are reliable, productive and comfortable. A growing staff of operators has made it even more important to build a fleet of machines that are easy to learn and maintain. To meet all of these objectives, G. Allard Excavation has added four Doosan crawler excavators to its fleet: two DX300LCs, a DX225LC and a DX225LC-3.
“With our diverse applications, we need a number of different-size machines,” Christian Allard says. “We like the DX225LC because it is good for smaller-scale jobs, such as residential projects. The DX300LC excavators are ideal for the larger yet confined jobs. It is right in that sweet spot where it’s big enough for optimum productivity but small enough to fit into tighter environments.
“The primary reason we choose Doosan for earthmoving is the fuel economy; Doosan machines provide the highest production at the lowest cost.”
The company has turned to Doosan to answer its top two demands in excavator design: fuel economy and operator comfort. With smooth controls and larger cabs with increased visibility, the Doosan excavators have proven valuable to the operators. Additionally, the local dealership has been integral in George Allard’s success. The accessibility, reliability and attentiveness of Denis Gauvin Inc., the area’s Doosan heavy equipment dealer, has allowed G. Allard Excavation crews to stay on the jobsite consistently and continually operate at optimum efficiency.
Alongside the family, G. Allard Excavation has steadily expanded its workforce over the years. Today there are more than 40 employees on staff, with 25 of them actively working as operators. Not only are many of these individuals trained operators, but many are also highly trained mechanics who are responsible for their own maintenance. The mechanics on staff appreciate knowledgeable operators who can perform diagnostics and provide self-support in the field, enabling the company to maintain a high level of efficiency.
“Our employees are a big part of our long-term success. We have good employees and we want to take care of them. Taking care of our employees and taking care of our customers is crucial; it’s important to build a good reputation and good relationships,” Christian says.
Excellence in excavation
This focus on reputation and relation has enabled G. Allard Excavation to become the company of choice on some of the most substantial projects in Quebec. When Rona — a Canadian distributor and retailer of home improvement and hardware products — was looking to add a new location, they turned to the Allards’ firm to perform the earthmoving. The project called for 23,000 cubic yards of excavation, which was achieved primarily with the use of the company’s DX225LC excavator and the two Doosan DX300LC excavators.
The company has also become one of the foremost experts in drainage infrastructure improvements. With their comprehensive knowledge and background, G. Allard Excavation was called in on a 3.72-mile underground drainage improvement project not far from its home base, again turning to the DX300LC excavators to complete the project.
“We really specialize in moving a lot of material, efficiently,” Christian says. “We do a lot of larger road jobs; we recently raised a road 20 feet and had a caravan of trucks hauling material in. Also, we did an underground garage for an office building and excavated 24,851 cubic feet of dirt.”
In order to perform all of these tasks with the utmost quality, Christian has put a premium on maximizing the hours he gets from his excavating equipment.
“We have a number of factors we look for on equipment. At the top of that list are fuel economy and operator comfort, along with reliability and value,” Christian says. “Our operators are in the machines all day long, and we want to make sure we are being as productive as possible. So if he’s comfortable and he’s in a good environment, then he’s going to enjoy working more and he’ll be more productive.”
Excavators and operators have advanced significantly since George began his company a half-century ago. But no matter how many years have passed, the Allard family’s goal of maintaining equipment as well as quality employees and relationships has remained steadfast.
