Featured In This Issue: NORTH CENTRAL IOWA REGIONAL SOLID .

2007 NO. 2, APRILA PUBLICATION FOR AND ABOUT ROAD MACHINERY & SUPPLIES COMPANY CUSTOMERSFeatured in this issue:NORTH CENTRALIOWA REGIONALSOLID WASTEAGENCYFort Dodge landfill and recyclingoperation provides service tosix-county areaSee article inside.White logo is belowDirector Gary Schmidt andAssistant Director Deb Watson

A MESSAGE FROMTHE PRESIDENTDear Equipment User:Mike Sill IIBeing a top-of-the-line manufacturer, such as Komatsu, means more thancarrying a comprehensive lineup of quality reliable equipment. It meansbacking that with responsive customer service that keeps your machineryperforming its best with the least amount of downtime possible.Komatsu’s commitment to service continues to grow each year, including itsefforts to supply you with parts faster than anyone in the industry. In the pastseveral years, Komatsu has responded to its distributor and customer needs byopening numerous regional parts depots throughout North America, includingone near our home office in Savage, Minn. This depot supplies a good portionof the upper Midwest, including our valuable customers in Minnesota, Iowa,Illinois and Wisconsin.Each day a truck from Road Machinery & Supplies’ home office visits theparts depot to fulfill orders you have placed with us. RMS trucks and driversfrom Minnesota and Iowa then make stops at our corporate location to pick upyour parts order. Each truck drives throughout the evening and overnight toensure your parts make it to the nearest RMS branch location, so you can havethem by 7 a.m. when you place the order before 6 p.m. the previous day.In addition to your particular order, the Komatsu parts depot is linked toRMS in order to track sales trends. The depot knows which parts are orderedmost often and builds its inventory based on that information. As a result, thedepot readily stocks the most commonly ordered parts, so we’re ready to fulfillyour order quickly and accurately. It’s all part of Komatsu’s and RMS’ totalcommitment to keeping your owning and operating costs low.At RMS, we’ll be happy to show you other things we and Komatsu are doingto make your equipment owning and operating experience a pleasant one. Feelfree to give us a call, or stop by any time. We look forward to the opportunity toprove we can and will do whatever it takes to earn your ly,ROAD MACHINERY & SUPPLIES CO.Mike Sill IIPresident and CEO

THE PRODUCTS PLUSTHE PEOPLE TO SERVE YOU!Mike Sill II,President/CEOIN THIS ISSUEDavid Johnson,Chief Operating OfficerNORTH CENTRAL IOWA REGIONALSOLID WASTE AGENCYRead how this regional landfill and recycling operation handlesmountains of incoming materials.RENTAL EVENTRMS Rentals has a new home, and to celebrate, we invited our customersand friends to visit.GUEST OPINIONARTBA President Pete Ruane shares the organization’s recommendationson creating “Critical Commerce Corridors” to help move freight moreefficiently.MANAGING YOUR BUSINESSLearn how taking a proactive approach to safety can lead to betterproductivity and higher profits.NEW PRODUCTSFind out why the Komatsu PC800LC-8 is the new “go-to” excavator forlarge jobs.MORE NEW PRODUCTSSee how Komatsu’s new mid-size wheel loader, the WA430-6, can helplower your fuel costs while improving productivity.NEW UTILITY PRODUCTSIf you’re looking for an economical backhoe loader that still offersexcellent power and comfort, Komatsu’s new WB142-5 may be theanswer.Published by Construction Publications, Inc. forCorp. Headquarters5633 W. Highway 13Savage, MN 55378(952) 895-9595(800) 888-9515314 Garfield Ave.Duluth, MN 55802(218) 727-8611(800) 888-9535IRON MOUNTAIN1910 N. Stevenson Ave.Iron Mountain, MI 49801(906) 774-7011(800) 888-9565GRAND RAPIDS VIRGINIA4909 West Hwy. 2Grand Rapids, MN55744(218) 328-5916(800) 459-5916DES MOINES100 Sheridan StreetDes Moines, Iowa 50313(515) 282-0404(800) 555-1445CEDAR RAPIDS2525 16th Ave.Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52406(319) 363-9655(800) 616-6615315 N. Hoover RoadVirginia, MN 55792(218) 741-9011(800) 752-4304SIOUX CITY1400 North Highway 75Sioux City, Iowa 51105(712) 252-0538(800) 633-9104MILAN, ILLINOIS606 West 10thMilan, Illinois 61264(309) 787-1742(800) 633-9114Printed in U.S.A 2007 Construction Publications, Inc.Chuck Petter,VP MISPantone 072 blueRichard Cooper,Director of TrainingMike Mencel,General Parts &Service ManagerBrian Durfee,Used Equipment ManagerJeff Boraas,Manager, Credit &FinanceSAVAGEDES MOINESTom Ernst,Sales ManagerRick Zweber,Rental ManagerWill Elam,Service ManagerMike Cheney,Parts ManagerRMS RENTALSMark Rossi,General ManagerPOLAR PARTSRay Warmka,ManagerVIRGINIAJohn Ruud,VP NorthernOperationsTom HoshalService Managerwww.rmsequipment.comDULUTHBill Holte,Treasurer/CFODoug Blake,Parts ManagerRELIABLE EQUIPMENTRESPONSIVE SERVICESAVAGEJohn Ruud,VP Northern OperationsElizabeth Kragthorpe,Administrative ServicesManagerDULUTHByron Little,Service ManagerGRAND RAPIDSJoe Scanlon,Parts ManagerMilanTy Gainey,Branch ProductSupport ManagerLarry Smith,Sales Manager,Southern OperationsCraig Alcott,Product SupportManagerDawn Conlan,Sales AdministratorJoe Wallace,Service ManagerDave Lange,Parts ManagerSioux CityMichele Meyermann,Parts ManagerJohn Van Ormer,Service ManagerCEDAR RAPIDSJeff Furman,Service ManagerMark Hora,Parts ManagerIRONMOUNTAINRay Famiani,Branch ManagerMike Windell,Service ManagerPaul Gude,Parts Manager

RELIABLE EQUIPMENTRESPONSIVE SERVICEA SALUTE TO AN RMS CUSTOMERNORTH CENTRAL IOWA REGIONALSOLID WASTE AGENCYFort Dodge landfill and recycling operationprovides service to six-county areaTGary Schmidt,DirectorDeb Watson,Assistant DirectorThe North Central Iowa Regional Solid WasteAgency is a twofold entity that’s seen significantgrowth in its operations during the past 15 years.One part involves a regional landfill, which wentinto operation in the early 1990s, the other is aregional recycling center that’s been collectingreusable materials since 1990.Each day, more than 300 tons of trash andrecyclable materials make their way to FortDodge where they’re dumped and sorted atthe North Central Iowa Regional Solid WasteAgency. Recyclable materials eventually aremoved to other locations to be turned intousable materials, but the bulk of the trash isplaced and covered over in the landfill area.The total tonnage has increased considerablysince the landfill opened operations in the early1970s. At that time, it only served WebsterUsing a Komatsu D65EX-15SL landfill dozer, an operator levels out trash at the landfillsite. The machines are equipped with extra guarding and plating for the tough conditions.County, drawing most of its garbage from thecity of Fort Dodge. Today, the North CentralIowa Regional Solid Waste Agency serves allor parts of six counties — a population base ofnearly 79,000 — and handles close to 100,000tons of materials per year.“It’s a lot of material to deal with, but we’reproud of how efficiently it’s handled,” saidDirector Gary Schmidt. “It takes a combinedeffort of everyone here to make it happen, plusa lot of careful planning to make sure we meetall requirements and regulations.”At the same time recycling operations began,Schmidt was hired as Director to manage onsite operations. With the amount of materialcoming in continuing to grow, the agency madelongtime employee Deb Watson the AssistantDirector last year. In addition to her duties asoffice manager, she oversees the recycling endof the agency’s efforts.Watson serves as Secretary/Treasurer of the11-member Executive Board that oversees allaspects of the agency, including such items asthe budget. “The recycling operations are here inthe building where I am, so it’s natural for me tobe in that role and Gary takes care of the outsideoperations at the landfill. It’s a nice mix.”Recycling efforts growWatson estimates the recycling center takes inabout 6,500 cubic yards of recyclable items eachmonth. It doesn’t collect materials, but servesas a dropping point for area counties, cities andprivate individuals.“It comes to us in everything from pickups torecycling trailers,” Watson related. “Drop boxes

are scattered around, and someone regularlycollects those and brings them to us. Our goalis to increase the amount of recyclable materialscoming to us each month. They do a very goodjob of separating materials out, so our work indoing that is minimal. The nice thing is, we don’tcharge for bringing those materials in. We believethat’s incentive and encouragement to recycle.”The North Central Iowa Regional Solid Waste Agency recently purchased several Komatsumachines, including two HM350 articulated haul trucks that are paired with a PC400LC-6excavator. “The combination of an excavator and trucks has increased our production byabout 125 percent compared to using scrapers alone,” said Director Gary Schmidt.The facility takes in corrugated cardboard,newsprint, magazines, tin cans, plasticcontainers and glass. Once on site, 14 fulland part-time workers do final sorting andprocessing. Brokers then pick up the materialsand take them elsewhere for further processing.Employees play a vital roleWatson noted that several of the workers atthe recycling facility come from an area agencythat works with special-needs individuals. Sheapplauded their efforts and touted the workdone by all employees. Landfill operationsinvolve two shifts, one of which comes in earlymorning to get machinery fueled up and startedbefore beginning work. The second comes in acouple hours later.“Between the recycling center and the landfilloperations, we have about 22 employees whoare highly efficient and very hardworking,”said Schmidt. “Several have been here a decadeor more, and we believe that’s a big advantageto us. It helps us be more productive and keepscosts down as much as possible.”The landfill staff performs numeroustasks at the landfill site, which is located justacross the road from the agency’s office andrecycling center. In addition to taking in andburying trash, the landfill staff is involved withearthmoving operations at the 300-acre site.“There’s a lot more to running a landfill thanjust handling waste materials,” Schmidt pointedout. “As we run out of space in one cell, we haveto be prepared to open another. That meansgetting a permit for expansion, and once that’sin place, we have to do the necessary excavationto open it up. It can be a lengthy process. We’redeveloping a cell about every other year, and tothis point we’ve used or been approved for about40 acres out of the total site.”Preparing a new cell takes careful planning toensure all state regulations and requirements aremet. The regional landfill faces a special challengebecause the site contains gypsum deposits thatwere undermined years ago. All the gypsumhas to be removed before the landfill can begincell construction. Operations start by removingoverburden to within two feet of the gypsumdeposits, which often are 25 feet or more deep.“We move a tremendous amount of dirt everyyear just to get to within two feet of the deposit,”Schmidt said. “Once we’re there, an outsidecontractor comes in and takes the last two feet offand removes the gypsum. Our crew takes overagain when they’re finished. We put in a fivefoot clay liner and tile to collect and recirculateleachate. Then we put 20 inches of shredded tireson top of that to act as a drainage layer. The trashgoes in next, followed by dirt cover and seeding.As we’re opening one cell, the dirt from that isusually going to close another.”Continued . . .For moving largequantities of dirt, theagency uses this KomatsuD155AX-6 Sigma Dozerwith the patented SigmaDozer blade. “Its shapeforces material to thecenter of the blade so Ican easily push 50 percentmore than before with amachine that size,” saidDirector Gary Schmidt.